Supermarket Accident Lawyer

Overview

Compensation for slipping in a supermarket

One minute you’re shopping for dinner ingredients at your local grocer, the next you’re down on the floor writhing in pain. Serious, life-changing injuries can happen when you least expect them. In addition to being painful, supermarket injuries can set you back financially as a result of expensive medical treatment and lost work.

If you’ve been involved in an accident in a supermarket, shopping centre or other public places, you may be able to seek personal injury damages. Gerard Malouf & Partners can help. Our solicitors are experts in public liability and personal injury law and know the steps needed to secure you the compensation you need to get your life back on track.

If you’ve been involved in an accident in a supermarket, shopping centre or other public places, you may be able to seek compensation for your injury. Gerard Malouf & Partners have supported many clients with their compensation claims following a slip or fall in a supermarket, contact us to see if we can support your claim.

Years Experience

Winning successful cases for our clients.

98%

SUCCESS RATE

Winning Slip & Fall Compensation Claims

35,000

CLAIMS WON

That translates to billions of dollars for our clients.

Years Experience

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IF You Don'T Win YOur Case

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Service GuarAntee

Common supermarket accidents

While the supermarket may seem like a relatively safe space, serious accidents can still occur. One of the most common ways people get hurt while at the supermarket is by falling as the result of a slippery surface, typically a spill or floor cleaner. A supermarket slip and fall can vary greatly in severity, some of the parts of your body you can injure include your head, back, neck, knees and ankle. In some cases, your injuries may require intensive medical treatment and possibly cause you to miss work.

Other incidents that could occur in a supermarket and leave you injured include food poisoning from one of their products or a fire or flood on the property. Whatever your injuries, you may be eligible for compensation based on public liability law and depending on the specifics of your case.

Process

What do I need to make a public liability injury claim?

To make an effective public liability injury claim, you must prove that your injury occurred on the defendant’s property or occupancy and was the direct result of negligence on the part of the defendant.

To do that, you must have evidence of both the injury and the circumstances surrounding it. In some cases, you may also seek damages if a loved one was injured, and this has negatively impacted your life. A common example is a family member who must take time off of work to care for a loved one.

After your fall or another injury, assuming you don’t need immediate medical care, take the time to report your injury to a store attendant and complete an incident report form.

This will help ensure there is a record that an accident occurred on-premises. You should also keep a note of details about the scene of the accident, preferably through photographs or video that could be referred to later in court.

If you need an ambulance or otherwise are unable to gather your own information following the accident, an experienced personal injury solicitor can help you to gather evidence after the fact.

After you leave the supermarket, it is critical to consult a medical practitioner as soon as possible after the injury. A doctor’s report can provide evidence that your injuries are of a serious nature and have hindered you physically or mentally.

In most situations, you’ll make your claim with the supermarket’s public liability insurer, rather than directly with the grocer. While public liability insurance is not compulsory for businesses in Australia, most public-facing ones, such as supermarkets, pay into it. Just because a supermarket does not hold public liability insurance, however, does not mean that you can’t seek compensation. You deserve a payout for your injury, whether a negligent business has prepared ahead or not.

Typically, before bringing your claim to court, your solicitor will try to reach a settlement with the insurer in mediation. The majority of public liability cases are settled this way. While this approach can sometimes lead to a lower payout, it’ll also save you from paying extended legal fees. Your lawyer can help to give you context on whether a settlement offer is reasonable or too low. Only once mediation fails will court proceedings begin.

How much compensation could I get for a fall in a supermarket?

The compensation amount in a supermarket accident case can vary depending on the severity and impact of an injury. If an injury requires extensive medical care, limits your ability to work or severely impacts your quality of life you can expect a relatively large sum.

In general, in a public liability case you can claim damages for:

Immediate medical costs
- The category includes compensation that covers the cost of treating the immediate physical or psychological injury, including initial general practitioner and specialist appointments.
Long-term medical costs
- These payments cover an extended medical care that you’ll need, such as physical therapy, psychiatric treatment or domestic care, as well as any related transport costs.
Non-economic loss
- Also called “pain and suffering” damages, this category covers the psychological and emotional distress or loss of quality of life that the injury may have caused you. Because the amount that should be awarded for non-economic loss is more ambiguous than other areas, the threshold to be awarded damages is often higher.
Economic loss
- If your injuries leave you unable to work for any period of time, you can claim for your lost earnings and superannuation. In situations where you’ll be out of work for an extended or indefinite period, you can also claim for future economic loss.

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GErard Malouf & Partners

How can a Personal Injury Lawyer help my case?

Why use a supermarket compensation lawyer?

A personal injury lawyer is your guide through the public liability claims process and your advocate in both mediation and court.

They can assist by gathering evidence that demonstrates both the severity of your injuries and that they were the result of negligence. This will typically include calling on the testimony of experts, such as general practitioners, psychiatrists or experts in supermarket standard practice. Doctors and psychiatrists can speak to the way your injuries may negatively impact a person, and decrease quality of life.

An industry expert can explain to a court how a supermarket’s actions fell outside the bounds of standard practice and support the assertion that they failed in their duty of care.

Your lawyer should guide you through the public liability claims process and your advocate in both mediation and court.

An industry expert can explain to a court how a supermarket’s actions fell outside the bounds of standard practice and support the assertion that they failed in their duty of care.

A record of success

Our public liability solicitors and barristers are all highly regarded in their field and have proven track records of success. We pride ourselves on taking on the largest insurers in Australia and winning.

In one recent case, we helped a North Strathfield, New South Wales man who was seriously injured after tripping on a stack of boxes at his local grocer. The man was going to grab a bottle of wine on the way to checkout when he walked into the boxes, which were hidden behind a trolley. The resulting fall left him with injuries on his lower back and left knee, which persisted for an extended period after the accident. Looking to determine his options, he contacted the experts at Gerard Malouf & Partners for assistance.

With our guidance, the man consulted his doctor, which he did not do immediately following his injury, who determined that his injuries required urgent attention and a further radiological investigation. Armed with evidence that our client’s injuries were serious, we began building his case with documents from the grocer and security camera footage of the accident. Once we had explored all avenues and felt we had built a solid case, we attempted to have a settlement discussion with the supermarket, in the hope they would agree to a reasonable payout.

When it became clear this approach would not be successful, we opened court proceedings against the grocer in the District Court of New South Wales. Pressured by the litigation, the supermarket soon came around and agreed to a $60,000 settlement for our client. From the time he contacted our team to the time he secured payment the entire process only took a few months. The sum was especially notable given that the man was not pursuing damages for past or future economic loss. Ultimately, our client was pleased with the outcome, which gave him peace of mind and allowed him to pay for his medical treatment.