Compensation Claims for Injuries Suffered While Shopping
Everybody has to go shopping and most of us use supermarkets on a weekly basis. Millions of people pass through their doors each day. Supermarkets have a responsibility to ensure that their customers are safe in using their stores and not injure themselves. Unfortunately many people do injure themselves in their premises, particularly through falling as a result of slipping, particularly on spillages from food and liquids, or tripping over objects left in the aisles or obscured from view. Customers are also frequently hurt by objects falling from shelves or stacks.
Serious injuries can result from these accidents and it may be possible to claim compensation for the injury. Each case must be viewed on its merits as supermarkets go to some lengths to ensure that they have safe systems of working together with inspection and cleaning regimes.
To assist bring a claim it is most important that there is evidence of how and when the accident happened. Always ensure that the accident is reported immediately to the management and that the incident is formally reported and entered in the accident record and that you are given a copy. If you have not reported it at the time make sure that you report it very soon afterwards by telephone and that you follow it up with a visit to the store to ensure that the report form has filled in.
When reporting always be precise about when the accident happened, exactly where it happened and how it happened, giving full details of the spillage or object that you slipped on or tripped over.
If there are witnesses to the accident always ensure that you get names and contact details and their agreement that they will give an account of what happened.
If the injury is serious enough to require medical treatment at hospital or your GP tell the medical staff briefly of how and where the accident happened so that it is entered in their records too.
