Q: During the school holidays I took my son down to the local skate park with his micro scooter. There were a lot of older children there doing all kinds of stunts and he tried to join in with them but unfortunately he fell and slid down the slope when he was doing a turn. It was really traumatic and as well as suffering grazes he damaged his front teeth. Can I make a claim on his behalf for compensation?
A: The cost of future dental treatment will clearly be significant as the caps on the broken teeth will need to be replaced from time to time. It is therefore understandable why you might want to claim compensation.
For a claim to succeed there needs to be some breach of the duty of care owed by the skate park owner who, I assume, is the Local Authority in this case. Due to the very nature of the facility there is, however, an assumption of risk taken by children and their parents or carers in using a skate park as this sort of activity is potentially dangerous.
To qualify for compensation you would need to show that there was a defect in the equipment or that there was a hazard on the surface of the equipment that the Council knew about, or ought to have known about, and had failed to deal with. It is also possible that micro scooters are not suitable for use on a skate park, but that would be a matter for expert evidence.
Based on the account you have given it seems somewhat unlikely that there is any potential for a claim but it is always worth seeking advice from a specialist solicitor.
01/02/2015
Robert Williams
Partner and Complaints Handler
Partner and Head of the Civil Litigation, Personal Injury and Dispute Resolution team in Wrexham