Can I bring a claim for my injury at a trampoline park?

Trampoline parks have seen a huge rise in popularity in the last few years, and as such, so have the number of incidents.  In fact, more than 300 ambulances were called to trampoline parks in the UK over a 12 month period, according to the figures obtained by the BBC. Symron Amani, a Claims Handler in our Personal Injury team explains here how to stay safe if you visit a trampoline park, and clarifies whether you can make a claim for compensation if you are injured.

Popularity of trampoline parks

According to the International Association of Trampoline Parks, the number of parks in England and Wales has increased from just six at the end of 2014 to 144 in March 2017. 

BBC 5 Live’s Daily Programme recently made a freedom of information request regarding the safety of these parks, and presented their findings based on a snapshot of ambulance call-outs to 30 parks between April 2015 to April 2016. The ambulance trusts concerned revealed that during this time period, these parks required 315 ambulance call-outs.  “Of course, these figures must be viewed in the context of the high number of visitors each year to the parks, which reaches into the millions across the UK,” begins Symron. “However, this is only a snapshot of a small number of parks across the country and so may not truly reflect the severity of the number of incidents.”

Increased regulations for trampoline parks

Last month, new guidelines in the form of a Public Accessible Specification (PAS) was launched from members of the International Association of Trampoline Parks UK, British Standards and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). These guidelines explain to managers how they can identify the key risks at both the design and operational stages of their park, to enable them to appropriately manage, but not entirely remove, the risk of injury to customers and staff. From August 2017, UK parks will need to demonstrate compliance to the PAS in order to join the UKIATP.

“These new guidelines are a big step forward for improving safety at trampoline parks,” explains Symron. “It’s clear though even from these guidelines that the risk for users cannot be entirely removed. While the park owners and members of staff have a duty of care to keep users reasonably safe by providing training, supervision and safe equipment, visitors must assume some responsibility for their own safety and ensure they follow the rules set by the park.”

Syrom concludes, “The research shows that there has been an increase in the number of people seeking to bring claims for compensation against a trampoline park for an injury they have sustained, most commonly broken limbs but also head or spinal injuries. Unfortunately, unless the park is at fault due to faulty equipment, or lack of supervision that has hindered recovery following the incident, a visitor may struggle to bring a claim against the park itself. Likewise, if a visitor is injured due to the fault of another visitor, it may be very difficult to bring a claim against that person. We would always advise a common sense approach to these activity centres, abiding by the rules set by the park.”

If you have been injured at a trampoline park and would like to discuss your options, you can contact Symron on 023 8701 7452  or email her at symronamani@warnergoodman.co.uk. You can also contact a member of the Injury team on 0800 91 92 30 or email injuryteam@warnergoodman.co.uk. 

ENDS

This is for information purposes only and is no substitute for, and should not be interpreted as, legal advice.  All content was correct at the time of publishing and we cannot be held responsible for any changes that may invalidate this article.