Have you ever walked into a shop and seen a wet floor sign stood over a damp floor or noticed a crack in a pavement and avoided it? Now imagine if there wasn’t a sign or you hadn’t noticed the crack and you’d slipped or tripped and fell. What if that fall had ended in you being seriously injured?

If you have had a fall that has left you badly injured, has cost you money – be it travel costs to attend a medical appointment or loss of earnings because you’ve been too injured to work, then you can make a claim for compensation.

If you Slip, Trip or Fall because of someone’s negligence, such as a failure to maintain the correct health and safety standards, then you have a right to claim compensation from whoever’s fault it was.

For example, if you slip in an area that is open to the public, like a library or bank, then you can make a claim against the occupier’s public liability insurance policy.

However if you lip, Trip or Fall in a building or area owned by the council like a public footpath, then you can make a compensation claim against your local authority because it was down to their negligence that you fell.

The same is also possible if you fell in the vicinity of a private property, providing it was the fault of the owner or occupier and they could either afford to pay or they had an insurance policy to cover it.

If you fall at work because of a hazard at your workplace that goes against your employer’s health and safety standards, then you may be in a position to claim. Employers must keep their workplaces safe, as must shops, supermarkets and restaurants.

If a slip, trip or fall is caused by such things as the following, then someone is responsible:

• Slippery floors
• Uneven flooring
• Cracked or uneven pavements
• Unexpected obstacles
• Inadequate lighting
• Ice or snow in areas that should have been cleared

If you have had a fall that wasn’t your fault, like slipping on a wet floor without a warning sign, you have a right to claim compensation.

This can be to cover the expenses for those extra miles of travelling to the medical appointments or to recuperate the loss of earnings you have suffered because of your injury. It can also cover the pain you have been through because of your accident.