Ane advice on claiming against a store for accident

[fluffypenquin]

Hi has anyone on here claimed against a store for sustaining an injury.  last week as leaving a store all of the metal,rubber matting was loose and moving up and down out of the recess in which it should have been secured.  result is i have broken my wrist. store havent even had courtesy to phone to see how i am.  thery have now secured the matting down with bolts etc to prevent any further injuries to customers.

pls excuse typos using wrong hand to type

i would not normally think of pursuing a claim but their attitude and my pain are making me feel different this time.

did not photograph loose mats as was in too much pain and now mats have been secued by shiny new bolts.

Store have point blank refused to let me have a copy of accident form.  they completed it with no input from me so presumably they may not have put all relevant info on it.

so my question is does anyone on here have any advice about whether to claim and if so any help would be welcome

[fluffypenquin]

Thanks for all your support. 

I will start to diarise everything.  So far my OH and friends have helped by  driving me round to my mams - practically impossible to use public transport due restricted service in our village.

The pain is more bearable now thank goodness but i am a  bit apprehensive about hospital tomorrow, but at least i will get more info.  if they decide an op is necessary on my wrist then apparently my mri appt on Thursday for my neck will have to be cancelled, so i am hoping that my wrist will not need an operation.

Still not rcvd any calls from the shop.

I wish i had thought to get details from witnesses about the loose mats but at the time i was in too much pain to even think about it.

Fingers crossed that i will not need the wrist to be operated on xx

[stroppy*cow]

Sorry, I have no advice to offer, but I hope that all goes well at the hospital tomorrow and that whatever course of action you follow proves effective.

[fluffypenquin]

Hi - hospital have decided that my wrist would not benefit from an operation.  They said that the bones are "reasonably" aligned and if they operate they cannot guarantee that I would gain any additional benefit due to the way the joint was split by the broken bone.   They have converted the half cast into a full one but left the original half cast insitu as they did not want to risk the bones moving.  At least I don't need to go through another operation.  they have saId they will organise physio or occupational therapy when the pot comes off. 

Still not a peep out of the shop:)

Thanks again xx

[wizilizi]

Ooooh ouch that sounds nasty.  I hope that you manage the pain, & that it heals well, & speedily.  Poor you 

[bitsnknots]

At least you don't have to have an operation Fluffy.  I just can't believe the attitude of the shop though.  It's absolutely ridiculous.

[fluffypenquin]

The other good thing about not needing an operation on my wrist means that I do not have to cancel my mri on Thursday.  if they had operated on my wrisi I would have had to wait minimum 8 weeks for the mri 🙂

[mustavaquid]

Fluffy, I don't think you will hear from the shop. It's like with most insurance policies, read the small print and it'll say not to say or do anything which could be taken as admitting liability. Get a solicitor on the case. They'll do everything and their charges get paid by the other party's insurer. You may have some cover on your credit card / motor / household insurance for free legal advice, and that 'may' extend to free representation to process a claim. If you or your OH is in a trade union, the same may apply.

I posted ^^^^^^ about a solicitor in Gy top town.

Many years ago my mum tripped and fell due to a raised paving slab. She broke BOTH wrists. Two council workers were nearby and witnessed it. They also assisted her until the ambulance arrived. Mum worked for Findus and was in the union. They took up the case, got statements from the council workers and processed the claim. She got some compensation, not a lot by today's settlements but that's how it was back then.

Bear in mind that injuies like broken bones may well come back to haunt you as arthritis in later years.

[merly*28]

Fluffy,

I am so glad to hear that you do not need 'yet another' operation.  Your spinal operation was enough for a person to bear.

When my SIL fell in a corner shop and broke her arm, the CCTV footage 'was recorded over'; her fall was so bad that she was concussed and cannot remember to this day what she tripped over.  But my brother went to the shop to get her and organise the ambuance.  He saw boxes stacked higgledy-piggledy in the middle of the floor which seriously narrowed the walking space.  They had been removed by the next morning when he went back to gather evidence and state that SIL intended to submit a claim. 

SIL never got any compensation from the local shop because she could never prove negligence.  Her broken arm never healed correctly and she had to have major surgery.  The fall also affected her hip which steadily became worse and last Thursday she underwent a hip replacement operation at aged 52 years.  She has been in pain for a couple of years but deemed 'too young for a hip replacement because they only last 10 years'. 

So whoever said ^^^^ that bone fractures can come back to haunt you is quite correct. 

Ask your orthopaedic surgeon if this injury and immobilisation of your wrist will affect your neck/spine in any way. 

I do hope that you have a better outcome than my SIL.

You know where I am if you need me.

[fluffypenquin]

Thanks Quiddy - i have decided i will try to claim - it is making it difficult trying to hrlp to look after my mam.  To be honest i am not bothered about trying to get lots of compensation just so annoyed by their attitude and the pain i am in.  Pain had started to ease but now is really horrid again.  i am also going to have to spend loads of time and fuel travelling to and from the hospital for therapy once the pot eventually comes off.  last time i broke a wrist i had two sessions of therapy a week for 12 weeks - not surif it will be the same this time due to cuts in nhs.  Thanks for advice x

[fluffypenquin]

Sorry to hear the news about your sister in law, it is so wrong that the shop had covered their back and your SIL is still suffering.

i was in too much pain to get witness details and the shop had bolted the mats down  on the same day of the accident.  My husband had gone back to try to get a copy of the accident form - so there is no evidence now.   Mind you i have decided to still see a solicitor, if it causes the store some pain it will be worth it.

