Only five of 241 pothole injury claimants win compensation
Posted: August 9, 2014
Posted in: Arm Injury Head and Brain Injuries Pothole Injuries Public Place Accidents
Recently released figures have revealed that in Buckinghamshire only 5 out of 241 pothole injury claimants actually receive compensation. The figures were obtained by a Freedom of Information request by the Bucks Advertiser, revealing that only a very small percentage of people injured by potholes over the last five years won any compensation. The five successful claimants cost Bucks County Council £117,000.
Mark Shaw, the deputy cabinet member for transportation, said that the council only pays out when they have failed to meet their duty of care. The figures were released after a pensioner, Trixie Offord, injured herself on a pothole walking home to her house in Hampden Road, Chalfont St Peter. She injured her nose and face, and broke her wrist as a result of the fall last February. Mrs Offord never received compensation after the fall, as the pothole was deemed safe in a BCC inspection.
“It was not her fault”
Mrs Offord’s daughter, Sheryn Ross, said: “She’s still in pain. She is an old person who felt falling over the pothole was her fault and it will affect her for the rest of her days – that’s what made me angry, it was not her fault.”
A council spokesperson said that the council is only liable when the pothole is ‘category one’ and has not been fixed. A ‘category one’ pothole must be more than 40mm deep and 300mm wide with jagged edges.
If you have suffered an injury in a public place, and are looking to claim compensation, please contact us.
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