It doesn’t matter how carefully you try to avoid it, sooner or later most of us have an accident in a public place that wasn’t our fault. A large percentage of us are lucky and escape with only our pride seriously injured and nothing more then a twisted ankle, a couple of bruises or some stained clothing to show our misfortune. However, not all are so fortunate.
There are many public liability solicitors available to advise you if you find yourself injured after a serious slip, trip, or fall in a public place, but there are things you can do to assist them, and yourself before you even leave the scene of the accident.
For a public liability compensation claim to be awarded, you need to prove that the accident was not your fault but that the owner of the property where you were injured was the one responsible.
The first thing you (or someone who is with you, if you are too badly hurt to do it yourself) should do after seeking the relevant medical aid, is to report the accident to the owner of the property or a member of staff and ask to put a record of the incident in their accident book. If it is possible to gather the names and addresses of anyone who witnessed the accident, then it is best do so.
It is also a good idea to take photographs of the area where the accident occurred (your mobile phone is useful for this as many these days have in-built cameras) and if it was a trip then try and put something next to the hazard to help gauge the height/depth of the fault later. Ideally this should be a ruler, but a coin also works well and is something you are more likely to have upon your person at the time.
If you have any visible signs of injury then make sure you photograph those too, this includes any bruising that may develop later on – again using something like a coin to help show the size of the wound/injury.
If once you have spoken to a personal injury solicitor they have advised you to claim for expenses as part of your public liability claim, you should make sure you keep any receipts for travelling costs and prescription charges.
You can find a solicitor a number of ways, either using the phone book, or by looking for public liability solicitors online. Many will take the case on at a “no win, no fee” basis.