Sainsburys’ Failure to Repair Defect Results in Customer Suffering Fall

A customer of Sainsburys has expressed her concern at Sainsburys’ lack of care to customers when the company failed to repair a defect, which caused her to fall and suffer injuries.

Maria Taylor attended the Sainsburys’ store on Tritton Road in Lincoln on Sunday the 23rd of January 2022. At around 3:50pm, Maria exited her vehicle and was making her way across the company’s car park when she suddenly tripped due to a pot hole in a parking bay, suffering soft tissue injuries to her knee and ankle.

Initially, Maria struggled to get up due to the pain and Sainsburys’ Duty Manager was alerted to provide first aid. An accident report was then completed by the company and Maria attended hospital the following day for treatment.

Following the incident, no repairs were made to the area, despite the defect being cordoned off initially, and Maria is now concerned that others could sustain more serious injuries if nothing is done by the company.

Maria advised The Lincolnite “I am disgusted that they have not done anything. To date [March 9], I have not had a single call, letter or email from Sainsbury’s. I have contacted the store several times and have been reassured that the matter was being dealt with and to expect contact.”

Sainsbury’s have since advised that ““Safety is our highest priority. We are working closely with our maintenance teams to assess this area of the car park and the space is coned off in the meantime to prevent this from happening again.”

What should I do if I suffer an accident in a supermarket?

Unfortunately, accidents in supermarkets are very common, with slips and trips on packaging, spillages or produce being the most common cause.

If you are unfortunate enough to suffer an accident, there are a few steps we would advise someone to take as soon as possible, to ensure that they protect themselves, future customers and their own position later down the line.

1. Obtain medical attention as soon as possible.

If you are in significant pain, it may be wise to seek first aid from the store to prevent your injury from being aggravated. If this is insufficient, call 101 or 999 to assess your symptoms and check if you need to go to hospital and/or call an ambulance.

If you do not need further treatment but your injuries become worse or persist, seek medical attention as soon as possible, either from your GP or by visiting hospital.

The appointment may simply provide medication to relieve your symptoms or you may be referred for a scan or treatment such as physiotherapy. If your injuries are severe, you may also need to obtain a sick note from your GP if you are unable to return to work.

Many injuries, even where a person has broken a bone, are not always apparent at the time but it is important that you receive the treatment needed to ease your recovery and to also document your injuries for evidential purposes if you wish to claim compensation in future.

2. Report the accident to the store

We would always advise a person to report their accident to the store as soon as possible to allow the company to become aware of the issue so the hazard can be rectified, which could prevent another person from suffering a similar fate.

Although verbal communication may do the trick, we would always advise a person to ask the store to record your injuries in their accident book and then to follow this up by an email where possible so there is hard evidence of the complaint. Your report should confirm when your accident was, how your accident occurred and what your injuries were.

Sadly, some companies do not record verbal communication or this is done poorly and therefore any oral complaints may not be logged correctly, which could pose evidential difficulties if you wished to escalate your complaint or pursue a claim for compensation on the future.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome you receive from the original store, you may wish to escalate this to the head office or seek advice from a solicitor.

3. Be aware of your rights 

A person is entitled to pursue a claim for compensation if they suffer injuries due to the negligence of another.  This means proving that a company or staff member has either not done something that they should have done (such as by failing to clean a spillage) or they have done something they should not have (such as by leaving a pallet in a dangerous area).

The timeframe for making a claim is three years from the date of your accident if you are an adult in the United Kingdom. If your accident occurred outside of the UK, we would advise you to seek advice from a solicitor in that country as different timescales may apply.

This timescale is also extended to a person’s 21st birthday if the accident involved a child and there is no time limit if a person lacks mental capacity (unless they regain capacity, in which case the timeframe is three years from the date they regained capacity).

Although it is possible for a person to apply for compensation themselves, the process can be complex, particularly if a serious injury is involved.  Sadly, defences are available to the opposing party and as such no case can be guaranteed, even where the accident circumstances are so apparent.

We would therefore advise a person to seek legal advice as soon as possible. Most solicitor firms operate on a “no win – no fee” basis and as such there would be no cost to you if the case failed, provided that you cooperate with your file handler and you are not found to be fraudulent.

By obtaining a legal representative, it would ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible for you, giving you the peace of mind that the correct procedure is being followed whilst reducing any stress the claim could cause. This would give you more time to focus on your recovery, with your solicitor still updating you along the way.

Although you may not have the funds or resources to access the treatment which you require, by instructing a firm of solicitors, your file handler can request that the Defendant and/or their representatives agree to fund rehabilitation for you and your solicitor can organise this, allowing you to get back to full health as soon as possible as this would be on a private basis.

Legal advice is also important to guarantee that you receive the correct amount of compensation that you deserve. Although a lump sum offered can initially seem attractive , you should remember that the company and their insurers/solicitors are the Defendants in your case and therefore the opposing party’s interests are to try award you as little as possible.

If a sum is agreed, the terms of this should be checked as it may be in full and final settlement, which could prevent you from returning for more money in the future, even if your injuries become substantially worse. We would therefore always advise a person to seek advice on any offers that are received, even if these are trivial such as a voucher to spend in the store or some chocolates.

By instructing a firm of solicitors, your representative can adequately advise you on any offers and negotiate with the other side to ensure that you receive the maximum amount possible, taking into account any financial losses which may be claimable.

Further reading

Accidents in Public Places – Oakwood Solicitors

WHAT TO DO NEXT

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Source: 

https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2022/03/disgusted-lincoln-woman-calls-on-sainsburys-to-fix-pot-holes-after-painful-fall/