Our Services

Public Injury Claims in South Wales

If you have suffered an injury anywhere that was open to the public at any time in the last three years, and someone else was to blame, you may be owed compensation.

Even the most minor injuries can affect your health, wellbeing, career and general life, while more serious injuries can be life changing. Whatever the consequences of a public injury, claiming compensation can make a real difference.

Compensation can help you to access the very best treatment and care, as well as assisting in other ways, such as replacing lost income. It is therefore always a good idea to explore the possibility of claiming if you think you may be eligible for public injury compensation.

Read our two-minute guide to accidents in public.

Get expert help to claim public injury compensation

David W Harris & Co are specialist personal injury lawyers in South Wales with decades of experience helping people to claim public injury compensation.

We have assisted clients with claims against councils and local authorities, as well as schools, colleges, universities, private businesses and a wide range of other organisations and individuals.

By keeping the claims process as straightforward as possible, we minimise the stress and worry for our clients while working diligently to maximise the compensation they receive.

Our experience with public injury claims

Our personal injury lawyers in South Wales can help with many types of public liability injury claims, including:

We regularly secure compensation in the £1,000-£500,000 range and recently won a £14million settlement for one of our clients. If you're curious as to how much compensation you could receive for an injury, try our straightforward personal injury calculator.

We offer no win, no fee public injury claims funding, so there is usually no upfront cost or financial risk in pursuing a claim with David W Harris & Co.

Get a free first consultation with our public injury solicitors in South Wales

Unsure if you are entitled to compensation for a public injury or just want to know more about how the claims process works?

We offer a free first consultation to answer your questions and help you decide whether you wish to pursue a public injury compensation claim.

Please use our simple online enquiry form to book a free initial chat with our team. There will be no obligation to take things further unless you wish to do so.

Why use David W Harris & Co. for your public injury claim?

There are numerous reasons to work with our expert personal injury solicitors, including:

  • No win, no fee funding for public injury claims
  • Millions of pounds in compensation recovered for our clients over the last 35 years
  • Our expertise is independently recognised:
  • We cover the whole of South Wales with offices in Pontypridd, Talbot Green and Swansea – home visits can also be arranged where appropriate
  • Most public liability injury claims we handle are settled out of court, saving you time, legal costs and stress
  • We have a strong track record of securing maximum public injury compensation for our clients

Find out more about our personal injury claims expertise.

Public injury claims fees and funding

No win, no fee public liability injury claims

Most public liability claims we handle are funded through a ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’, which you may have heard referred to as ‘no win, no fee’ funding.

The advantage of making a no win, no fee public injury claim is that it means you don’t have to worry about the legal fees involved. You won’t have to pay anything upfront and our fees will only be applied if we are successful with your claim. In the event that your claim doesn’t succeed, and you don’t receive compensation, you won’t owe us anything.

With a no win, no fee public liability claim, there is therefore no financial risk to you.

Find out more about no win, no fee personal injury claims funding.

Legal expenses insurance for public liability claims

If you have legal expenses insurance, then this may cover some or all of the cost of making a public injury claim. This type of cover is often included as an optional extra with car insurance and home insurance policies.

We will be happy to discuss the different options for funding a public injury claim with you during your initial consultation with our team.

Common questions about public injury claims

What is a public liability claim?

A public liability claim is a type of compensation claim for people who were injured in a public place. This includes places such as public roads and pavements, parks and other open spaces, shops, gyms and anywhere else that is open to the public.

Anyone who is responsible for a place that is accessible to the public is legally required to have public liability insurance. It is the provider of this policy who will pay public liability compensation following a successful claim. For this reason, these types of claims are sometimes also referred to as public liability insurance claims.

Is there a time limit to claim compensation for a public injury?

There is a standard time limit of three years to make any type of personal injury claim, including public liability claims. This time limit is counted for the ‘date of knowledge’, which is the date upon which you were aware you were injured and that someone else was at least partially to blame.

The date of knowledge can sometimes be many weeks, months or even years after the actual injury occurred, so it is worth bearing this in mind when considering whether you may still have time to claim.

There are also different time limits that apply in certain situations that may give you longer to claim. This includes if the injured party was under 18 or does not have the mental capacity to claim (e.g. if they suffered a serious brain injury in the accident).

Head over to our personal injury claims page to find out more about time limits for personal injury claims.

What damages are available for a public liability injury?

Obviously, this is something any potential claimant will want to know before deciding whether it is worth pursuing a claim. While the answer will depend on various factors, including the severity of your injuries and the impact on your life, ultimately the idea is to ‘make right’ the harm caused by a public injury, so this will guide the total damages available.

In general, public injury compensation can cover:

  • Financial losses due to your injuries – including lost wages, the cost of paying for treatment, specialist equipment etc.
  • Expected future financial losses – e.g. reduction in your future earning potential, the need to pay for ongoing care etc.
  • Loss of amenity – i.e. no longer being able to carry out activities you previously could, such as driving, playing sport etc.
  • Pain and suffering – for your physical and emotional pain.

Something to bear in mind is that the amount of compensation you can actually receive may depend on whether you are held to be partially responsible for your accident, or whether someone else is wholly responsible (see ‘Can you claim compensation for a public injury that was partly your fault?’ below). If you are held to be partly responsible, you will normally only receive a percentage of what you would have received if you were completely blameless.

Our public liability claims solicitors will be happy to advise on the potential damages available for your claim during your initial consultation with our team.

Who can I claim compensation from for a public injury?

This depends on where the accident occurred as the claim will be against the party responsible for providing a safe environment in that place. This could be your council or other local authority, a school, college, university or other public institution, or it could be a private business or individual.

If you are unsure who is responsible for the place where you were injured, our public liability solicitors can help identify them and their insurers for the purposes of pursuing a claim.

Can you claim compensation for a public injury that was partly your fault?

Yes, even if you were partly at fault, you will likely still be able to pursue compensation if it can be shown that someone else was also at fault.

How much responsibility the different parties (including yourself) have for your injuries will determine exactly how much compensation you can receive. For example, if you and  another party are held to be equally responsible for the accident (i.e. a 50:50 split of the blame) you would normally be entitled to half (50%) of the damages that would be available if the other party was entirely at fault and you were blameless.

What to do next about starting a public injury claim

To book your free initial consultation with one of our specialist personal injury solicitors in Pontypridd, Talbot Green or Swansea, please get in touch.

Simply use our short online enquiry form to tell us you would like to speak to a member of our personal injury team about a potential public injury claim and we will be in touch promptly.