Case study: over £8,000 for runner injured on cracked pavement

Our personal injury solicitors recently helped a runner who sustained dental injuries after falling on a cracked pavement whilst she was out exercising.

Fall on cracked pavement

Our client, Ms R, was out for a run with her partner when her left foot got caught on a cracked, raised part of the walkway, causing her to fall and injure herself. As a result of the fall, she sustained damage to her teeth resulting in trouble biting as her teeth were no longer aligned, pain to her upper back, ribs and arm, and required stitches to the inside of her top lip.

Claiming compensation for injury and teeth damage

Ms R instructed our specialist personal injury solicitors to help make a claim for compensation.

Issue over liability

As the area was privately owned, our team conducted a Land Registry search to identify the owners responsible for the maintenance. Unfortunately, they denied liability as they advised us they outsourced the maintenance of the area to another company.

The company allegedly responsible for the upkeep, however, also denied responsibility for the accident, stating that whilst they were instructed to do maintenance on certain areas around the accident site, there was no contract in place to maintain the specific accident location.

After consideration of the documentation disclosed in the case, and an analysis of the facts, we established that the land owners had not outsourced the upkeep of this particular section of land where the accident happened. We returned to them challenging their denial and asked them to provide further evidence, including the contract which showed the maintenance for the area in question.

They were unable to provide the required documents and subsequently admitted liability for our client’s accident.

Medical reports obtained

Our Personal Injury team obtained our client’s medical records and instructed a dentist to prepare a report on Ms R’s injuries.

In terms of the claim for teeth damage, the dental report confirmed that:

• Our client’s inability to fully close her teeth was likely to be due to an injury to the jaw and jaw muscle relaxation methods were recommended. A long-term prognosis could not be given until it was known whether the relaxation methods assisted ongoing problems.
• Although Ms R was not experiencing any ongoing pain, her bite was not aligning, and she had a lump on the inside of the lip which caused no cosmetic concerns.

The dental injuries resolved with the treatment Ms A had following the accident.

A claim was also made in respect of the injury to her lip, upper back, ribs and arm.

Case study | Over £13,000 for pedestrian after trip on defective road surface

Claim for financial losses

Our personal injury solicitors began to collate details of Ms R’s financial losses incurred as a result of the accident which included the cost of the dental treatment.

She did have a medical plan with her dentist which covered some of Ms R’s dental costs. The plan included a contractual clause requiring Ms R to repay the costs to the plan providers if she made a successful personal injury claim. We therefore included details of their costs within the claim so we could reimburse the plan providers.

Following the fall, our client also incurred a loss of earnings and medication costs, and required care and assistance from her partner, including lifts to and from her dental appointments.

Settlement offer

After court proceedings were issued, but before any court hearing, the Defendant (land owner) made a Part 36 offer of £8,300 which we accepted.

Contact our teeth damage solicitors in Bristol

If you’ve sustained teeth damage or a mouth injury in a pavement fall or other accident that wasn’t your fault, speak to a member of our Personal Injury team on 0117 325 2929 or complete our online enquiry form.