This case study relates to an accident which occurred in Larkhall Leisure Centre, Broomhill, South Lanarkshire.

The injured party was referred to Thompsons' personal injury solicitors via his union, Unite.

The background

Our client, a clerk of works for South Lanarkshire Council, was attending Larkhall Leisure Centre in October 2018 to play five-a-side football. Our client booked the sports hall regularly for this purpose and he was very familiar with the venue.

On the date of the leisure centre accident, our client arrived at the hall to find a number of puddles of water on the floor. This was a regularly occurring problem which had been brought to the attention of leisure centre staff on a number of occasions. Our client and other players usually took it upon themselves to dry the puddles using their own towels.

As the game commenced, our client slipped on a wet part of the floor surface. He fell to the ground and knew immediately that he had injured his ankle severely. However, first aid facilities were limited at the sports hall.

Our client's wife came to the site so she could take him to hospital.

The consequences

Our client attended the Accident and Emergency Department at Wishaw General Hospital where examination revealed significant ligament damage had occurred as result of the slip accident.

The ankle injury caused our client to suffer significant pain and he was unable to return to work for almost four months. He suffered continual swelling and pain for many months after the accident. He feels the injury has negatively affected many aspects of his day-to-day life.

In June 2019, our client underwent ankle surgery to repair the damage and, following this, he was unable to return to work for almost seven months.

The settlement

Thompsons' personal injury solicitors intimated a slip accident claim to South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Ltd but received no liability decision, so proceedings were raised in the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court.

We obtained witness statements which confirmed the condition of the sports hall floor on the day of the slip accident and that no one had been present to report the issue to.

We also obtained information by freedom of information request which confirmed there had been issues with the sports hall's gutters prior to the accident.

Specialist medical evidence was sought. The report confirmed our client had suffered an inversion injury to his ankle which required surgery and that he will be left with scarring and residual symptoms of mild discomfort that will be permanent.

An initial settlement offer of £33,250 was tendered. We discussed the offer with our client based on its merits, and it was rejected. Consideration was given to the fact that a third party claim had been made by our client's employers to recover sick pay and that a sum would be taken from the compensation to cover this claim.

A further offer of £35,750 was put forward by the defender, of which £17,865 would be received by our client. Following discussions, our client decided to accept the offer.

The personal injury compensation settlement was agreed on 6 June 2022