The last thing we all want to happen when we go shopping is to end up leaving the shopping centre on a stretcher because you’ve had an unfortunate slip. However, in big shopping centre’s it is inevitable that there are several food outlets which sell fast food and all it takes is for one child to unfortunately drop their “meal” on the floor and for you to walk there afterwards for the worse to happen. That, or general liquid spillages.
If this scenario seems all too familiar, you may be entitled to claim for your injuries which also entitle you to recover any consequential losses such as loss of earnings, travel expenses and care and assistance from friends and family.
To improve your chances of the claim being successful and the case being resolved as quickly as possible, there are certain things that you can do and these are:
- Photographs – if you can, take some of whatever has caused you to slip this might be discarded food, drink or wet floor caused by cleaning or otherwise.
- Witness details – We would all like to think that if we fell in a crowded area someone would come and assist us, so if they do it is incredibly helpful to take their details.
- Accident report forms – if you complete one, try and get a copy to ensure nothing goes missing.
- Injury photographs – if you are looking to claim for scaring take photographs at regular intervals and the same goes for bruising injuries.
- Sketch plan – whilst the accident is fresh in your memory, drawing a map showing the exact location (usually marking nearby shops or “landmarks”) means that the other side can start investigations straight away.
- CCTV – make the claim as quick as you can because CCTV footage could be the making or breaking of your claim. Most places get rid of it after a few weeks.
But what are these investigations? Basically when making a claim for a slip in a shopping mall, it will normally proceed under the pre-action protocol for personal injury. This means that the letter of claim goes across and the other side have 21 days to acknowledge receipt of the letter and pass to their representatives and then 3 months to investigate before confirming their position on liability. During this time all the evidence mentioned above will help to build your case and in essence make it the strongest it can be.
It isn’t all about the evidence though – getting the perfect personal injury lawyer on your case is also essential as many simply try and settle as quickly as possible to cut down on costs. Here at The Injury Lawyers we think this is completely ridiculous! We are here to get you the optimum amount of compensation and therefore will work for as hard and as long as is needed.
So contact us today to discuss how we can get your claim moving straight away.
