Walsall Borough Council – How To Sue for Compensation

This article aims to help you answer the question, ‘could I claim against Walsall Borough Council for compensation?’ The local council offers many different services for members of the public. A part of these services is a duty of care to take all reasonable steps to keep members of the public from harm in areas they control, such as premises and some roads.

claim against walsall borough council

If you’re in Walsall and have suffered harm as a result of the negligence of the local council, it could be possible to claim compensation. You could be a council employee that has suffered harm after an accident at work, and you’re wondering if you could sue your employer. Or it could be possible you’ve been in a road traffic accident caused by a pothole left by the council.

Alternatively, you may have suffered financial loss or mental harm due to a council data breach. Or you may be suffering due to council housing disrepair.

Read on to find out what a valid claim looks like. Alternatively, get in touch with us today for free legal advice. Our team of advisors can give you unconditional advice on your situation or possibly connect you with a solicitor from our panel if you have evidence of a valid claim. They could help you start your claim.

Select a Section

  1. What Personal Injury Claims Could I Sue The Council For?
  2. Data Protection Breach Claims For Compensation Against A Council
  3. Council Housing Disrepair Claims
  4. Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim Against Walsall Borough Council?
  5. Guidelines On Deadlines For Filing Personal Injury Claims
  6. Get Advice On A Potential Claim Against Walsall Borough Council
  7. More Resources On Making A Claim Against Walsall Borough Council

What Personal Injury Claims Could I Sue The Council For?

To make a valid personal injury claim against Walsall Borough Council, a claimant would need to be able to provide evidence that a breach of the council’s duty of care caused their injuries.

Although it is possible to make a claim without a solicitor, they can bring years of experience and knowledge to help you know what types of evidence would be best for your case. Typical evidence used in personal injury claims includes:

  • Medical reports
  • Photographs of the accident and your injuries
  • CCTV footage of the accident
  • Witness contact details (to take a statement at a later date)

Your solicitor could also help you by arranging a medical appointment to assess the cause, effects and extent of your injuries. The results of this will be used to value your injuries and, therefore, your claim.

Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, councils are considered the occupier of many public spaces, such as some parks, gyms and roads. If an issue has arisen in such an area, leading to an accident and harm, you could be wondering if you could make a valid claim. If your accident and injury was a direct result of a council’s negligence, this is when you could potentially claim compensation.

For example, you could suffer injury after a slip, trip or fall accident. If you were on council premises and fell down some stairs due to a faulty handrail the authority was aware of, you could experience a broken hip or forearm injury. If the council had not taken the correct precautions to keep you safe, which led to your fall and injury, this could make a compensation claim possible.

Potential Personal Injury Compensation Payouts

When valuing your claim, legal professionals use the Judicial College Guidelines to work out a potential compensation amount from past cases. Some of the injuries and related amounts listed in that document can be found in the compensation table below.

This element of your compensation is known as general damages, which compensates you for the psychological and physical injury you endured.

InjurySeverityAmount
Pelvis & HipsSevere (i)£73,580 to £122,860
Pelvis & HipsLesser£3,710 to £11,820
ArmLess Severe£18,020 to £36,770
Arm(d)£6,190 to £18,020
Wrist(b)£22,990 to £36,770
LegSerious (iii)£36,790 to £51,460
KneeModerate (ii)Up to £12,900
Achilles TendonSerious£23,460 to £28,240
ToeModerateUp to £9,010
Jaw(ii)£16,860 to £28,610

If you can’t see your injuries in the compensation table above, why not get in touch?

If your claim is successful, you could also claim special damages, which covers any financial loss you may have incurred as a result of your accident. You could even claim for any financial loss that could occur in the future.

To claim special damages, you would need to prove that your injuries caused your financial loss. You could do this by providing evidence such as payslips, bank statements, receipts or invoices.

This guide aims to help you understand what could amount to a valid claim against Walsall borough council. However, if you have unanswered questions, why not reach out?

Data Protection Breach Claims For Compensation Against A Council

To determine whether you could make a data breach claim, it is first important to define what a data breach could be. According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), a data breach can be defined as a deliberate or accidental data security breach that has led to the loss, destruction, change, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data.

Your personal data is protected under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Together, these documents outline how personal data should be safely handled.

To qualify to make a data breach claim, you need to be able to prove liability. This means finding a way to establish that those who were entrusted with your personal data failed to protect it, thereby causing you some form of material or non-material damage. Material damage covers financial losses caused by the breach, whereas non-material could include mental health issues that have arisen as a direct result of the data breach.

Data Breach: Positive Wrongful Conduct

It is also important that positive wrongful conduct caused the data breach. This indicates that the incident could have been easily avoided had the party responsible for protecting your personal data taken appropriate measures.

