Broken Chair Accident Claims – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

Accidents involving damaged, faulty or broken chairs are probably more common than you think. They can happen at work, in restaurants, in waiting areas and many other places besides. Fortunately, if you’ve suffered an injury that was caused by a faulty chair, you could claim compensation for your suffering. As such, this article on broken chair accident claims will consider how the claims process works and the types of accidents that might mean you’re entitled to compensation.

If you have any questions about your entitlement to compensation, we can help. If you call and ask for a free consultation, we’ll assess the merits of your claim and give free legal advice about what to do next. If it’s determined there’s a chance of you being awarded compensation, a personal injury solicitor on our panel may offer to help. If they do, they’ll manage your claim on a No Win, No Fee basis so you’ll not have to pay anything unless compensation is paid for your injuries.

For more information on broken chair accident claims, please continue reading or call 0800 652 1345 to speak to us now.

Can I claim compensation for a broken chair accident?

If you ask a personal injury solicitor on our panel to help you claim compensation for a broken chair accident, they’ll first need to review the case with you to see whether a claim is possible. During this assessment, they’ll be looking to see whether:

• There was a legal duty of care for the defendant to keep you safe from harm; and
• As a result of negligence, you were involved in an accident caused by a broken chair; and
• You suffered an injury or injuries because of that accident.

Duty of care is usually quite easy to determine so it’s probably not worth thinking about that too much as it will be checked by your solicitor. However, you can look for proof to show what caused your accident, who was to blame and how your injuries have affected you. For this reason, we’ll review the types of proof that can help in broken chair compensation claims, later on.

Types of broken chair accident claims

In this section, we’ll review some of the more common types of broken chair accidents that could lead to personal injury claims. They include:

• Workplace injuries. Your employer has a duty of care to try and protect you from injuries while you’re working. This means that they should visibly check chairs regularly for any faults and repair or replace them when necessary. Also, they should follow specific guidelines from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on ensuring workplace seating is safe. For example, chairs provided for those who work on computers all day should provide lower back, thigh and arm support.
• Public place accidents. Chairs are provided in many public places such as restaurants, libraries, airports, train stations and shopping centres. If you’re injured in a public place because a chair collapsed when you sat down or because your fingers were trapped, you could be entitled to claim compensation.
• School accidents. Schools provide chairs for staff and pupils in classrooms and in the assembly hall. Previous damage to chair legs could cause them to buckle when used. Also, these chairs are often made of hard plastic that can cause injuries if it is broken. Sharp or jagged edges on plastic chairs can result in cuts and lacerations which could, in turn, result in a personal injury claim.
• Public transport accidents. While travelling by train, bus, coach or tram, you should be relatively comfortable. However, damage to the seat you are sitting on could result in cuts and bruises. Also, some trains have folding chairs in vestibule areas. If this chair snaps from the wall as you sit down because it is damaged, you could suffer serious injuries.
• Holiday accidents. Chair-related accidents can occur while you’re staying in a hotel or while you’re sat by the pool abroad. The hotel operator has a duty of care to ensure that their chairs are safe and fit for purpose. As such, if you’ve been injured because a chair in your hotel room was damaged or a beach chair collapsed because it wasn’t erected properly, you could have grounds to claim for your injuries.

Our panel of personal injury solicitors could assist you with claiming compensation for any type of chair-related injury so please don’t worry if your accident or injury is not listed here. Feel free to call today and an advisor will review your options with you for free.

How much compensation for a broken chair accident claim?

To be compensated fairly, you should include all aspects of your suffering that have been caused by the accident and any that might occur in the future. For broken chair accident claims, you might need to claim compensation for:

• The pain, discomfort and suffering caused by physical injuries.
• Care costs if you needed help with basic tasks while you were recovering.
• Lost income (present and future).
• Private medical treatment and rehabilitation including physiotherapy.
• Loss of amenity when your injuries stop you from enjoying your usual hobbies or activities.
• Travel expenses.
• The cost of replacing items damaged in the accident (your phone, clothes or jewellery for example).
• Accessibility modifications for your vehicle or home if you’ve been left disabled by the accident.
• Any mental harm caused by depression, anxiety and other psychological injuries.

