Slips Trips and Falls
Slips Trips and
Falls Claim
Check If You're Eligible
A slip and fall claim succeeds when someone who owed you a duty to keep the place safe failed to meet it, and that failure caused your injury. Who owed you that duty depends on where you fell: an occupier, an employer, or the council. We work out which, and there is no upfront cost to find out.
- Free, no-obligation claim assessment
- No Win, No Fee, you only pay if we win
- Clear guidance from SRA-regulated solicitors
- Support throughout your claim, start to finish
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Find Your Claim Type
Find the right slips, trips and falls claim
Slip and fall claims, slip and trip claims and slips, trips and falls claims are the same claim under three names. What changes the case is where you fell and who was responsible for that place, so the claims below are grouped by exactly that.
Public liability claims
Claims arising from accidents caused by unsafe public spaces, poorly maintained premises and occupier negligence.
Office accident claims
Claims arising from hazards in office environments, including wet floors and trailing cables.
Construction accident claims
Damaged tiles, loose carpets or step changes in level can cause serious trips if not properly maintained.
Accidents at work claims
Claims involving slips, trips and falls caused by unsafe workplace conditions.
Fall from height claims
Claims arising from falls from ladders, scaffolding, roofs and elevated working platforms.
Manual handling claims
Claims involving lifting injuries caused by unsafe manual handling practices.
Forklift accident claims
Claims arising from collisions and workplace accidents involving forklifts.
Back injury claims
Claims for back injuries caused by slips, trips or falls, including soft tissue injuries, spinal damage and long-term pain.
Wrist injury claims
Support for people who fractured or injured their wrist while trying to break the impact of a slip, trip or fall.
Elbow injury claims
Claims for elbow injuries caused by falling onto a hard surface, resulting in fractures, ligament damage or ongoing pain.
Ankle injury claims
Help for people who suffered sprains, fractures or other ankle injuries after slipping, tripping or falling because of someone else’s negligence.
Understanding Your Rights
What is a slips, trips and falls claim?
A slip and fall claim is a personal injury claim brought because a floor, a pavement or a surface was not safe and somebody should have made it safe. You will see it written a dozen ways. Slips claims, slip claims, trip claims, fall claims, slip trip claim, slip fall claims, a slip and fall injury claim, trip and fall injury claims, a trip and fall accident claim and slip, trip, fall injury claims are all the same claim.
One distinction does matter. A trip turns on a defect that was already there, such as a raised paving slab or a trailing cable, so the case is about how long it had been there and who should have found it. A slip turns on something that arrived, usually a spillage, rainwater or ice, so the case is about how long it was on the floor and what the inspection routine was. Tell us which happened and we know which records to ask for first.
What slip and fall compensation covers
Two calculations. General damages for the injury itself, valued on the medical evidence. Special damages for what it has cost you: lost earnings, unpaid care from family, travel to appointments, private treatment, damaged glasses or phones.
Trip or fall compensation is worked out the same way whatever the accident is called, and the second calculation is where two identical injuries end up worth different amounts.
Can I claim for a fall that was partly my own fault?
Yes. Under section 1(1) of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 your claim is not defeated by your own share of the fault; the damages are reduced by it. A finding that you were 30% responsible pays 70%, not nothing.
Insurers open with this argument on most slip claims because people assume it ends the claim and stop.
Who is responsible for a slip and fall claim?
You do not need to work this out. Three duties cover almost every claim. An occupier owes you the common duty of care under section 2 of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 whenever you are lawfully on their premises.
An employer must keep floors free from anything that may cause a person to slip, trip or fall under regulation 12 of the Workplace Regulations 1992. A highway authority must maintain the pavement under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980.
The scale of the problem
HSE figures for workplace slips, trips and falls
30%
of employer-reported (RIDDOR) non-fatal injuries to employees were slips, trips or falls on the same level, making it the most common kind of workplace accident by a wide margin.
133,000
Average annual same-level slip, trip and fall injuries (LFS, 2022/23–2024/25)
These figures are workplace only. There is no equivalent national reporting duty for falls in shops, public buildings or on pavements, so the true number across all three is higher.
Claim Value
What could your slip, trip or fall compensation be worth?
Slip injury compensation, trip injury compensation, slip and trip compensation, slips, trips, falls compensation and compensation for slip and fall injuries are all calculated the same way: the injury itself, plus what the accident has cost you. Nobody can value it before a medical expert has examined you, so we assess individually rather than publishing an average that mixes a bruised knee with a fractured hip.
