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By Stephen Bishop. Last Updated 4th April 2024. Welcome to our manhole cover compensation claims guide. This guide is aimed at people who have suffered an accident and been injured by a manhole cover or drain. This could be for many reasons, such as a manhole cover causing a slip, trip or fall. If it can be proven that a third party, such as the local council or highways authority caused the hazard which resulted in an injury, a personal injury claim could be possible. This guide shows you how.
You may need answers to questions that this guide doesn’t cover, as all claims are unique in their circumstances. If you have other questions, we will happily assist you too. Just give our team a call on 0333 000 0729, and one of our friendly advisors will answer your questions and provide any other help they can.
Jump To A Section:
- I Was Injured By A Manhole Cover Or Drain, Could I Claim Compensation Today?
- Time Limit For Manhole Cover Or Drain Injury Claims
- Types of Injury Caused by Manhole Covers and Drains
- How Much Compensation Could I Get For A Manhole Or Drain Accident?
- I Was Injured By A Manhole Cover Or Drain, Could I Claim Compensation And What Evidence Do I Need?
- No Win No Fee Claims If Injured by A Manhole Cover or Drain
- References
I Was Injured By A Manhole Cover Or Drain, Could I Claim Compensation Today?
In certain scenarios of your life, you are owed a duty of care by certain parties: Examples include:
- In public areas – In public places, including a park or a public pathway, the controller of that space owes you a duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. Under this duty, the controller should take steps to ensure your reasonable safety while you’re in the public space.
If the duty of care owed to you is breached, then you could be potentially injured in an accident. If you have been injured in an incident involving a manhole cover or drain, then you may be eligible to claim compensation if the following applies:
- A duty of care was owed to you.
- The party that owed this duty breached it.
- You were harmed due to this breach.
For more advice on your eligibility to start a drain or manhole injury claim, you can contact our advisors for free today either online or by giving us a call.
Time Limit For Manhole Cover Or Drain Injury Claims
As established by the Limitation Act 1980, the time limit for starting a drain or manhole injury claim is three years. This usually begins from the date your injury occurred.
However, the time limit can work differently under some circumstances. If the injured party lacks the mental capacity to start their own injury claim, then the time limit will be frozen indefinitely. While it is frozen, a litigation friend could start a claim on behalf of the injured person. If, however, this party later regains their mental capacity and a claim has not been made, then they will have three years to start their injury claim from the day of recovery.
If a child has been injured by a manhole or drain cover, then the time limit for starting a claim will be put on hold until their 18th birthday. A litigation friend could start a claim on the child’s behalf before they reach the age of 18. Otherwise, they will have three years from the day they turn 18 years old to start their own claim.
For more advice about your eligibility to start a claim and how long you have to begin legal proceedings, please continue reading our guide or contact our advisors for free today either online or by phoning us.
Types of Injury Caused by Manhole Covers and Drains
If you have tripped over a drain cover or tripped over a manhole cover, you could be entitled to make a drain cover compensation claim. Some of the most common injuries resulting from these types of accidents include:
- Sprains and strains of the ankle or wrist.
- Cuts and lacerations.
- Head injuries.
- Fractures or dislocations of the fingers, thumbs, wrist or ankle.
In addition to these, elderly people could suffer more serious injuries, such as a fractured hip or pelvis. No matter what injury you have sustained in a manhole accident, if you can prove that a third party was responsible, we could be able to help you make a manhole cover compensation claim today.
How Much Compensation Could I Get For A Manhole Or Drain Accident?
If you successfully claim compensation for injuries suffered due to a broken manhole cover, your settlement may consist of two heads of claim: general and special damages.
General damages compensate for the physical pain and mental suffering you experienced due to your injuries sustained in an accident involving a manhole or drain. Legal professionals can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for guidance when valuing personal injury claims. This document lists compensation brackets for various injuries.
Compensation Table
In our table below, we’ve listed a few figures from the 16th edition of the JCG. As each claim is assessed individually, it is only to be used for guidance and does not represent what your claim could be worth.
