I recently suffered an injury while attending a show and am interested in pursuing a claim for an accident in a concert hall. About 20 minutes into the performance I was struck in the head by a piecing of lighting equipment that had come loose from its bracket. After I was struck I was rushed to hospital where I received several stitches. Am I entitled to claim compensation?
Whether or not you are able to claim for an accident in a concert hall depends on whose negligence led to your injuries. It must be proven that someone other than you was responsible – at least in part – failed in their duty of care toward you. If this can be proven, you may be able to pursue compensation.
Once you have determined who is responsible for your injury you should speak to a solicitor immediately. After you have spoken to your solicitor and they have told you that you have a case to claim for compensation, you should send the medical report you obtained from the hospital, statements from any witnesses who saw what happened and any other evidence – video, photography, accident reports – to the negligent party from which you are seeking compensation, notifying them that you are taking action against them. This evidence will constitute your Letter of Claim. Once the letter has been sent, the negligent party has 21 days in which to acknowledge receipt of the letter, and a further 90 days in which to decide whether or not they are going to accept liability.
While awaiting a response from the negligent party you may receive an unsolicited offer of compensation from an insurance company representing the negligent party. Under no circumstances should you accept this offer – unsolicited offers of compensation are often far less than what you would achieve in court and may lead to you being undercompensated, which can be dangerous if it turns out you need more compensation than what you settled for.
Unsolicited offers of compensation should always be referred to your solicitor, who will be able to tell you whether or not the offer is worth accepting. If you want to learn more about unsolicited offers and pursuing a claim for an accident in a concert hall you should speak with a solicitor at the first possible opportunity, which as mentioned above, can be done via our freephone advice service.