Back Injury
Minor to severe
Recovery time and lasting impact affect the final amount
Wrist / Arm Injury
Minor to severe
Including fractures sustained bracing a fall
Head Injury
Mild to severe
Wide range depending on injury sustained
Psychological Injury
Varies by severity
Medical diagnosis required to support a claim
Knee / Leg Injury
Mild to severe
Assessed against long-term mobility impact
Loss of Earnings
100% of net
Until return to work
Not sure what your claim is worth?
Most people leave out unpaid care from family and the cost of help at home, which on a wrist or ankle injury is often the largest recoverable item after lost earnings. Tell us what you have stopped being able to do and we will tell you what it is worth.
Why Claim Time
Trusted for slips, trips and falls claims Claims
across the UK
We help thousands of clients a year recover compensation after an accident, with care above all.
Your slip and fall solicitor's SRA number, before you ask
Your slip and fall solicitor's SRA number, before you sign You are told who is running your file and given their SRA number on your paperwork, not after the claim starts. The Solicitors Register the number belongs to is public, and the SRA calls it the definitive impartial source of information about the firms and people it regulates, so the check takes a minute. Several of the numbers you will ring are claims management companies, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority rather than the SRA, who take your details and pass them to a firm like ours.
Not just the incident report on slip and trip claims
Annex C of the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims lists what a defendant should disclose, with a separate list for highway tripping and another for accidents at work, and paragraph 6.5 says no charge is made for the copies. Most slip and trip claims ask for the incident report and stop. We ask for the whole Annex C list, including the inspection and cleaning records that decide who wins.
We price unpaid care into slip and fall compensation
In Hunt v Severs the House of Lords held that care given without charge by family or friends is recoverable, and that the money is held on trust for whoever provided it. It is valued at commercial care rates, conventionally discounted by around 25%. So we ask what your family actually did and for how long, because on a wrist or ankle injury this is frequently the largest item after lost earnings and the one people leave out when they claim alone.
We price unpaid care into slip and fall compensation
In Hunt v Severs the House of Lords held that care given without charge by family or friends is recoverable, and that the money is held on trust for whoever provided it. It is valued at commercial care rates, conventionally discounted by around 25%. We ask what your family actually did and for how long, because on a wrist or ankle injury this is frequently the largest item after lost earnings and the one people leave out when they claim alone.
No win no fee
No win no fee slip, trip or fall claims do carry a fee, and you see the number before you commit rather than after you win. It is written into your agreement, it is deducted from your damages only if the claim succeeds, and it is never charged upfront or charged at all if the claim fails.
The slip and fall claims we turn away
Under rule 26.9 of the Civil Procedure Rules a personal injury claim goes to the small claims track, where costs are generally not recoverable, if damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity alone are £1,500 or less, and that figure excludes lost earnings entirely. If your symptoms settled quickly we say so on the first call and tell you how to bring it yourself, rather than running a file that cannot pay for itself.
Simple Process
How a slip and fall claim works
Three stages, and you are involved in the first and the last.
Almost everything in the middle happens without you, which is the part people are most surprised by and the reason starting early costs you nothing in effort.
Tell us about your accident
A free call establishes where you fell, who was responsible for that place and how long your symptoms have lasted. If the claim is viable we send the CCTV and records preservation requests the same week, because those are the documents that disappear.
We handle everything
We obtain your medical records, arrange an independent examination, quantify your losses and put the claim to whoever is legally responsible.
You receive compensation
Most slip, trip and fall claims settle by negotiation without anyone attending a hearing. Where proceedings are issued it is usually to protect the three year deadline while negotiation continues. Your compensation is paid directly to you.
Case Example
What a claim like yours can look like
“After slipping on an unmarked wet floor in a supermarket, I wasn’t sure I had a case. My solicitor explained clearly what I could claim for and dealt with the store’s insurer throughout, so I could focus on recovering.”
Sarah (Name changed)
Typical Outcome
Settled
Once liability was accepted and the medical evidence was in, this claim moved through to settlement without needing to go to court. There was no cost to the client at any stage. As with any claim, the details, timeline and value are specific to what happened, so your own case may look quite different.
Learn More
Related guides
Got Questions?
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers on eligibility, time limits, and what happens if the responsible party disputes what happened.
Tap a question to reveal its answer.
What counts as a slips, trips and falls claim?
