No Win, No FeeA lot of the activities carried out at leisure centres help you to get fit, are fun and safe. However, accidents at leisure centres do happen. While some are not foreseeable, others can be avoided if the correct safety measures are taken. If you have been injured because a leisure centre owner or management was negligent, you could be compensated for any suffering. As such, we’ve written this guide on leisure centre injury claims to help you understand your options.
To make things easier, we offer a no-obligation consultation for any type of personal injury claim. If you call us on 0800 652 1345, a specialist will review your chances of receiving compensation and provide free advice. Where there is a fair chance of winning your claim, a personal injury lawyer from our panel could agree to work for you on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means you’ll only have to pay for your legal representation if you are awarded compensation.
Please read on to learn more about leisure centre injury claims or call us if you’d like to discuss your claim right away.
What duty of care does a leisure centre have?
The operator of a leisure centre has a legal duty of care to take reasonable steps to try and protect its customers, staff and visitors while they’re on the premises. Some of those steps include:
- Conduct regular risk assessments to spot any potential hazards.
- Have staff who are adequately trained on hand to support customers.
- Ensure any equipment in the leisure centre is maintained properly and fit for purpose.
- Provide induction schemes for gym users to reduce the risk of injury.
- Ensure swimming pools are well-maintained and free from broken tiles.
- Make sure lifeguards are on duty when members of the public use the swimming pool.
- Ensure the leisure centre building is in a good state of repair generally.
These measures will apply whether the leisure centre is operated privately, by a social enterprise or by the local authority.
Can I claim compensation for an accident at a leisure centre?
If you ask a personal injury solicitor to help you claim compensation for an accident at a leisure centre, they’ll first need to check:
- What kind of accident at the leisure centre were you involved in?
- Was the accident caused by the owner or management of the leisure centre’s negligence?
- Did you sustain an injury or were you made ill as a result?
If you’re able to answer yes to all three questions above, we may be able to help you to make a leisure centre injury claim. Of course, your solicitor will need to prove how the accident happened and how you’ve suffered so we’ll explain the types of proof that might be used to do so later on.
What types of accidents at a leisure centre could compensation be claimed for?
It’s important to point out that personal injury claims against a leisure centre could be based on accidents anywhere within the centre including the gym, swimming pool, changing rooms, sports courts and even the car park. So long as the incident was caused by the operator’s negligence, you could be compensated for any subsequent suffering.
Some of the more common leisure centre accidents that could lead to compensation claims include:
- Slips, trips or falls. For example, if you slipped and hurt yourself because there was excessive water in the changing room that hadn’t been cleaned up or highlighted with warning signs.
- Gym accidents. Here, you could claim if you were injured because the cable on a resistance machine snapped because of poor maintenance and you were injured. You could also claim for injuries caused by poor advice from a member of staff about how to use a piece of gym equipment.
- Swimming pool injuries and illnesses. Chemical levels should be monitored carefully by leisure centre staff. You could claim for chemical burns or irritations caused by over-chlorination of the pool. Similarly, you could claim compensation if you were made ill by e.Coli, diarrhoea or other conditions because the pool cleanliness was not monitored properly.
- Spa or Sauna accidents. Scald injuries caused by malfunctioning or improperly maintained spa equipment, hot tubs, saunas, or steam rooms could result in a claim if the owner was negligent.
- Accidents involving children. If your child suffered personal injuries in a leisure centre while attending a pool party, on a bouncy castle or during a sports class, you could claim compensation on their behalf if their injuries were due to a lack of supervision or inexperienced staff.
- Lack of supervision. Personal injuries caused due to a lack of proper supervision in the leisure centre, especially in areas like swimming pools, children’s play areas, or activity rooms may mean you’re entitled to compensation.
Don’t worry if the type of accident at a leisure centre you’ve been injured from isn’t listed here as we could still help. Just call our team, explain what happened and they’ll do the rest.
Can I claim compensation if I’ve been injured working in a leisure centre?
As mentioned earlier, leisure centre owners need to take reasonable steps to keep staff as safe as possible. This is a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
As a result, if you have been injured working in a leisure centre because your employer was negligent in some way, you could be entitled to claim compensation. Examples of negligence that could allow you to claim include:
- If you were not trained properly on the role you were asked to cover.
- Where you were not given Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) where needed.
- If you had an accident caused by tiredness because you were not allowed rest breaks or you’d been asked to work too many hours.
- If you were put at risk because of a lack of staff running the leisure centre.
If you’ve been injured while working in a leisure centre and would like to claim for your suffering, please speak to us today.
How much compensation for a leisure centre accident can I claim?
The amount you’ll receive if you win a personal injury claim against a leisure centre will generally be based on how much physical, psychological and financial suffering your injuries have caused. As such, it’s important to provide as much information about:
- Physical pain and discomfort linked to your injuries.