To detrmine the extent of your suffering, you’ll need a medical assessment during the claims process. Usually, this involves an appointment with a local medical expert. They’ll read through your medical notes before examining your injuries. They’ll also have a conversation with you about the impact of your injuries. Their report will help your solicitor to calculate how much compensation you could be due.

Providing proof for broken chair accident claims

If your broken chair accident claim is taken on, your solicitor will probably end up dealing with the insurance company that represents the defendant. It’s probably fair to say that no insurer likes paying any more compensation than they have to (if at all). As such, your solicitor will need to work hard and present as strong a case as possible. To do this, they’ll try to find solid proof to show why and how you were injured. This could include:

• Photographic proof. Before the chair that injured you is replaced, repaired or removed, you should take photographs of it. Ideally, you should aim to capture any defects that caused the accident to happen.
• Witness statements. In some claims, a defendant will try to deny that the accident took place or that you were injured by it. To counter that argument, your solicitor might contact any witnesses and ask them for a statement about what happened.
• Accident reports. It’s always advisable to report any sort of accident as soon as possible. Employers and businesses must keep accident records and you could request a copy to help confirm when and where the accident occurred.
• Medical proof. You must be able to confirm the extent of any injuries from the damaged chair you’ve sustained when claiming compensation. A good place to start with this is to request medical notes, X-rays and scans from the hospital that treated you.
• Video recordings. CCTV footage is a particularly good form of proof that can help to show how your accident occurred. So, you should ask for a copy of any data to be forwarded to you but bear in mind that companies generally only keep data for short periods of time.
• Financial records. To help claim back some of the expenses listed earlier, you should hold onto any relevant financial documents like receipts, wage slips or bank statements.

If you’ve been injured by a broken chair and would like us to help you claim for your suffering, please call. If you have any proof already, let us know about it as it could speed up the claims process.

Broken chair accident claims time limits

There is a 3-year time limit for any type of personal injury claim here in the UK. For broken chair accident claims, the time limit will normally commence on the date of the accident.

There is an exception to this rule for children. Their time limit for personal injury claims doesn’t start until their eighteenth birthday. However, at any time before they become an adult, a parent or guardian can seek damages as a litigation friend on the child’s behalf.

If you leave your claim too late, it’s possible that you’d miss out on any compensation you may be entitled to as your claim could become statute-barred. As such, we’d suggest getting started with your claim sooner rather than later.

Making a prompt start to your claim should mean ample time is available to find any available proof and arrange a medical assessment. It will generally, of course, also mean you’ll be compensated sooner if the claim is successful.

No Win, No Fee claims

Our solicitors provide a No Win, No Fee service for any broken chair accident claim they agree to work on.

If your claim is taken on, your solicitor will send you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is the contract that allows your solicitor to work on your case without being paid any fees in advance.

After you have returned a signed CFA, your solicitor will:

• Look for the medical information and proof to support your claim.
• Make contact with the defendant and let them know that you wish to be compensated.
• Handle all enquiries from the defendant’s insurance company so that legal or medical questions aren’t sent to you directly.
• Keep you up to date throughout the claims process.
• Fight your corner and try to ensure any settlement offer is fair.

If your claim is lost, you won’t have to cover any legal fees at all. If you are compensated, you’ll pay a success fee for the time and effort your solicitor has put in. This is in the form of a deduction from your compensation payment. When using a CFA, the highest the success fee can be is 25 per cent of your payout.

Please speak to one of our advisors to check if one of our solicitors could represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis.

Start a broken chair accident claim today

It could take just one call to our advisors on 0800 652 1345 to find out if you’re entitled to claim compensation for injuries caused by a broken chair. Your case will be assessed for free by one of our specialists who’ll then explain your legal options.

If your claim is accepted by a personal injury solicitor from our panel, they’ll manage the whole process on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means that both your stress levels and financial risks will be reduced if you work with us!

Please use live chat to connect with us if you have any further questions on broken chair accident claims, or claim your free consultation here.