The answer depends on where you had the accident. On a footpath then generally if the hole or trip is 20mm or more it’s a defect. On a road and it’s 40mm. But interestingly at crossing points – so where you cross from one side of the footpath to another over the road then if you fall in a hole in the road the size is 20mm and not 40mm. So size matters but depending on where the accident happened. You must be crossing at an intersection between the footpath and the road - or a crossing point.
In this case the hole in the road measured 25 mm and the council said that because it was less than 40mm it wasn’t a defect. Fortunately Sean wouldn’t take no for an answer and looked at the council’s policy for highways and the national code of practice. Because his client was crossing from one side of the footpath to another over the road – a crossing point he said, the standard was 20mm and not 40mm. After issuing proceedings and a trial in front of a judge the court found in favour of his client and awarded damages for her injury.
So not only does size matter but so does instructing the right lawyer for the job, if Sean had taken no for an answer then that would have been and end of it, but he didn’t and thankfully had a happy ending for our client.
If you have a claim you’d like to talk to Sean about, he can be contacted at the Blyth Law Shop either in person or over the phone on 01670 368738. He will be able to talk to you for free about your claim and the prospect of success with it.