Case arising from a broken streetlight settles for £4,000 plus costs.

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Boyd Rice Solicitors were instructed to act on behalf Mrs D in relation to her personal injury claim arising from a fall in a dark street.

Mrs D was leaving her daughter’s house in the early evening when she tripped and fell over a trailer bar. Mrs D was unable to see the obstruction as the area was pitch black. Mrs D travelled to the Ulster Hospital in her daughter’s car for treatment of injuries to her ribs, face and knee. The streetlight responsible for the area was not operational at the time of the incident.

Although x-rays of her knee and chest showed no fracture, Mrs D had suffered significant bruising with the pain in her knee subsiding only after an injection. She also had facial bruising.

In what proved to be a very interesting case, our client advised that her daughter in-law’s neighbour had made complaints about the faulty streetlight for 3-4 months preceding the accident as well as reporting it to their local MP.

Neil McGranaghan directed a letter of claim to the Department for Infrastructure. Correspondence alleged the incident arose from the Department’s negligence in failing to ensure the safety of the public emphasising the fact that the streetlight was not working at the time of the incident and had not been working for some time. Liability for the accident was disputed by the Department for Infrastructure and we issued Court proceedings on our client’s behalf.

Although a Court date was set, settlement was reached without the need to attend Court for the sum of £4,000 plus our client’s legal costs.

Following the successful conclusion of their claim our client commented as follows;

“Thanks Neil! Always kept me up to date with everything. My claim was handled very quickly and efficiently.”

The issue with broken street lights is widely reported in local media. If you sustained injuries from a fall due to lack of street lighting and would like to arrange a free consultation please contact us by phone on 02891 817715 or by email claims@boydricesolicitors.com