Advice on complaining after injury caused by falling plant pots

[charlotte300]

Hi, I had an injury last month in a garden centre 3 large, heavy plant pots were stacked too high, and 1 fell on the back of my leg, cutting so deep that I required 11 stitches at A&E - it was a huge shock and lots of blood loss. I have not contacted the garden centre, and I will be scarred for life from the cut, which is 2 and a half inches long. So, are there any personal injury advisors here who could guide me - shall I just make a complaint to the garden centre and see the response?

Bloody hell. What a shock.

Why have you posted this twice?

Did you report it at the time?

That would be the starting point. They should have logged the accident in an incident book. Hopefully they would have taken action to prevent it happening again at least, so perhaps ask about that.

Hi thank you I put the original subject of AIBU and then reaslise that I am not so I will delete from the subject - Thank you for letting me know

Hi thank you I put the original subject of AIBU and then reaslise that I am not so I will delete from the subject - Thank you for letting me know

yes it was - thank you for the flowers 😊

I think it depends on how the garden centre handled it at the time. I would expect an accident report to have been filed within their store system, and a
goodwill gesture such as a gift card or your shopping paid for on the day. Or maybe flowers sent to you or similar. How did they respond at the time and since?

Yes I understand - the garden centre would not be sending me anything or paying for anything as this will make them look culpable - as nice as this sounds

Hi yes I did thank you

They should be held accountable...this time your leg ..next time a small dc won't just need 11 stitches i imagine.

What did they do and say on the day it happened? Did you tell them afterwards that you needed stitches? What are you hoping for next?

Hi, yes, you are right. If this were a 2/3-year-old, it would most likely have landed on their head!! It's not good - I may write to them as a first instance and see their response

Hi The garden centre called 999 and the paramedics confirmed I required stitches in a A&E medical environment as medics are not trained to complete this

Did you get back in touch with them about the outcome or did they contact you (if you left your details)? I guess I would want them to know anyway and it is then up to you whether you pursue it through a claim. A no-win, no-fee lawyer might be able to take it on for you.

If you wish to pursue it legally; make sure you take lots of pictures of your injury, a copy of the medical reports and evaluation, and the summary of the long-term effects. You also need copies of the incident report taken at the garden centre, ideally the names of the staff involved and possibly pictures of the exact place/reason it happened (if you can get proof of how the pots were placed, that's useful too). You also need to track if the injury is having any effect on your income or earnings, or if it's affecting your ability to enjoy life. I would also write a detailed recollection of events while it's still fresh in your mind, complete with dates, times, names etc.

Flowers might be a bit triggering.

Sue them OP.

it certainly sounds like a nasty accident, but I’m not sure what you would hope to gain from legal action against them.

Absolutely, it was a nasty accident, but an accident, and while it might be that they would be found culpable, without evidence of how the pots were stacked, how they happened to fall, and whether it would be classed as dangerous, it might be your word against theirs.

Even if they were found culpable, I’m not sure what sort of payment you would hope to get from what is after all a two inch cut. Unless this has limited your ability to live or work, beyond shock and pain, I don’t reasonably see what they’d be compensating for. It will cost an awful lot of time and money on legal fees (and for the garden centre- is it independent?) on something that while not nice, should hardly be worth such fees, and certainly not potentially damaging a (small?) business.

Contact them, absolutely. But pause and reflect before deciding that (like the US) suing people is the only possible outcome of any accident.

Cosimarocks comments are sensible. It is also worth bearing in mind that going through litigation can be stressful and is associated with worse physical and psychological outcomes after an injury.
When there is litigation involved it is easy to shift one’s outlook, focussing on pain, scarring, disability and blame rather than on healing, recovering and moving on. You might be able to get more money if you are limited by an injury but is this really what you want for yourself?

Ah yes, I see your point! Good one!

Did you go directly to hospital for treatment from the premises? If so they should have submitted a RIDDOR report. Contact environmental health at your council

Some good points.

Someone I know took their employers to court for a workplace accident, with the involvement of a union. After the initial injury improved, it still involved trips to consultants to get reports for the insurers. They were told that the whole process could take three years, and this was for a fairly straightforward case. So if you do proceed, be prepared for a long haul, with the possibility of only a few thousand at most at the end. (Disclaimer - not sure how much compensation is, but a quick google suggests a few thousand).

I cackled at this.

hope you’re ok OP