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Original poster

Shop accident.

96 replies

ShopAccident · 12/04/2023 22:59

Hello, my son had something fall on his head in a shopping centre today. I was quite shaken by the incident myself, the shopping centre manager put ice on his head, did a first aid check & gave me advice on what to look out for, put us in a taxi, gave me money to pay & phoned me later.

I noticed a woman taking photos of the scene as I sat comforting my son & wondered if she was going to give them to me but she must of walked off & I didn't think anything else other than worrying about my son.

Since getting home though I've had multiple people tell me I 'Should make a claim' & also being quite nasty about the fact that I 'Just walked away' & that what the shopping centre did 'Just wasn't good enough'

Is it worth claiming for this or should I just let it go? He has a bump & has been very sleepy & he's upset about what happened but other than that seems ok.

OP posts:
BusterGonad · 14/04/2023 15:40

ShopAccident · 14/04/2023 13:03

Glad it's made you smile BusterGonadGrin

It's now 48 hours since it happened & luckily he's still his usual self.

That's good news.

NoWordForFluffy · 14/04/2023 16:32

ShopAccident · 14/04/2023 13:03

Glad it's made you smile BusterGonadGrin

It's now 48 hours since it happened & luckily he's still his usual self.

Sounds like a lucky escape for him, thank goodness.

purpledalmation · 14/04/2023 22:21

@WigsNGowns But his pain and suffering were minor and fully recovered within hours. A bump isn't a long term disability. No CFA (no win no fee) will waste time on it. Not worth the effort.

purpledalmation · 14/04/2023 22:23

Also @Rosula CFA won't look at a bump on the head. Go look at what negligence entails.

Rosula · 15/04/2023 07:51

purpledalmation · 14/04/2023 22:23

Also @Rosula CFA won't look at a bump on the head. Go look at what negligence entails.

Don't be silly. Your point has nothing to do with the legal definition of negligence. You said that @ChocChipHandbag's post was correct in law. As others have confirmed, it was not. I was pointing out that the practicalities of what a solicitor might or might not take on have nothing to do with the law.

WigsNGowns · 15/04/2023 13:00

But his pain and suffering were minor and fully recovered within hours. A bump isn't a long term disability. No CFA (no win no fee) will waste time on it. Not worth the effort.

  1. At the point this thread started, no one knew whether he would have a full recovery in hours. As we have said, symptoms from an accident may manifest days or even weeks later.
  2. The discussion was general and I was ( and others were) correcting wrong /misleading statements that were purporiting to be accurate legal advice.
  3. Most personal injury claims settle because it's just about what its worth.
  4. The CFA point is irrelevant because you don't even need a lawyer to bring a claim. If you have an injury caused by an accident, even a minor injury, writing a letter before action may very well produce a settlement offer for all kinds of reasons - cost/benefit for the defendent; adverse publicity for the defendant and so on.
  5. I don't understand the fixation on a no win/no fee CFA anyway because (apart from raising a claim by letter yourself) you can actually pay for legal services if you can afford it... and in the normal course of things you would expect to recover legal expenses if there was a settlement (I take the point that costs aren't normally recoverable in a small claims case). In fact, instructing lawyers often makes it more likely that there would be a settlement because it looks like you are serious about your claim.

It's not impossible that someone who could easily afford it would choose to instruct lawyers in a case like this to make a public safety point to the defendant because their child had been injured, it could have been a lot worse and unless they have financial consequences, they may not be motivated enough to do anything about their faulty fixtures and fittings. I'd feel fairly shit if I did nothing and then read the next week a child had been killed in the same circumstances.

Whether it's "worth the effort" or not depends on how much effort you are willing to put in and what you are motivated by. Anyone who has worked in law has seen the "it's a point of principle for me" type cases.

In this case, even for a small bump, I'd still write a letter myself in the hope I'd get an offer of a couple of hundred £ nusiance value to make me go away because the facts of the accident are serious and I'd figure if I can get a couple of hundred quid for my son, I can stick it in high interest account for him when he attains majority.

WigsNGowns · 15/04/2023 13:08

& again you don't need a long term disability anyway to bring a successful PI case so please stop representing to people that you do. This is what I really object to with this sort of arm chair legal advice. You don't know who will read this thread - either today or in future - who may have a claim and just assume that unless they have a long term disability they have no case for injury.

There are literally hundreds and thousands of reported personal injury cases where children have had minor accidents (sprains/broken bones with full recovery) and have brought claims successfully.

Whiplash is another injury that usually resolves fairly quickly with no long term consequences where there are many successful personal injury claims.

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 15/04/2023 17:26

purpledalmation · 14/04/2023 22:21

@WigsNGowns But his pain and suffering were minor and fully recovered within hours. A bump isn't a long term disability. No CFA (no win no fee) will waste time on it. Not worth the effort.

I do not understand why people who don’t know what they are talking about feel the urge to give advice. A few posts ago, you were telling us that you’d put money on Choc Chip being a solicitor and that she was talking sense, when she was actually talking total cobblers. You clearly don’t know about the law in this area, which is cool - most of us aren’t lawyers. But, if you don’t know, don’t offer advice.

The fact you may once have made a claim for damages yourself does not give you legal expertise, any more than having your appendix out makes you a surgeon.

Original poster
ShopAccident · 17/04/2023 09:58

I contacted the council/Environmental health & they said they don't deal with the shopping centre so I'll have to talk to them direct.

I had a 'I hope your son is ok, management will get back to you' from the shopping centre on Thursday but nothing since.