- Distress, anxiety or depression and other forms of psychiatric harm.
- Any normal activities affected by your injuries.
- Lost income if your injuries stopped you from working.
- Personal property that was damaged in your accident.
- The cost of hiring a carer or the amount of time someone else needed to look after you.
- Any medical expenses including prescription fees or physiotherapy costs.
- Travel expenses.
- How any long-term injuries might reduce your ability to work.
- Modifications to your home needed to help you deal with any longer-term or permanent injuries.
Your solicitor will assess your claim in detail with you to try and ensure that any compensation you are awarded covers everything.
Providing proof for a leisure centre injury claim
Whether you are claiming against a council leisure centre or a private business, the chances are your claim will be made against their public liability insurance policy. As you may already know, insurers don’t simply make payouts unless there is enough proof to force them to.
The types of proof you could use to help win damages in a leisure centre injury claim include:
- Photographs. You should always try to take pictures of what caused your accident at a leisure centre if you can. Also, you could use before and after pictures to help demonstrate the severity of any visible injuries.
- Accident reports. If you have an accident in a leisure centre, you should report it. Staff must record what happened in an accident report book by law. You can ask for a copy of the report to help prove when and where the accident occurred.
- CCTV footage. A lot of leisure centres use security cameras to keep their staff, customers and premises safe. As such, if your accident was caught on camera, you could ask for a copy of any relevant data
- Medical evidence. You should not rely just on first aid following an accident in a leisure centre in our opinion. Instead, visit A&E or a GP for a proper diagnosis and treatment. Later on, medical records could help to prove the extent of your injuries.
- Witness statements. There are times when witness statements could be used to help prove how you were injured. So, ask anybody who saw your accident and is ok with providing a statement for their contact details.
Aside from the above, any other proof you may have could also prove useful. For example, receipts could be used to help claim back any expenses linked to your injuries.
No Win, No Fee claims
If you’d like to hire a solicitor to represent you during a leisure centre injury claim but are worried about the cost then we can help. Our panel of personal injury solicitors work exclusively on a No Win, No Fee basis for all accepted claims.
In general terms, a No Win, No Fee service means that:
- There aren’t any legal fees to pay before the leisure centre injury claim begins.
- You won’t be expected to pay legal fees if the claim is lost.
- A percentage of any compensation you receive (a success fee) will be used to cover your solicitor’s time and effort.
The contract used by our solicitors when taking on leisure centre injury claims is called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When you receive your CFA, it will explain the success fee you’ll pay if your claim is won (capped legally at 25 per cent of any compensation you are paid).
After you have signed the CFA, your solicitor’s main goals are to:
- Collect information and proof needed to support a leisure centre accident claim.
- Contact the leisure centre to inform them that you are claiming.
- Deal with the leisure centre’s insurance provider so you won’t need to speak with them.
- Let you know how your claim is progressing regularly.
- Work hard to try and ensure that any settlement offer is fair.
To see if one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors could help you, please call our advice centre today.
Leisure centre injury claim time limits
There is a legal limitation period of 3 years for personal injury claims in the UK. That period will usually start from the date of your accident in a leisure centre but do check with our team to make sure. While 3 years is a fairly long time, it’s often better to start the claims process as soon as you can.
One reason for that is that it will make it much easier to collect proof to support your claim in our experience. Also, starting your claim against a leisure centre early might mean you can be paid interim payments to cover private medical treatment of your injuries (or other expenses) before the claim has been finalised.
One exception to the 3-year rule is for children. In these circumstances, their time limit will not commence until their 18th birthday. As a result, parents, guardians or responsible adults could claim on the child’s behalf before that date.
Claiming compensation on behalf of your child
To make a leisure centre injury claim on behalf of your child, you’ll need to apply to become their litigation friend. A solicitor from our panel can help with this process. Once you’ve received approval, you’ll be able to manage the claim as normal and make decisions in your child’s best interests.
To ensure any compensation offer is fair, it will be reviewed by a court that will keep any settlement payment in a trust fund until the child’s 18th birthday. Before then, the litigation friend can ask for funds to be released as and when they are needed.
Start a leisure centre injury claim today
If you’ve been injured in an accident at a leisure centre and believe you’re entitled to compensation, call 0800 652 1345 to talk to us. One of our specialists will review your claim with you and provide free legal advice about what you might want to do next.
If we believe the leisure centre was responsible for your injuries and a personal injury lawyer on our panel takes on your claim, you’ll be represented on a No Win, No Fee basis. As a result, there won’t be any need to pay legal fees unless you are paid compensation following a successful claim.
If you’d like to know anything else about leisure centre injury claims, you can speak to a member of our team or connect to our free live chat service.
