Personal injury claim, supermarket fall

“On the other hand, they made a profit out of me today, and I left with injuries. They are one of the big four making a fortune, not some struggling independent business.”

You purchased goods from them today in a normal commercial transaction. That has nothing to do with the accident that you had and neither has the size of the company, except you seem to be saying that it’s morally different to pursue a claim against them than a small company.

I’m sorry to hear about your accident, you must be very shaken up and, as you indicated, the embarrassment was a major part of the incident. If you feel your wrist injury is worse tomorrow you should get it checked out at minor injuries/urgent care, though being able to drive home suggests it’s not a break or sprain.

We did pursue a case once on behalf of our daughter for personal injury against a service provider and won but she had a more obvious injury and immediate treatment a&e records, though it was, thankfully, not a long term problem. It wasn’t a lot of money but we took action more because they were indifferent to what had happened and we wanted them to stop an unsafe practice.

As an adult without detriment of loss of earnings or similar or long term impairment, what you might actually receive for, in your case, pain and bruising is not a large amount at all.

It does sound as if the shop did acknowledge you and take some care of you even if it came over as being legally defensive ( which it probably was).

I do hope you are feeling better tomorrow.

The comment about them having loads of money because they are one of the big four is ignorant. That money pays ordinary retail workers their wage every week and keeps their families going. It's not just lining the companies pockets. I would hope anyone in that situation wouldn't consider claiming unless they really had to.

I don't think you'd get far with a claim, but definitely complain formally if you don't feel you were dealt with appropriately.

I slipped in asda while I was heavily pregnant a couple of years ago. There was melted ice cream on the floor in front of a freezer and as it was near closing time on a Sunday the staff couldn't have given less of a shit.

I stopped two members of staff to tell them there was a spillage and just got shrugged at and then smirks when I said I'd fallen. I didn't pursue it as I couldn't get anyone to actually speak to me or deal with anything. I ended up in hospital a couple of days later as it caused my already knackered spine to flare up and I was in agony for weeks.

I really should have complained but felt I couldn't once I'd left the store.

I personally would have just complained to customer service and hope to get a gift voucher.

CCTV shows five members of staff simply walking past the spillage? Probably have some basis

CCTV shows a customer spilling it seconds before you slipped and going to tell a staff member who calls a cleaner? No

You could complain directly to the Head Office and you might get your shopping refunded and some vouchers as a goodwill gesture

You can claim if you can show that they were negligent. If they weren’t negligent then you have no claim. For example if a customer spilled something 5 minutes earlier and the supermarket was unaware of this then they can’t be negligent. However if you can prove that the spillage had been there for an hour and several customers had brought it to their attention and they had just ignored it then yes you have grounds for a claim.

Something similar happened to my friend and she got £6k. She broke her ankle though.

See how much pain you are in in a few days. Document everything, take photos.

Put in a complaint, not a legal claim. You don't need a solicitor to do this. Be clear what you want from them and why you feel it's justified, and see how they respond. You don't have major injuries and an actual PI claim would be stressful , lengthy, and not very fruitful, but you can detail what minor injuries, pain, inconvenience this has caused you if you want.

I'm not sure what you are claiming for. Yes, it was unpleasant and it hurt. But what exactly do you want to claim? The reason everyone sues in America is because they have massive medical bills to pay for any injury. If you are genuinely going to be out of pocket somehow you could try. But it seems like your claim is I hurt myself a bit and they have lots of money.

I'm no "personal injury lawyer" but as I read the OP I was thinking of posting the bit about, the spill was a minute before - or staff were not aware of it.

OP, please move on

There appears to have been no actual negligence and no actual loss ....

She continued to do her shopping after the event, so I’m guessing none of that applies.

I was going to suggest a complaint rather than a legal claim - IF you do suffer any long term injury at least you've created a record of the incident.

Another PI lawyer here... agree with PP that you're unlikely to succeed. All the major supermarkets have documented processes for regular inspections of the shop floor and clean up of reported hazards. Unless you can show they knew of the spillage and failed to clean it up in a timely manner, you're unlikely to get anywhere with a claim.

MN hates compensation claims 🤷‍♀️. Honestly you could be paralysed and they would say no.
Take your time, you’ll be upset and you had a bit of a shock then see how you feel. They should be regularly monitoring for spills and hazards, for all we know this could be happening regularly because they aren’t. Feel better soon OP 💐

"I was ushered into a back room to speak to some 'customer injury department' on the phone and answer a lot of questions, quite clearly designed to make sure they covered their arses"

Well no wonder they feel they have to cover themselves when people try and sue them every time they fall over in their stores. People trying to claim for everything is why insurance for everything is sky high these days. It's embarrassing.

You are very unlikely to succeed. If they can show they had a reasonable regime of cleaning and inspection then there is no negligence. A customer could have spilled something 10 seconds earlier, there's nothing they can reasonably do about that.

Source: Personal injury lawyer for 20 years.

Is it going to stop you working for a period of time? Probably the only thing you could theoretically claim for.
Because you did not require medical treatment it would prove difficult to assess whether the fall is likely to leave you out of pocket or with a longterm disability.
I don’t think you can claim for a bruised pride.

Since the supermarket will have CCTV they will probably be able to support a defence that they were unaware of the spill. It may have seconds before you entered the area.
You have to be able to prove that the staff knew about the spillage and failed to address the hazard.

If you feel that you have a case then you need to see your GP who can record your injuries as soon as possible. Then you will need to find a solicitor who is willing to take on your case.

You would need to show that they had been negligent and that you suffered a loss as a result. Have you had to go to hospital? They'll just have to show that they have systems in place to know about spills and to deal with them when they do. If an employee had said "whoops, we saw that puddle earlier today and did nothing about it" you might have a case.

You will be able to claim your costs for things like physio, doctor appointment anything else that comes about.
You'll also have reasonable chance in claiming costs for things like missing work if you have to take time out for appointments or you can't work due to the injury.

It's important to document and record everything.

It will be possible to employ an accident "claims management" type solicitor to deal with all of it but really, just a few google searches and I'm sure the supermarket will happily agree a figure with you either up front or after you've spent the money.

If you believe you could have a serious or long lasting injury, so not agree to any settlement. If you have any suspicion of this at all, speak to a solicitor.

I do this for a living. If I've understood correctly, you will likely really struggle to claim for this.

I'd put in a complaint instead x

Any payout would be minimal as I imagine from your description of injuries that your losses are small if any. A solicitor is unlikely to run this as their costs would easily max out any compensation you would receive. So you could run it yourself if you feel able and due to the lack of signage you may get something, if it was reasonable for them to have got to it before you fell. You will need evidence that they had time to identify the spill and did nothing, or that they should have identified it but didn't follow procedure to have located it in the first place etc etc.

How much in wages will you lose due to your injuries?

You need to do two things in order to claim. 1) prove they were negligent and 2) show you have suffered a loss (i.e. unpaid time off work or unable to drive so need taxis, or life changing injuries). Then you need to consider that the amount of compensation you could get may not even cover your solicitors fees. No win no fee sounds amazing until you get a win of say £1000, and the solicitors bill is £950.