Supermarket Accident Claims – How To Get Injury Compensation

Supermarket health and safety responsibilities

We have successfully assisted many claimants who have had the unfortunate and embarrassing experience of suffering a very public accident in a supermarket. Like all shops, supermarkets have to follow safety regulations and adhere to the requirements of the Occupier Liability Act which requires them to keep their customers safe from injury and minimise the risk of accidents in their store. If the supermarket breaches this legal duty and fail to take every reasonable step to minimise the risk of an accident or injury in their store,  the injured person is very likely to be entitled to claim compensation.

In general, Supermarkets are required to:

• Remove hazards and spillages within their store as fast as possible
• Display warning signs to indicate any hazards, spillages or risk of injury
• Keep the shop free from contamination or defects
• Maintain structures within the store and ensure display equipment and stock is safely
• Follow safety practices set by the Health and Safety Executive

The typical claim after an accident in a supermarket is for an accidental slip, trip or fall, causing soft tissue injuries, back pain and even bone fractures. There are of course many potential causes of supermarket accidents. If you’ve been injured in an accident in a supermarket and you’re unsure whether your situation will enable you to make a claim, contact us for help.  We’ll gladly discuss your situation, explain your rights after an accident and offer you friendly, professional helpful advice about making a claim.

Wet supermarket floors

With regular floor cleaning and the potential for spillages or leaks from fridges and freezers, floors in supermarkets can often be wet and slippery.  In wet weather conditions, the problem of wet floors increases as customers walk water into the shop. Supermarkets have to make sure that wet floors are dried quickly and that warning signs are displayed to indicate a potential hazard, with the aim being to reduce the risk of slipping on the shop floor.

Similarly, spillages should be identified and cleaned up as soon as possible, with the Supermarket having a responsibility to ensure that the aisles of the store are checked regularly for any spilt food, liquid or other slipping risk.

Falling stock and dangerous equipment

Supermarket shelves, racks, stock pallets and trolleys need to be regularly checked and serviced to make sure they are safe to hold products. Claims can arise should such equipment cause injury or allow stock to fall onto customers.

Forklifts are a common cause of workplace accidents and in frequent use in and around supermarkets, as such they should be regularly maintained and operated by qualified drivers to avoid injury to staff and shoppers.

Tripping hazards in a supermarket

Supermarket aisles may often be obstructed by boxes, pallets and cages used for restocking shelves. While this equipment is necessary, staff must ensure that any such items are positioned out of the way and they must not allow the aisles to be obstructed or littered with slip or trip risks.  The Supermarkets must also ensure that products and produce items are stacked properly to avoid the risk of items falling onto customers.

Hazard warning signs

Any potential hazard within the Supermarket should be clearly marked with a warning sign. The existence of a dangerous hazard does not necessarily mean it will cause injury, but if it does, and there was no hazard sign erected or steps taken to warn customers or prevent the hazard from causing injury, you are likely to have a valid claim for compensation. In this circumstance, the Supermarket is likely to be seen as having been negligent and therefore liable for your injuries by failing to provide a warning of a foreseeable risk to your safety.

However, even if a hazard sign is present you may still be able to make a successful claim. For example, the Supermarket has a leaking freezer unit in their store. The floor gets wet and they call out an engineer. If they erect the yellow hazard sign and believe that they’ve covered themselves and taken reasonable steps to warn shoppers of a potential hazard. However if they just erected a sign and didn’t bother calling the engineer and left the unit leaking for weeks and weeks, the sign would become redundant and they would still be liable for not removing a known hazard in a reasonable time frame.  Also, the hazard warning sign needs to clearly indicate where the possible hazard is situated.  If a hazard sign is place slightly out of view, or obstructed by stock or not exactly where the slip risk is situated, the sign is redundant and of no use.

