What is the duty of care provided by Local Authorities?
In total there are 330 local authorities in England.
Local authorities have a duty to make sure people are kept safe in public places, such as park, road, pavements and street lighting, and their properties, including school, leisure centres and council owned homes. To ensure public safety the Local Authority must ensure proper maintenance of the property / public highways.
You don’t have to be a resident within the borough where the accident has occurred. Every Local Authority has a responsibility to ensure that the area is safe.
What situation gives rise to bringing a claim for compensation against the local authority: –
- Damaged / Injury caused by either tripping, cycling and walking over a pothole that is more than 2.5cm deep. You can also claim in you were involved in a road traffic collision and injury / loss was sustained due to the vehicle hitting the pothole
- Injured at work (employee of the Council) for example not being provided with the correct training or adequate equipment
- Your child or you sustain injury in the playground / park due to faulty or poorly maintained playground equipment
- Suffering from food poisoning and any other illness due to eating food from a Council catering facility i.e. school canteen or a café in a leisure centre
If it transpires that you have suffered due to the negligence of the Council, you can bring a claim for the following:
- Physical Injury
- Loss of earnings
- Medical treatment
- Damaged items
At Specters, we have a team who specialised in claims against the local authority and would be happy to assist you through the process. Specters are able to handler many claims against the local authority on a No Win No Fee basis.
