Every year I tend to comment on how the winter months are very good for the personal injury business.
It is for example entirely predictable that the bad weather will lead to a rise in accidents and injuries suffered on the highway. Commuting to and from work in the dark leads to a rise in car accidents. Bad weather, particularly snow and ice, can open up a rich seam of accidents occurring on hazardous pathways and roads.
This year has been so far particularly busy given the deep freeze that we have been suffering with across the UK during the last 14 days. My firm has taken on no less than 20 ice slipping cases during the last week or so. These are nearly all cases involving Occupiers Liability or accidents in / around business premises rather than highway incidents where council liability tends to be a major hurdle.
We no longer take on any cases against local authorities for failure to grit public roads and pavements. They are almost certainly doomed to failure given the wide remit offered by the Highways Act 1980. Specifically this phrase can do serious damage to a prospective claim:
In particular, a highway authority is under a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.
Its not even Christmas yet so this season could be a bumper one for hungry lawyers.