Proving who is at fault for a supermarket accident

The courts have been very fair when considering claims against a Supermarket or shop.  Let’s be honest, a customer can easily drop an egg, knock a bottle from a shelf and spill some liquid on the floor. They don’t always report it to a staff member and often just walk off. The next customer could come round the corner within seconds and slip on the spillage and be injured. Would it then be fair for the supermarket to be liable and would you have a valid claim for the slip? In this scenario, you would not have a valid claim.  The courts have noted that Supermarkets have large premises to monitor and they can’t be expected to see every spillage as it happens, have a hazard warning sign erected instantly and the spillage or slip risk removed within minutes.

When defending a claim, if the Supermarket can show that they had taken every precaution to properly monitor their store by way of a cleaning and inspection regime and checked the area where you fell shortly before you did and located no spillage or hazard, the courts will find in favour of the Supermarket. For example, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and the other main chains have a 30-minute cleaning regime in place. This is where a worker inspects the floors of the aisles every 30 minutes for hazards, spillages and other cleaning work. The staff member should then erect a warning sign if any hazards are found, before instructing a cleaner to remove the hazard. They will then sign an inspection report. This gives them adequate time to manage their often very large floor space and demonstrates that they have taken every care.

It is however, pretty easy for such reports to be forged or signed off without an inspection having taken place. Furthermore, it is often pretty easy to prove that the store didn’t follow a strict 30 minute cleaning regime due to it being busy, under-staffed or simply forgotten.

What to do if you have been injured in a supermarket

1. Report the incident. Make sure that you report your accident at the earliest opportunity to a staff member and ensure that an accurate version of events is entered into an accident book. Make sure you note the cause of your injury and any lack of hazard warning signs etc. Though it is ideally best to do so, you don’t have to report it immediately – many people are shocked and/or embarrassed and just want to get out of the shop. It’s perfectly reasonable to report it later.  You can return to the store or email them to report the accident and list any injuries.  Provide as much information as possible including date, time and location – you may also want to request that they retain any CCTV footage of the accident.
2. Witness details. If anyone helps you because you have been injured in a supermarket, try to get their name and contact number if you can. This will greatly help your claim and provide additional evidence to support it.
3. Photographic evidence. If you are in serious immediate pain and discomfort, you’re unlikely to be thinking about taking a photograph of a wet floor or other hazard. However, if you can take a photo or two of what you slipped or tripped on, it may be really useful in forcing the 3rd party to admit liability.
4. Medical treatment. Make sure that you see your GP, or attend A&E at the earliest opportunity. As soon as you are aware of any injury that is not simply a minor bruise, you should seek medical attention. To have the best chance of succeeding with a claim, it is important to be able to provide medical evidence.
5. Expenses. Keep a record of any expenses you incur as a result of injuries. If you have receipts for costs such as prescriptions, taxi fares, parking, care or any other cost you have incurred, you may be able to claim those back. If you are unable to work because of your injuries and do not receive sickness pay, you may well be able to reclaim any lost income alongside a settlement to cover the pain and discomfort caused by your injuries.

How much can you claim for being injured in a supermarket?

The value of any final compensation settlement that you can claim after being injured in a Supermarket is calculated from the severity of the injury, your financial losses and the impact on your quality of life. Our specialist Solicitors will claim for the following on your behalf:

• The pain and distress caused to you by the injuries sustained
• Associated costs and losses
• Lost earnings if you have been away from work as a result of the accident
• Medical treatments, rehabilitation therapies and post accident care
• Restrictions on your ability to fulfil your usual activities and social life
• Miscellaneous expenses (bus fares, painkillers etc)

Compensation amounts for common injuries after a fall

Most Supermarket claims arise after someone is injured in a fall, so below we’ve listed some values for common fall injuries based on guidelines issued by the courts:

What do I need to make a supermarket accident claim?

These are the main criteria you need to check to see if you can claim with our no win no fee Supermarket accident Solicitors:

• Was the accident the Supermarket’s fault?
• Did you report the accident and your injuries?
• Have you sought medical treatment from your GP or hospital?
• If not, are your injuries still presenting symptoms that your GP can diagnose?

If you haven’t done any of this already, don’t worry, we’re here to help. To see if you can claim after your Supermarket accident, please call our team on 01225 430285, or if you prefer, we can call you back.