Can I claim compensation for falling in Tesco for a shoulder injury if I slipped and fell on a wet floor?
In order to claim compensation for falling in Tesco against the store’s public liability insurance policy, your accident must have resulted from negligence by the store manager or a member of staff and there must have been a breach in the duty of care owed to you. A claim for a fall in Tesco is also only possible if your shoulder injury was treated in hospital or by a doctor. Legal action to recover damages after an accident can only be justified if the injuries sustained were severe enough to have required medical treatment.
Although a slip on a wet floor in Tesco may appear to give you grounds to claim compensation for falling in Tesco for a shoulder injury, the right to claim should be assessed by a personal injury solicitor. Proving negligence and a failure in a duty of care is not necessarily straightforward, as the duty of care owed to you by the supermarket manager is not absolute.
Tesco’s insurance company will only be required to pay you compensation if the floor had been allowed to remain wet for an unreasonable amount of time without hazard warning signs being used. The duty of care owed to customers does not demand that all hazards are addressed immediately by the supermarket staff, and a reasonable amount of time must be allowed for the staff to identify hazards and take action to remove them or to warn customers of the risk of injury. If it was unreasonable to have expected the staff to have been able to prevent your slip and fall on a wet floor in a Tesco supermarket under the circumstances, a claim for compensation will not be possible.
Tesco supermarket injury claims must also be supported by evidence of negligence. Evidence can come from eye-witness accounts of the accident, store cleaning records, statements taken from the staff and security camera data. A solicitor will attempt to establish that the floor had been wet for an unreasonable amount of time and insufficient actions were taken to ensure the store was kept ‘reasonably’ safe.
Once the right to claim has been established, and evidence collected to support your case, a solicitor will provide assistance with the preparation of the claims forms to send to the Injuries Board. A solicitor will arrange for your injuries to be fully assessed and for the Medical Assessment Form B to be completed by your doctor. It is important that all expenses you have incurred due to the slip and fall on a wet floor in a Tesco supermarket are included on your claim form, and receipts and invoices collected to substantiate any costs being claimed.
Should Tesco’s insurance company reject liability for your shoulder injury – or contest the amount your claim is assessed for – your solicitor will prepare your claim for a fall in Tesco for litigation, as the case will need to be settled by the courts; although your solicitor will attempt to negotiate a settlement directly with Tesco’s insurance company. If liability is accepted, a solicitor will make contact with the insurance company to request a quick settlement rather than waiting for the Injuries Board to assess the case. This will help to ensure you receive an award of damages in the shortest possible time frame.