Thanks for your support xxx

[stroppy*cow]

Glad to hear that you won't have to have an op on the wrist - hope that the MRI scan goes well.

Good luck with making a claim, hope that you find a good solicitor.

[mustavaquid]

An advantage with using a local solicitor is that they may also use that shop and could visit to see the 'repair'.

With my mum the two council guys reported the raised paving to the highways dept. and it got fixed the very next day. Like in your case, if there was no fault with the flooring, why did it get fixed?

Under the freedom of information act ( or whatever ) you can demand, best through the legal peeps, a copy of any information held on record about you. So, the accident report has your detals on so you can get a copy.

Loke with my mum, the compensation is to cover the pain & suffering, loss of earnings etc. etc. etc.. It should also jolt the shop into being more careful with H & S issues.

[merly*28]

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@fluffypenquin wrote:

Sorry to hear the news about your sister in law, it is so wrong that the shop had covered their back and your SIL is still suffering.

i was in too much pain to get witness details and the shop had bolted the mats down  on the same day of the accident.  My husband had gone back to try to get a copy of the accident form - so there is no evidence now.   Mind you i have decided to still see a solicitor, if it causes the store some pain it will be worth it.

Thanks for your support xxx

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Fluffy,

Work through 'what the store might say':

1. Keep the shoes you were wearing at the time (try not to wear again if you can so that appropriate 'grip' can be confirmed).  The store will try to say that you had 'inappropiate footwear'.   (It is a fine line if you were wearing heels that became stuck in webbed matting...... you may then be deemed to contribute to your own accident.  I always maintain that I am allowed to shop in my heels when I am whizzing around in my lunch hour!)

2. Was the hazard clearly visible? (Recall whether visibilty was impeded - or not - by promotional displays.  Often stores do put promotional items by the till and/or by the exit.)

3. Recall what you were carrying at the time. (The store may attempt to suggest that you were carrying too many bags for you to be fully aware - and the 'overload' caused your slip . )

4. How does the door open? (related to point 3 above, if you were carrying too many bags and you had to use your shoulder to open the door, you may be deemed to have contributed to your own injury).  Clearly, if you slipped BEFORE you even attempted to open the door, this is a very important point for your to record NOW.

5. Were there other people trying to leave at the same time?  Say whether you were walking behind/in front of other people trying to exit the store at the same time.  If the store tries to say that your accident was because too many people stepped on the loose mat at the same time, but they made immediate, temporary measures to address a hazard, this will be important.

You are entitled to a copy of the Accident Report completed for the insurance company and you should formally write to the store telling them this immediately.  At the same time, I suggest that you submit your own Accident Report - as suggested in my first post.  Therefore, any contradictions are recorded as soon as possible in formal documents.

Can I emphasise that all retail outlets and their owners, regardless of their size have a duty to provide a safe environment to members of the public under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957. This act provides protection for customers on the premises of the occupier whether it's inside the shop, in the car park or in the surrounding area.

[fluffypenquin]

Merly - thanks for all your advice - please see your messages - thanks xxx

[fluffypenquin]

Good morning everone - no sleep last night spurred me on this morning to pass the case to a solicitors.  They said they will get the accident form from the shop by means of disclosure and the fact that the shop have since carried out repairs to the matting also indicates that there was a problem which should have been dealt with before it caused an accident.  They will also ask for copies of the CCTV fooage.  Thanks again for all your advice.  Now I will concentrate on getting to see my mam - I am just fed up of inconveniencing other people but my friends and OH are being wonderful.

My arm is hurting more now that it is in a full cast than when it was in a half cast - it feels as if it is pressing right on the bones - went back to hospital yesterday but because they cannot remove the original half cast as per consultant's instructions and the rest of the cast now encompasses the original cast, they canno  do anything to relieve the pressure - they said it should improve once some of the swelling subsides and to keep taking painkillers.  The pills don't seem to make much difference.

Thanks again x

[ilove2patch]

Poor you, you are suffering. Are you taking anti inflammatory tablets as well as the pain killers? So glad you have got a solicitor on the case.

[fluffypenquin]

Hi "Patch" - OH spoke to surgery first thing this morning and has just gone to pick up a prescription for anti-inflammatories - great minds.  Tks for the suggestion.  xxx

[ilove2patch]

I hope the pain eases for you soon.

[learning2me]

So sorry to read this Fluffy.

Do hope the pain settles down and that your solicitor takes that shop to the cleaners.

Stick to you principles.

[merly*28]

Still reading this thread Fluffy - and delighted to hear that you have a solicitor on the case.

I know that you and Mr Fluffy are very skilled and intelligent people, but sometimes circumstances demand that you hand over to the professionals and let YOU get on with caring for your Mam.

I send my love and prayers as always x x x