Serious Injury in a Public Place

If you have suffered a serious injury in a public place such as sports or music event, in a shop, restaurant, hospital or on the street you can make a claim for compensation. 

These are claims where you might have been the victim of violence or slipped or tripped up or been hurt by faulty equipment or a defect in a pathway or pavement or there has been a fire or explosion and, crucially, the organisation or business is at fault.

Clients of ours have made claims for serious injuries caused by a bad fall at the entrance to a restaurant, a violent attack at a music festival, a fall from a wheelchair at a football stadium, a death caused by a defect in a pathway and a slip on a wet floor in hospital. All of these caused significant injuries and loss to each claimant and each compensation claim was settled.

Covered on the organisation’s insurance

Most types of accident in a public place will be covered by the business or organisation’s insurance. Their insurers will have a dedicated team to handle such claims. They will consider the claim that your solicitor will present to them and both parties will attempt to negotiate a compensation settlement for you.

How long after the accident can you claim?

You must bring your claim to Court within three years of the accident. It will take months for your solicitors and the insurers to investigate the claim fully before that so you must contact a solicitor as soon as possible. They will immediately start to gather the evidence they need and they will need to take your instructions about what happened so it is important the information is fresh in your mind and the minds of anyone else who was there.

Supporting your claim

When you were injured it is likely that you will have been attended to by staff at the time of the accident. Someone may have taken photos of the scene. They should have filled out an accident book entry explaining what had happened. They may have given statement to their employer about what happened too. There may be an investigation report too. We will obtain these for you.

If an ambulance or paramedics attended the scene the circumstances of their attendance will be in your medical notes. Any further treatment you have needed will be recorded in your hospital notes, GP notes, physio and other notes. These will support your claim too and we will obtain these.

You will need to be assessed by independent medical experts and we can arrange that for you. If you need rehabilitation for your injuries we will try to secure a payment to cover any private treatment and support you need. We will also carry out a detailed assessment of the financial losses you have incurred.

Why Price Slater Gawne?

Our solicitors have years of experience in public liability claims of this kind and we will prepare all of the evidence for you and negotiate with the defendants for you, keeping you and your claim at the heart of our work.