I wish to claim funfair injury compensation after I fell off a rollercoaster – however I was told that I can’t claim as contributory negligence is a factor. How is this possible?

You may be entitled to claim funfair injury compensation if you have been the victim of a third party who was responsible for your health and safety – however this will depend upon the circumstances of your accident. When visiting a funfair you are entitled to a duty of care from the staff, and you should not expect to sustain an injury in a funfair. If the staff have been negligent in their duty of care you may be entitled to claim for a funfair injury – however this duty of care is not absolute and you could share some liability for the extent of your injury. If you believe contributory negligence is a factor in your accident and injury you are strongly advised to contact a personal injury solicitor at the earliest opportunity following your accident in a funfair.

Your funfair injury compensation could be possible if the staff have failed to take all measures possible to avoid an accident from occurring. Funfair staff should be aware of the risk of somebody sustaining an injury in a funfair and as a result, they should ensure that visitors have taken all necessary measures to avoid the possibility of an accident and injury occurring. This includes ensuring that visitors are safely strapped in to ensure that an accident in a funfair does not occur and advise them on health and safety measures to undertake for the duration of the rollercoaster ride. If the staff have neglected to take any of these measures, a claim for a funfair injury could be possible against the insurance policy of the funfair.

However contributory negligence may be a factor in your funfair injury compensation claim if the staff had taken all measures necessary to ensure that an accident did not occur, but you suffered an injury regardless. This could be the situation if – for instance – you sustained your injury in a funfair after standing up on the rollercoaster or you removed any safety harness which was applied to avoid the possibility of an accident occurring. In this situation you would be seen as endangering your own health and safety through reckless actions, because of which your claim for a funfair injury can be affected. If you are considered to have contributed significantly to your accident in a funfair, your claim for an injury may not be worth pursuing further.

If contributory negligence is a factor in your injury in a funfair, whether a claim is worth pursuing will depend upon whether a third party holds any liability. It should be remembered that it is possible that the operator of the funfair is merely trying to discourage you from making a claim for a funfair injury and a claim could still be possible – at least to a degree. For this reason you are advised to have a personal injury solicitor to assess your accident in a funfair and determine which party – if any – has been negligent towards your health and safety. By doing so, your solicitor can also determine whether your funfair injury compensation is worth pursuing further.