In a January evening, our client called in at a supermarket on his way home from work. This was not a supermarket he had been to before and he parked his car in the car park next to it. He walked out of the car park onto the pavement and into the store through the front door.

After picking up and paying for a few items he left and went back to the car park. When he got outside he realised that there was in fact a path running along the side of the supermarket which led down into the car park so he went down that path. At the end of the path were some steps down to the level of the car park. As our client started to walk down them he lost his footing and went over on his ankle causing him to fall over. The steps were only lit by the street lights which were some distance away.

Our client went back into the shop to report his accident and was told that the shop had recently changed their electric sign which meant that the steps were not lit. He went back to look at the steps with a shop assistant and they saw that they were in fact uneven, with each step being a different height and different distance apart, with loose materials in the surfaces as well.

He contacted us to see whether he could make a claim. After discussing the circumstances of the accident we advised him that he did have a valid claim and he instructed us to act.

We established that he had the benefit of legal expenses insurance as part of his home contents insurance policy. We got his home insurer’s authority to act for him under the terms of his policy and sent a detailed letter of claim to the local branch of the supermarket and also to their Company Secretary at Head Office.

The supermarket chain eventually passed the matter to their insurers who raised a series of questions about precisely where the accident had happened. We sent photographs of the steps which our client had marked clearly to show where it was where he had been walking at the time that he fell.

After some debate, the insurers accepted that the steps were defective and that they had caused him to fall but they also alleged that he was partly responsible for the accident. They alleged that he was 25% to blame for his injuries, which would have meant that he would only have received 75% of any damages awarded to him. They said that the defective steps were visible from a distance and that our client could have avoided them. They also alleged that he lived locally to the store and that he was very familiar with the area.

We considered the insurers’ allegations with our client who instructed us that he was not at all familiar with the store in question. We also considered the fact that the accident occurred during the hours of darkness and that there was no lighting anywhere near the steps at all. On this basis we recommended to our client that the offer of a 75/25 split in his favour should be rejected and that he should continue on the basis that full liability should rest with the supermarket. He followed our advice and instructed us to reject the offer.

We arranged for him to be examined by an independent medical expert who provided us with a report detailing his injuries. Our client was found to have suffered a sprain to his ankle which left him with severe symptoms for the first three months. It was expected that the minor ongoing symptoms would resolve within around 10 months from the date of the accident.

A copy of the medical report was sent to the insurers and they were invited to put forward their settlement offer. They offered £1,500.00 in full and final settlement of the claim. We advised our client that whilst he could accept that offer to bring the claim to an immediate conclusion, we considered it was too low and recommended that it should be rejected.

After considering his options he decided to follow our recommendation and rejected the offer. The insurers refused to make any increased offers and so we started court proceedings against the supermarket.

The claim was then transferred to the insurers’ laywers. We were able to discuss the merits of the claim with them and negotiated a 30% increase in the previous offer made by the insurers, to £1,800.00, with no admission that the accident was in any way the fault of our client.

He accepted the increased offer and our costs were also paid by the supermarket’s insurers.

After the claim finished, he wrote to us and said “Tom Payne was excellent, he gave good advice at all times. Very professional. He maximised my claim by advising me to hold out for a better offer. I am glad he did. I would be happy to use Actons again and certainly Tom.”

If you have tripped at a supermarket or in a public place and have sustained injuries, contact us to see whether you may have a claim. Our team have a proven track record of pursuing successful trip claims against supermarkets.

We will give you free expert advice about what to do next. The sooner you contact us the better, as there are time limits as to when a claim has to be made and investigation a claim is easier when the process is started quickly.

Contact us today to start your No Win No Fee Compensation Claim.