Supermarket Slip

[lilly1]

Hello,last week my wife was shopping in a large supermarket chain and slipped on some creamy white substance causing her to fall.injuries include eye socket bruised, shoulder brusied,both knees bruised arm bruised,foot and finger painful.she is only 8st and thin.people and staff helped her into a wheel
chair. staff took a statement and my wife countersigned it.we went to our local hospital for an x-ray and check up also a visit to her doctor to record the incident.strangley the camera was pointing the other way so no cctv evidence nobody gave their names as witnesses.On our house insurance we have legal assistance with an excess of £250 ,now we have been sent to a company who decides if a claim is worth pursuing!!.I always understood once you step over the threshold of any building they have have a duty of care towards you.i know this company has an external cleaning contractor but as the supermarket employs the contractors they are still liable for action against them.people have commented you should look where you are going in that case you won't buy anything as you are busy looking where you are walking so no point going in, then supermarkets will go bust:)

[bednobs]

in the region of What kind of compensation is she expecting? has she lost anything (for exmple did she have to take time off work to attend xray and therefore lose money? i ask because a fall that gives just bruising isn't "big" (although im sure it was to her) and a £250 excess might mean you break even (if that)

[bednobs]

ps duty of care is ok, but what about if a person had only just spilled whatever it was she slipped on? The supermarket can't be negligent for that - they can't have a clean up crew looking at ever square inch every moment in case of spills

[hc4361]

The circumstances you describe aren't enough to succeed in a claim for personal injury.

Every adult is expected to take reasonable steps to be vigilant and watch where they're stepping.

Equally, the supermarket is expected to take reasonable steps to ensure their premises are safe for everyone. This means that spills should be cleaned up as soon as is practicable.

Your wife will need to show that the mess had been on the floor long enough for a staff member to be aware of it and take action but failed to do so - in other words she needs to show the staff were negligent. If a witness had come forward and said that she'd seen the mess and informed a staff member 10 minutes earlier that would be enough.

In short, your wife has to show that the staff were negligent.

[TonyV]

If you are looking for some compensation go to lawyer lots advertised on TV no win no fee but they will normally take 20% of what they retrieve

[AlwaysConfused]

Supermarkets will go bust if every customer tries to claim against a spillage made by another customer. I don't find it strange that the camera was pointing the other way, more the fact that the camera was probably pointing in the direction of higher value goods. Hope your wife is ok soon

[EDDIE51]

Did the supermarket record the accident in their accident book? They have a legal duty to do this. I know because my son was the first aider for a large supermarket.

[AlwaysConfused]

Hi EDDIE, I twould hink so - lilly says that staff took a statement, that would be part of the accident investigation, which is logged and (obviously) investigated

[EDDIE51]

Lily 1. in your situation I would simply write a polite letter to the supermarket head office pointing out what happened and ask if they would consider a compensation payment of say £500 . The worst that can happen is they say no. From what my son says they will just pay up without complaint as long as you ask for a sensible amount. A family friend got £500 just by asking from Tesco when she had a similar slip.

[hc4361]

Have you taken plenty of photos of the bruising and injuries throughout the week?

[ummmm]

When I had an accident my doctor documented my injuries in doctor speak and put it in my records. Then he told me to go and see a solicitor :-)

[lilly1]

Thanks for the replies, ( hc4316 Your wife will need to show that the mess had been on the floor long enough for a staff member to be aware of it and take action but failed to do so - in other words she needs to show the staff were negligent. If a witness had come forward and said that she'd seen the mess and informed a staff member 10 minutes earlier that would be enough. )
Impossible for my wife to show the mess had been on the floor long enough she had just entered the store.1 minute ,10minutes nobody knows or cares how long it was there,it will be the same old rule where theirs money involve people will argue till the cows come home. thanks again for all your answers

[silliemillie]

Lilly1, don't let them fob you off (they will try) my Mother in La fell and broke her arm in Tesco, they tried to fob her off with a £50 voucher.

She went to 1 of those claims people, Tesco still kept denying responsibility but eventually she got about £3500 I think. Would have been more but as others have mentioned she didn't lose anything financially as she was retired.

Yes I know they take their cut but better to have a smaller slice of the pie than no pie at all.

[ummmm]

But Millie...this is only bruising.

[237SJ]

I slipped on a plastic security seal which was on a floor in a store. Maybe I should have sued them - it was in the US and could have made a killing but the thought didn`t enter my head. I do know someone who sucessfully sued a supermarket in this country when he slipped on a crushed grape in the fruit section. That resulted in him having to have time off work and suffer a loss of earnings so it does happen. BTW - companies are insured against the liability of customers injuring themselves so the money is not coming directly out of their pockets

[hc4361]

237SJ, but the cost of the insurance policy does go up in line with the amount of claims. Premiums come out of profits so we all end up paying for it.

[silliemillie]

Ummm, you could be right, but of of these Companies will put them right, they don't take on cases they don't think they will win.

MIL is not usually one to go for this blame culture thing but Tesco treated her so badly including trying to clear the spill up around her as she lay on the floor!

[237SJ]

hc - they probably do but I`m not sure how much of the increase is passed on to the customer. I`m more familiar with the situation re liability on airlines than shops. For example, if the seat belt signs are turned on due to turbulence and someone decides that that is the perfect time to get out of their seat and go to the loo (there`s always one!) and they fall over and hurt themselves they can sue the airline even though they are in the "wrong". The airline is insured against that liability. The cost in increased ticket prices is negligible.

[lilly1]

Good news they did accept liability and a payout is due, I thought I would let interested parties know.