Thompsons Solicitors in Scotland were contacted by the claimant, a further education lecturer from North Lanarkshire, via her union, UNISON, in relation to the fractured ankle she sustained as a result of a pothole accident in the car park of a social club.

The background

On 26 January 2019, the claimant was attending her son's wedding party at Airdrie Service Club. At the end of the evening she went to meet her taxi, which was waiting for her in the establishment's car park, when she fell into a pothole and suffered an injury.

The pain of the accident was so intense that the claimant immediately vomited. Despite this, she asked the taxi driver to take her home. During this journey the taxi driver informed the claimant that he had recently sustained a damaged tyre as a result of driving over a pothole in the same car park.

The consequences

The following morning, the claimant woke to considerable pain, swelling and bruising on her ankle and leg. As a result, her husband took her to the accident and emergency department at Monklands Hospital where she received x-rays which confirmed she was suffering from a clean break to her right ankle, a sprained left ankle and a significantly bruised left hand.

She was initially fitted with a plaster cast on her right foot and was later provided with a "moon boot".

The settlement

Thompsons personal injury solicitors in Scotland contacted the insurers of the social club. They admitted liability and offered to settle the claim for £4,438.37. However, this was rejected as we believed the sum was too low.

The insurers then offered £5,000 which was accepted and formalised on 26 November 2019.