Constantly pushing and exceeding your personal best on that bench press may not always go the way that you want it, in fact, accidents are quite likely in an environment filled with heavy weights and machinery. The question is, who is responsible when something does actually go wrong?
Needless to say, not every single injury or accident at the gym is going to mean that you will be entitled to make a claim for compensation. Injuries like strain and muscle tears can happen simply from performing an exercise incorrectly, which is quite common. However, when there are incidents that had nothing to do with how you executed the exercise, but instead due to things like:
– Faulty Equipment
– Slips and trips
– Lack of supervision from gym staff
– Heavy weights being dropped
– General lack of concern for health and safety
– Incorrect information provided by instructors at the gym
If you have suffered an accident at the gym due to someone else’s negligence, you should consider making a gym injury compensation claim.
Gym accident compensation: When does the gym have a duty of care?
The Occupiers Liability Act 1957 means that the gym owners and management are responsible for the health and safety of the gym users. This act gives a general duty of care to the occupier of the gym. They must make sure that staff members are adequately trained and continuously maintaining gym equipment. With this act in place, it creates an environment where accidents are mostly preventable, so, if you are injured, it’s likely that you can make a personal injury claim.
At Wildwood legal, our personal injury solicitors are trained professionals that are able to help you start your claim today. Our firm is regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) so our practice meets the standard that the SRA sets. For more information about how the standards and regulation we uphold, check out the SRA’s code of conduct for firms.
What about Gym employees?
As well as the gym users being at risk of injury, it’s just as possible for staff of the gym to also be at risk of injury. For example, a personal trainer may injure themselves when helping a client, or whilst tidying the gym they could similarly encounter faulty equipment. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 creates the legal duty for the gym owners to ensure that floors are kept without any obstruction, staff are notified about any faulty equipment and so on.
In the case that this has failed to be reached, gym staff are just as entitled to make a claim as gym users.
An important thing to note is that it is now a requirement for your solicitor to provide a ‘higher burden of proof’ when it comes to a claim based of the poor maintenance of equipment. The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 is the legislation that has impacted this specific area of law – previously, gym owners were responsible even if they had taken the correct steps to ensure safety, now it must be proven that they did not.
What to do if I have had an accident in the gym
After you have had an accident at the gym, the first step you need to take is reporting the incident to an available member of staff. It’s important to make sure that the staff member takes some note of the incident report for their own safety as a gym, but also for you, especially if you want to make a claim.
If your injury is quite serious then you can also ask the gym management whether they have reported the accident to the Health and Safety Executive.
Try to gather as much physical evidence as quickly as possible to help build you case if you wish to make a claim. Take photos of the injury itself, the bruising, cuts, etc. Then, if possible, also take photos of the damaged equipment/ machinery. All these little pieces of evidence will be vital in helping your solicitor prove that there was an omission in the duty of care or negligence from the gym so that you can win your claim and get compensation.
Seek the correct medical help that you need. Being seen by a medical professional allows for their professional opinion to be used to determine the severity of the injury.
Then, contact us to start your claim.
What many people don’t know is that when signing up for a membership, somewhere in the fine print, most gyms add a clause that waives them from taking any responsibility for injuries sustained on the premise. However, even with that, don’t be deterred away from starting your claim today.
Under the Terms of the Unfair Contract Terms Act, gyms can’t remove their liability for any serious incidents that has happened, especially due to negligence.
Contact a personal injury lawyer today if you are concerned about making a claim after you signed a waiver of responsibility.
How is compensation calculated?
On a conditional fee agreement, you only have to pay if you win your claim. But how exactly is the compensation award calculated? Once proven that the accident was not your fault, either there will be a settlement amongst the solicitors on an amount that will be awarded, or a judge will determine the awarded amount. The amount of compensation will be calculated on several different things like:
– The loss of earnings due to no longer being able to work
– The severity of the injury
– Any medical bills
– The severity of negligence
– Travel expenses
Your solicitor will deduct a ‘success fee’ from the compensation for winning the claim. This should be no more that up to 25%, the majority of the sum should be yours to keep. Before you start your claim, your solicitor may also need to take out special legal protection policy insurance on your behalf. This is what pays for the claim if it ends up not winning- making a claim is risk free.
You will only be required to pay for this insurance if your gym accident compensation claim is successful, and it will be deducted from your damages at the end of your case.
Typical gym accident compensation awards with their corresponding injury
It is difficult to determine exactly how much compensation you will receive for your injuries and damages are usually calculated using JC Guidelines and recent caselaw. As of October 2021, these are a few examples of injuries and their corresponding compensation award for a successful gym accident claim:
– A minor back injury = up to £11,730
– Severe back injury = £36,390 to £151,070
– Moderate leg injury = £26,050 to £36,790
– Minor head injury = £2,070 to £11,980
– Moderate neck injury = £7,410 to £36,120
For further legal advice on compensation, you can use an online compensation calculator, or contact an injury lawyer directly, state the details of the incident and they can provide an accurate estimation for you- although in most cases, it is difficult to determine how much compensation you will likely receive until very late into the case.
How Wildwood Legal can help with your gym accident compensation claim?
If you’re still left wondering whether you can make a claim for gym accident compensation then the answer, may be yes. However, the process can be difficult to go through alone- that is why we are here to help. Wildwood Legal is a firm that specialises in all sorts of personal injury claims that focus on getting people who have unfortunately been involved in an accident that was not their fault.
If you believe that you have unfairly experienced an allergic reaction due to the negligence of someone else, then contact us today and make a claim. One of our specialists will help guide you through the claims process.
We will always be 100% transparent about what our charges are, including any legal fees. If we take on your case, we will almost always do so on a Conditional Fee Agreement, which is also know as a No Win, No Fee Agreement. We will never make you sign anything you aren’t 100% happy about.
There is a three year time limit for making a personal injury claim, so it is best to start your case as soon as possible.
We promise to guide you through every step of the claims process and do our very best to get the maximum possible level of compensation for you. You can contact us by phone 0113 320 5000 or by email info@winstonsolicitors.co.uk.
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If you are thinking about making a claim, we would love to hear from you. We will give you clear, honest advice.
112 Street Lane, Roundhay, Leeds, LS8 2AL