To sue for this?

[BecauseYouR]

Sorry, posting in AIBU for traffic, I don't know if I can even complain.

A week ago, I was in a supermarket and fell onto my bottom whilst carrying DS in a sling.

He screamed but wasn't hurt. I was in a lot of pain, lower back and bottom.

I was helped up and got a firm apology from the manager, I believe. Then I went to A&E with my MIL because I couldn't walk properly/stand up straight.

Turns out it's Saxr

As has already been said, did your sling prevent you from clearly seeing where you were going? If you tripped on a kerb would you sue the council?

Also what footwear were you wearing?

Catspaws
Idiots?
How rude

Money won't take the pain away though. Accidents happen.

Without any proof of a spill and you falling because of it, contacting a solicitor will likely be a waste of time.

If you only recently had your baby then the store's solicitor's could argue you were at a higher risk for sacroiliac joint pain anyway, since the looser ligaments from pregnancy can stay that way for months after delivering your baby. So even if you had proof they had a spill, which they knew about, and were negligent in not cleaning it up, they might only be found partially at fault.

Since you're on maternity leave then I'm guessing you can't claim a loss of earnings for time missed at work, which would likely reduce how much you could claim in compensation.

Also a week isn't much time at all to give your body a chance to heal and I don't think most solicitors would be interested in it unless they are sure they can get a lot of £ out of it.

Pulled a muscle at the gym = sued. Everything that's wrong with the world right there.

My sling wasn't obstructing my view. I can see my feet with it on.

My little one is 5 months old so I don't think the loose ligament thing is relevant? I could be wrong. But no Dr has mentioned that either.

As I say, it's not as black and white as not being able to sue for loss of earnings. I cannot return to a more suitable position or even look for things nearby because of this.

Of course I'm not going to resign yet from my current position.

Also, a record was indeed made of the incident in the accident book.

Did you have any interviews arranged that you've had to miss?

Same thing happened to my dh in Tesco, he lifted a crate of beer off the shelf, walked a couple of paces to put it in the trolley, slipped on a patch of water. He got £8000, but did work in a related industry at the time, so knew his rights and pursued it properly. See a solicitor, OP.

I'm not convinced you'll persuade anyone it's affected your job hunting when your lo is only 5 mths. Unless you can show you've already been applying for jobs, which seems unlikely when you're still employed in your old one and presumably still receiving maternity pay.

Wow lots of "armchair lawyers" on here who clearly have never even seen a law book never mind qualified in law.

Legally - yes you do potentially have a valid claim however, as another poster said, it will depend on evidence and I would urge you to act quickly. So...

1. Speak to a solicitor - ask about a CFA (for funding), and get advice.
2. They need to push for the evidence. The best evidence on this will be CCTV. The key to success in this is to establish how the spillage occurred, how long it was there, how often staff passed by the location and thus had an opportunity to see the spillage and do something about it. Even if the supermarket did not CREATE the spillage (eg a customer spilled it) - if they had reasonable time to notice it and do something about it and didn't, then they are still potentially liable. How big was the pool of liquid?
3. Your solicitor can advise re medical evidence, potential for general damages and re special damages (other losses such as fuel receipts for travel to medical appointments, costs for painkillers, etc...).

This is very very basic and I cannot give you proper legal advice on here, however, those are your starting points. You have 3 years to bring a claim but better to act sooner rather than later. It may take a while to sort out as you have injuries that need to recover, but better to act early re evidence and to start the ball rolling. And contrary to what people are saying, yes, solicitors WILL be interested in it. This is, in fact, almost a word for word Tort Law exam question!

@BMW6

If the supermarket contests your claim and win in court can you afford the thousands of £ that you may be ordered to pay in costs?

That’s not how PI claims work. Claimants are insured against costs awards and don’t have to pay them.

I agree with alfagirl. I would also like to add to those people who are critical of suing for injuries that the OP would only be able to claim for actual loss if she can establish negligence, and would only be entitled to damages commensurate with her loss. In other words, nobody actually profits from making a legal claim for damages in a personal injury claim. If you are ever in the position where your livelihood or wellbeing is destroyed by the negligence of another party, which could have easily been avoided, you may change your attitude.

I think livelihood is slightly arguable though larlarland. It's been a week and op is not missing work yet because of it.

Harm, injury yes absolutely. Livelihood, currently, no and going ott won't do her any favours. On here or in R.L.

I injured my SI joint pushing heavy shopping trolley on some wonky paving. My physio suggested it was due to having a baby in the previous year where the joint is still unstable. It was agony for months until she gave me exercises (pelvic floor) to regain some support around the joint. Can you see a physio through your gp?

I was making a general point actually Unicorn. I thought that was quite obvious from my post.

The things is OP this isn’t the US. Your slip isn’t worth very much even if they have been neglient- all the problems you’d describe sound awful but is £2k going to really help them? I get the impression you think it would be a lot more?

I also think you’re massively on the back foot without having reported it as an accident and having it documented at the time I’m afraid. I can’t see how CCTV would help.

Sorry cross posted- I would speak to a solictor. Don’t rely on no win no fee, we used one recently and it’s only no win no fee for simple and non contested cases. Ours became complex after one letter, and cost £5k in legal fees (it didn’t go to court- not PI though)

I don't have Home insurance

Not clever.

Sprinkle when did I say it wasn't reported at the time?

It was reported straight away, and logged in their accident book

As I say I cross posted with your post above explaining it was recorded, apologies

Proving the supermarket was negligent is going to be very difficult. You'd have to prove they knew about the spill and did nothing about it.

You should also be very careful of no win no fee solicitors. Check the small print of any contract. Some of them are not what they say on the tin and a loss although it will not result in a fee for court time etc will result in a substantial fee for time spent preparing the case documentation. So if you go that route, read the contract very carefully.

Personally, I think you'd have to be very lucky to win this.

You may have a case for any medical costs but honestly think you d be laughed out of court for loss of earning by saying you were "planning" to get a job.

I have a job.

A job I now can't return to, as of yet

If you slipped on clear fluid, and there was no 'wet floor' sign then of course you can sue. They're liable for not cleaning it up and putting a sign there.

This happened to my mum about 4 month ago. She slipped in Asda on a clear spillage with no sign there to warn her or any9ne else. She damaged her knee and got a claim. Think she got about 3 1/2 grand.