For example, if an organisation fails to update their cyber security, criminals could hack into its systems and access your personal data as a result. However, if the organisation had taken all reasonably practicable steps to secure your data and a cyberattack happened anyway, you may be unable to claim.

According to ICO security incident trends, the local government sector is the fourth most common sector for data breach incidents, with a reported 2,315 incidents in 2021/22. This indicates that it is not uncommon for local councils to experience these issues. If a data breach has harmed you and you have evidence of a valid claim, get in touch to potentially start your claim today.

Council Housing Disrepair Claims

Housing disrepair could be defined as when a property is left in a condition that could be considered hazardous or unsafe to live in.

In recent years, housing associations have bought many council houses. But councils do still control some housing, which we will be focusing on in this section.

The duty of care a council or landlord owes is detailed in the Defective Premises Act 1972. This Act outlines that a landlord owes a duty of care to those who could be affected by defects on the premises. Due to this, they must take all reasonably practicable steps to keep you safe from personal injury. If this does not happen, they may be breaching their duty of care and contract, and you could claim against them if you suffer an injury as a consequence.

To make a housing disrepair claim, you would need to be in a situation where the landlord has been aware of an issue without action for a long time, which has eventually led to injury or harm. To prove the liability of your landlord, you could collect evidence such as:

  • Photographs of the disrepair or your injury
  • A list of damaged items or receipts for replacements
  • Medical reports
  • A copy of your tenancy agreement to prove your landlord has breached their contract
  • Copies of any correspondence with the landlord to show you have notified them previously

Filing a housing disrepair claim against the council can seem complicated, so we advise having a specialised solicitor to help you with your case. Call us today for an assessment of your claim or to potentially speak to a solicitor.

Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim Against Walsall Borough Council?

When you’ve suffered as a result of an accident, the last thing you want to be thinking about is paying solicitor fees. But did you know that a No Win No Fee agreement could be an appealing and easy way to fund the services of your solicitor?

No Win No Fee agreements could be the best option for you if you’re already struggling financially. It means your solicitor will not require you to pay any upfront or ongoing solicitor fees. If your claim is unsuccessful, you won’t have to pay anything to your solicitor for their work.

If your claim does succeed, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your compensation amount. Your solicitor will explain their fees to you before taking on the case. The solicitor will also only deduct the fee once you receive your compensation. By law, the success fee is legally capped. This means you will likely keep the majority of the compensation you are awarded.

Guidelines On Deadlines For Filing Personal Injury Claims

Different claims have different time limitations under the Limitation Act 1980.

For personal injury claims, you are generally required to start your claim within 3 years of the accident or from the date of knowledge that your injuries were caused by negligence. However, there are a few exceptions to consider.

When considering making a claim on behalf of a minor or someone with diminished mental capacity, a litigation friend is needed. This can be any responsible adult with the claimant’s best interests at heart to make decisions in the case on their behalf.

When claiming on behalf of a minor, a litigation friend has until the claimant turns 18. Once the claimant is 18, they have 3 years to start a claim for themselves if a litigation friend hasn’t already done so on their behalf.

Additionally, a litigation friend can claim on behalf of someone with diminished mental capacity. They could do this at any time until a medical professional can consider the claimant to have made a full mental recovery. After this point, they then also have the usual 3 years from the date of recovery.

However, you may only have up to 1 year to start a claim against a public body for data breach claims. The local council is considered a public body. However, you can have up to 6 years to claim against a non-public body.

Similarly, you have up to 6 years to start a housing disrepair claim.

For more information on how time limitations may apply to you, get in touch with us today for free legal advice.

Get Advice On A Potential Claim Against Walsall Borough Council

We’ve now come to the end of this guide exploring what could constitute a valid claim against Walsall Borough Council. If you have any questions, why not get in touch with our team of advisors today? They can offer expert advice. What’s more, they could connect you with an experienced solicitor from our panel if you have a valid, justifiable claim.

Get in touch with us today if have a valid claim.

More Resources On Making A Claim Against Walsall Borough Council

Thank you for reading our guide on what evidence could justify a claim against Walsall Borough Council. We hope it answered any questions you may have had. See below for more relevant links.

Shelter – A charity aiming to help people struggling with housing issues.

NHS Physiotherapy – Find an NHS physiotherapy service near you.

Statutory Sick Pay – A government guide to claiming sick pay if you’ve had to take time away from work due to your injuries.

Guides On How To Sue The Local Council

Thank you for reading our guide on what proof could justify a valid claim against Walsall Borough Council. 

Article by MOR

Edited by VIC