Any injury caused by a hazard someone else had a duty to deal with and did not: a spillage with no warning sign, a raised paving slab, a trailing cable, a missing handrail or an unlit step. The hazard decides the claim, not how dramatic the fall was.
Can I claim if I was partly at fault?
Yes. Under the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 your compensation is reduced by your share of the responsibility rather than refused. A 30% finding against you pays 70%.
Who is responsible if I do not know who to blame?
In a shop or public building it is usually the occupier, at work your employer, and on a pavement the highway authority, which for most streets in England is the county or unitary council rather than the district council. We identify the right defendant. You do not have to.
How long do I have to make a slip, trip or fall claim?
Three years from the accident under the Limitation Act 1980. A child has until their 21st birthday, and time does not run against an adult who lacks capacity to conduct the claim.
What does a no win no fee slip and trip claim cost me upfront?
Nothing. If the claim fails you pay us nothing. If it succeeds, our basic costs are recovered from the other side and a success fee is deducted from your damages, capped and agreed with you in writing before we start.
What is the law on slips, trips and falls in the UK?
There is no single slips and trips statute. Claims are brought in negligence, supported by the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 for premises, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 for workplaces and the Highways Act 1980 for pavements. The Limitation Act 1980 sets the three year deadline and the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 governs shared fault. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules; this page describes England and Wales.
The shop says the cleaning company was at fault, not them. Is that right?
Usually not, and section 2(4)(b) of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 says when it is. An occupier escapes liability for a contractor’s bad work only if entrusting the work was reasonable, they checked the contractor was competent, and they took reasonable steps to satisfy themselves the work had actually been done. An occupier who hired cleaners and then never inspected the floor fails the third. We ask for the cleaning schedule, the inspection log and the contract before accepting that the occupier is the wrong defendant.
I tripped on a pavement. Why do councils refuse these claims?
Because of section 58 of the Highways Act 1980, which gives a highway authority a complete defence if it proves it took such care as was reasonably required to secure that the highway was not dangerous. The court must have particular regard to whether the authority knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, that the defect was likely to cause danger. So the claim turns on their inspection records, not on how deep the defect was. Two things beat the defence: a report of the defect logged before your accident, and a photograph showing a defect old enough that it must have been there at the last inspection. Photograph it with a coin or ruler in frame, because intervention thresholds are measured in millimetres.
I slipped at work. Does breaking the regulations mean my employer is automatically liable?
No, and this changed in 2013. Regulation 12 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires floors to be kept free, so far as is reasonably practicable, from anything that may cause a person to slip, trip or fall. But since 1 October 2013, section 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 means breach of health and safety regulations is no longer actionable in itself. It is strong evidence of negligence, and the claim is brought in negligence with the regulation showing what a reasonable employer should have done. That is why a slip and fall at work claim needs the risk assessment and the cleaning records, not just proof the floor was wet.
Is my claim big enough to be worth bringing?
The threshold is not what your total losses are. Under rule 26.9 of the Civil Procedure Rules a personal injury claim goes to the small claims track, where legal costs are generally not recoverable, if the damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity alone are £1,500 or less. That figure excludes lost earnings and every other head of loss. The £5,000 threshold you may have read about applies to road traffic claims, not to slips, trips and falls. So what decides it is how long your symptoms lasted and whether anything is permanent. A fractured wrist clears it comfortably. A bruised knee that settled in three weeks does not, however much work you missed. Tell us those two things and we will say honestly whether the claim is better brought without us.
Do I need a slip and fall solicitor or a slip and fall lawyer?
The same person. “Lawyer” is the general word and “solicitor” is the regulated profession, so a slip trip and fall lawyer, a trip and fall lawyer, a slip and fall accident lawyer, a slip and fall at work lawyer, a lawyer for slip and falls, a personal injury lawyer slip and fall, slip fall lawyers and lawyers for slips and falls all describe a solicitor when the case is in England and Wales. Slip and fall solicitors, slip trip and fall solicitors, slip trip solicitors, slip solicitors, trip injury solicitors and slips trips and falls solicitors are the same people again, and every one of ours is regulated by the SRA.
Get in Touch
Discuss your slip, trip or fall compensation claim
If you have been injured in a slip, trip or fall, our slip and fall solicitors will review your situation in a free, no-obligation call. We act across England and Wales, with most of our clients in Manchester, Cheshire, Macclesfield and the north west, and in Birmingham and the west midlands.
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