| Type of Injury | How Severe? | Level of Compensation | Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious injuries with special damages | Serious | Up to £500,000+ | If you sustained multiple serious injuries in an accident involving a manhole or drain cover, then you may receive a payout for all of these plus any related special damages, such as loss of earnings. |
| Head injury | Moderate (i) | £150,110 to £219,070 | This category would include injuries that caused a loss of cognitive ability, memory problems, a change of personality, etc. Sight, speech and other senses may be affected, and the prospect of employment would be slim. |
| Head injury | Moderate (ii) | £90,720 to £150,110 | There is moderate to modest intellectual deficit and the ability to work is greatly reduced if not removed. |
| Hand injury | Serious injury | £29,000 to £61,910 | The injured hand's capacity will have been reduced to about 50 per cent. Several fingers may have been amputated. |
| Hand injury | Moderate | £5,720 to £13,280 | This category would include injuries such as crush damage, deep lacerations and penetrating wounds, as well as some soft-tissue injuries. The highest compensation would be paid for prior injuries that have been partially treated by surgery, yet still cause a disability of some kind. |
| Leg injury | Moderate (b) (iv) | £27,760 to £39,200 | This category would include injuries such as compound or multiple fractures to a single leg. The amount of compensation paid would depend on the level of pain the victim has suffered, as well as whether they had to undergo invasive, traumatic treatment. There could be some permanent impairment and surgery may be needed to correct imperfect union of fractures. |
| Back injury | Moderate (b) (i) | £27,760 to £38,780 | This category would include injuries such as a compression or crush fracture that affects the lumbar vertebrae. Spinal fusion may be necessary and there would be an increased risk of osteoporosis or arthritis later in life. |
| Foot injury | Moderate (f) | £13,740 to £24,990 | This category would include injuries such as a serous fracture. Once healed the foot would be permanent deformed and the victim would suffer a change in gait and be unable to wear normal shoes. |
| Elbow | Minor to Moderate (c) | Up to £12,590 | This category would include injuries and conditions such as tennis elbow. As well as simple fractures, sort-tissue injuries lacerations, etc. The victim would heal fully in time with no permanent impairment. |
Special Damages
In addition, your settlement may include special damages. This head of a claim reimburses the financial losses caused by your injury. To claim special damages, you should submit evidence of your costs, such as bank statements and receipts.
Here are some examples of costs that could be reimbursed under special damages in a personal injury claim:
- Medical costs, this can include medication expenses as well as any money spent on medical aids, such as wheelchair rental.
- Accommodation adaptions. For example, if you need a wheelchair ramp installed.
- Your loss of earnings for time spent off work to recover from your injuries.
If you need help establishing who is responsible for broken drain covers, and whether you could be eligible to receive compensation for injuries sustained in an accident of this nature, contact an advisor from our team.
I Was Injured By A Manhole Cover Or Drain, Could I Claim Compensation And What Evidence Do I Need?
As has been discussed already in this guide, responsibility for manholes could belong to the local authority, highway authority, utility companies or even your employer. If there is no cover on a drain, a fall could occur which can result in injuries. However, you will need to establish who had responsibility for the manhole drain cover at the time of your slip, trip and fall injury. For example, some manhole covers may have ‘property of’ signage. A photograph of this could be submitted.
In addition, you need to prove that you were owed a duty of care and a breach in this duty of care resulted in your suffering when you dropped down a manhole. Evidence that could be submitted in personal injury claims might include:
- Medical records. These should detail your injuries as well as the date you sought treatment.
- As stated above, a photograph of the drain cover could prove who was responsible for maintaining it. It can also show that it was damaged. Additionally, if your injuries were visible or caused swelling, you can also submit pictures of them.
- Witness contact information so they can provide statements at a later date.
- Footage of the accident. For example, you can request CCTV footage or someone may have filmed the accident on a mobile phone or have dashcam footage.
Call our advisors if you would like help gathering the evidence needed to support your claim. All the legal advice we offer is entirely free. Additionally, we can assess your claim’s eligibility. If it looks like it might succeed, we can connect you to a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
No Win No Fee Claims If Injured By A Manhole Cover Or Drain
Our advisors could potentially connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor on our panel if you have valid grounds to make a drain cover or manhole injury claim.
The solicitors on our panel can support such claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under such a No Win No Fee agreement, it won’t be necessary pay your solicitor for their services before your injury claim has begun or while it’s being processed. You also won’t need to pay your solicitor for their work if the claim fails.
If your manhole or drain cover accident claim succeeds, then your solicitor will take a success fee. This means that your solicitor will take a small and legally capped percentage of the compensation awarded for your case. The legal cap ensures that you get to keep most of the compensation awarded.
To learn more about working with a No Win No Fee solicitor or other parts of the claiming process, please get in touch with our advisors for free today. You can contact our team by:
- Calling us on 0333 000 0729
- Contacting us using our online form.
- Or you can use our 24/7 live chat service.
References
These pages on other sites could be of use:
These other guides could also be useful:
- Claiming for A Slip, Trip or Fall
- Fatal Accident at Work Claims
- How to Claim Against the Local Council
Thanks for reading our manhole cover compensation claims guide.
