Knowing when to make a personal injury claim for an accident at home

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Published on Monday, 27 September 2021 19:09

Last Updated on 28 September 2021

Monica Costa

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Over a lifetime, we hurt ourselves in all sorts of ways in accidents around the home. Most of the time, we are the authors of our misfortune. We stub a toe on the bed, or we forget the hotplate is on and put our hand on it – that sort of thing.

However, some accidents at home are the fault of others, and in those cases, if you are injured, you have every right to make a personal injury claim against those responsible.

Here are a few examples of when getting hurt in an accident at home might cause you to call a personal injury solicitor.

Accident whilst working from home

Ever since the pandemic started, working from home has become the norm for many.

If you have an accident at work and it is your employer’s fault, you can claim personal injury compensation from the company you work for. Your employer owes you a duty of care to keep you safe at your workplace.

If your workplace is your home, your employer still has a responsibility to ensure you are working in a safe place. It’s conceivable that if you suffer injury in an accident whilst working from home, you might have grounds to bring an injury claim against your employer. 

Whether you would be successful or not will depend on:

• The nature of the accident, and
• Whether, before the accident happened, your employer had carried out a thorough risk assessment of your home working set up, identifying and rectifying any areas of risk found.

If your employer has not carried out a risk assessment and you are the victim of an accident relating to your home working set up, you may have reasonable grounds for making an accident at work claim.

Faulty workmanship claims  

When a trades person carries out shoddy work at your home, and it results in you suffering harm, you may be justified in starting a personal injury claim against them.

There are numerous ways faulty workmanship can lead to someone suffering injury, such as:

• Faulty electrical wiring work or a poorly fitted electrical appliance, from which you get an electric shock.
• You are injured when a new boiler explodes because it has been installed incorrectly.
• A badly fitted door or window frame falls onto you or a family member.

Reputable tradespeople are expected to carry third-party liability cover and their insurance will cover personal injury claims caused by substandard workmanship.

Defective Product Liability Claims

Faulty goods sometimes cause more than the inconvenience of trying to get them replaced. For example:

• New iron sets on fire, causing burns to the user.
• New sofas or chairs collapse when sat on for the first time. The victim falls off and suffers injury.
• Food bought to eat at home leads to family members getting food poisoning.
• Children injured by faulty toys.
• User suffers a severe reaction to chemicals contained in hair dye products.

 

To bring a successful claim for injury against the manufacturer, you will need to show the product was substandard. Your claim against the manufacturer will be for breach of contract.

Personal Injury Claims Against Landlords

If you live in a rental property, your landlord owes you a duty to make sure the premises he lets out to you are safe for you to use. The Landlord and Tenants Act 1985 lays down strict rules making the landlord responsible for ensuring the property is well maintained and fit to live in.

You may fall ill or suffer injury if your landlord doesn’t maintain your home to a reasonable standard. If you can prove the cause of your illness is from living in a poorly maintained home, you will have a fair chance of claiming compensation from your landlord.

Respiratory diseases such as asthma and pneumonia are caused or exacerbated by living in damp and mouldy properties.

Criminal Injury Claims Following an Assault in the Home

Most of the time, our homes are indeed our ‘castles’. However, rare as it may be, people get assaulted in their homes by someone who gains forced entry.

Sadly, for some women, their home does not feel like their haven. Domestic violence is criminal assault and should be treated as the criminal act that it is.

If you are the victim of an assault in your own home, your recourse to compensation for the injuries you sustain is through making a Criminal Injuries Compensation claim.

Making a successful claim for an accident at home is not always straightforward. An experienced personal injury firm like Mooneerams will always give you free initial advice on whether you may have a claim or not.