Anyway, he is still ok. Yesterday he wanted to go to the cinema (located also in that shopping centre) so we were on our way, centre looming ahead of us when he suddenly stops & says he doesn't want to go in. He's scared he will get hurt again & starts cryingSad

I told him we can go through the other door but he said the same thing might happen. After a lot of cuddles & talking, he decided that he just wanted to run 'So there's less chance of it hitting me again'. So he charged through & was all proud of himselfSmile
He was saying to his sister (not with us on the day) 'See that Silver thing up there, that's the evil thing that tried to kill me'.

When we left, he headed to the other door (further away) I'm glad we've got that first time done anyway!

OP posts:
WigsNGowns · 17/04/2023 16:24

so we were on our way, centre looming ahead of us when he suddenly stops & says he doesn't want to go in. He's scared he will get hurt again & starts crying

This is exactly what I meant about the fact that you can think there is no problem but it manifests itself later.

I'm not for a minute suggesting your son has PTSD - but it's not a huge leap for circumstances like that (blow to head from something falling that physically resolves speedily) to also lead to longer term psychiatrict psychiatric sequelae.

It's why if you ever have any kind of accident where there maybe negligence, you should never voluntarily say I'm fine because actually you really don't know, you may very well not be and it will be used against you if you end up in a trial or a dispute.

PseudoBadger · 17/04/2023 19:26

"I contacted the council/Environmental health & they said they don't deal with the shopping centre so I'll have to talk to them direct" - well that's rubbish - ask to speak to a manager of the environmental health department.

Original poster
ShopAccident · 17/04/2023 20:20

PseudoBadger It was an online form but I had this response, 'Your complaint has been closed because your complaint is about the X shopping centre, which is run by an independent company. Unfortunately the council have no control over the running of it'.

It wasn't really a complaint, it was more a 'This is what happened & I'd like to know that it won't happen again to somebody else'.

Maybe that was the wrong form?

WigsNGowns Unfortunately, he's already an anxious child so this definitely hasn't helped things but I'm hoping that now he's done it once he will be able to do it again.

OP posts:
Newuswr · 17/04/2023 20:27

The legal system is all about putting you back in the position you would be in if the situation did not occur. It’s not a system to get you rich, if that makes sense. Therefore you need to justify what your costs are, and what the extent of damage is, as that’s all that will be compensated.

with damage, I believe the extent of your son’s injuries are not confirmed as it’s a recent injury. So it’s too premature to quantify

your other costs might be things like travelling to medical appointments, time off work, prescriptions etc. again, it might be too early to quantify.

if there is no lasting impact and no further costs, than a claim will get you nowhere. But if there is lasting impact and you continue to incur costs, it might be worth considering

Newuswr · 17/04/2023 20:28

Also with regard to your last post, send your complaint across to the independent company.

Original poster
ShopAccident · 17/04/2023 20:43

Newuswr I can't find out who the independent company is. Where should I be looking?

OP posts:
orangedalmatian · 17/04/2023 21:43

Newuswr · 17/04/2023 20:27

The legal system is all about putting you back in the position you would be in if the situation did not occur. It’s not a system to get you rich, if that makes sense. Therefore you need to justify what your costs are, and what the extent of damage is, as that’s all that will be compensated.

with damage, I believe the extent of your son’s injuries are not confirmed as it’s a recent injury. So it’s too premature to quantify

your other costs might be things like travelling to medical appointments, time off work, prescriptions etc. again, it might be too early to quantify.

if there is no lasting impact and no further costs, than a claim will get you nowhere. But if there is lasting impact and you continue to incur costs, it might be worth considering

Exactly what I said and it's correct. We don't have punitive damages in this country. @MissLucyEyelesbarrow

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 17/04/2023 21:53

Bit of a name change fail, there, I think, Choc Chip.

You continue to fail to understand the difference between general and special damages, though, so at least you are consistent on that.

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 17/04/2023 22:04

…Or possibly a purple Dalmatian name fail. Neither of you understands the law (to the point that you can’t even understand that you don’t understand it), but hopefully the OP will have the sense to follow the advice of @WigsNGowns

WigsNGowns · 17/04/2023 23:39

For Gods Sake @orangedalmatian Will people PLEASE STOP making statements about English law as if they know what they are talking about when they don't.

You stated : We don't have punitive damages in this country

This is COMPLETELY wrong. In England & Wales, we do have exemplary damages which are punitive damages. They are not commonly awarded but they do exist and are awarded in appropriate cases.

You may want to take some time from your busy legal armchair to read Kuddus v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary ( a decision of the House of Lords) and while you are about it Rookes v Barnard:

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200001/ldjudgmt/jd010607/kuddus-2.htm

Here's a bit of clue from the judgment of the House of Lords (now the Supreme Court) ie. the highest court in the land:

"The parties agree that an award of exemplary damages may be made in appropriate cases in English law even though, being punitive in nature, such an award is inconsistent with the principle that damages are intended to be compensatory."

Maybe read the Law Commissions report in to Aggravated & Exemplary damages while you are about it.

I expect what will follow now is some more excuse making of well that's what I said or I actually meant we don't have punitive damages in cases decided on a Wednesday in the small claims court in Lower Slaughter by Deputy District Judge Blackbladder or I meant this or that. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU SAID. You made a blanket statement of law that is totally wrong. This thread is a nightmare of factually incorrect legal statements.

Original poster
ShopAccident · 21/04/2023 19:52

I heard back from the manager today & she said there's been a full inspection on all the doors & mechanisms & several other things.

Basically they've done all that they can do I think.

I'm happy with that. She's offered some vouchers but I'm not sure if I will accept them.

Thank you for all the adviceSmile

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