Slipped whilst holding my baby

[nat_84]

My mums flats have recently been "developed" alogn with dluble glazing they installed a new floor surface outisde, what was previously concrete is now a smooth and SLIPPERY painted surface.

Ever since it was layed it's near impossible to walk over if at all wet. People told the council immediately but they have ignored all complaints and mentioned somehtin gliek it being better for "drainage"?! ALong those lines... My mum lives on the first floor which an open balcony runs through.

I collected my 11 month daughter from nursery yesterday and visited my mums who lives around the corner. As i was approaching her door i fell badly whilst holding my daughter. Luckily i held on to her so she didnt fall or hurt herself. I smacked my recently operated knee off teh floor and fell back on to my bottom. Both me and my daughter were left shocked and upset - luckily my brother came outside and found us on the floor and took my daughter from me!

It was only a matter of time and me and my family are fuming at what happened and what COULD have happened - my baby could have hurt herself, she could have easily gone over the bacony and i could further have injured myself.

Is there any grounds that we can sue the council or anything we can do at all?

[LoftyLottie]

Yes you do have grounds to sue the council. I would take a solicitors advice. Most will give you a 30 minute appointment for a low fee to give you the advice you need.

Any public area maintained by the council should be of a safe standard. Your council has been negligent in ignoring the complaints.

This is quite a serious matter. Even if you don't want sue them you should advise them in writing what has happened and ask for a written reply.

[LoftyLottie]

(There are strict rules and health and safety guidelines about slippery floors and surfaces)

[aka pixi]

nat that is awful. Thank goodness the little un was okay and I hope your knee is okay too.

you can sue (or try to sue) the council. My son had an accident when his scooter went over a pothole in the road, his eye was cut pretty badly. One of those 'no win, no fee' places took it on and it took 2 years from start to finish but we won, and while it doesnt make the scarring go away he has a nice little nest egg when hes 18.

[nat_84]

Can you sue without any physical visual damage being caused?

I have booked a physio appointment concerning my knee but not sure that its enough evidence.

I will be writing to them and my dad will be calling them as he has been telling them about how dangerous it is for a while now.

[nat_84]

Sorry about your son pixi! But like you said when he's 18 he'll be glad for it lol.

Yes it was serious, and i'm worried about my mum and family and all he older ladies that walk along it daily - just a mtter of time before they go over aswell!

THANK GOD my little one was ok, natural instinct to grab hold of her - luckily!!!

[PatriciaH]

Did anyone see this ? a witness would be good ( not family of course ) so glad you and baby are ok x

[ELVIS68]

Also, take some pics of the balcony before they put some kind of anti-slip paint down

[nat_84]

No, no one saw - although at the time i was glad no one was there to witness it! lol.

[nat_84]

Done that Elvis, took pictures of my knee which was quite red and covered in scars from my recent operation and also the wet balcony.

[ELVIS68]

Oh yeh, I remember seeing you fall now, blimey that must have hurt!


*awaits �500 in a brown paper bag*

[nat_84]

lol ;o)

[aka pixi]

good point elvis. the council tarmacked the entire street after the solicitors got in touch with them....not before they had taken pics though :)

[ELVIS68]

Years ago my neighbour tripped over a paving stone and smash her shoulder to bits, luckily her husband took some pics of the paving stone the same day, a day later Enfield council were there re-laying it

sneaky bastads

[nat_84]

They blo0dy are aren't they!!!

[LoftyLottie]

Yes, good point - take some photos.

Your brother is a witness in respect that he found you after your fall. Although he is family, I believe he can still be a witness? (not 100% sure)

Is is possible to get a small sample of the surface by chipping up a piece of it?

Whether you get compensation or not I believe you ought to take this matter up formally for the safety of others.

[LoftyLottie]

Whoops, just read that you have already taken photos. Sorry.

[nat_84]

Yes Lofty i agree. There is no doubt whatsoever that the floor needs to be relayed. And if this isnt enough evidence then i dont know what is!

[Mully79]

We had a drain just outside our front gate, always flooding. Council and local housing wouldn't take responsibility. Any time it rained heavily we'd literally have a swimming pool in our front garden. The council said the drain system was sinking and it was too expensive to fix.

So my husband phoned the council one day (he was really peed off), told them he had been carrying our baby daughter out of the front garden and had slipped. Next day, a bloke was round jetting the drain to clear it. Two days after that, two men dug up the drain, put a bigger one there and re-routed the pipes to the main pipe which was a mere two metres away in our neighbour's garden. Took them less than half a day to do it - hardly "expensive". Not had a problem since.

During this time we took photos and video evidence in case we did actually need to prove the problem in case of an accident. It's just a shame that sometimes, lying is the only way to get the council off their arse!

Make sure you take LOTS of pictures, even video on your mobile phone. No doubt they will be trying to cover their tracks in case you make a claim. B*stards.

[redcrx]

drink some more tetjam! :)

Nat, good luck, you were very lucky, I hope it hasnt caused further problems with your knee hun