Decorators, or any other workers who are carrying out jobs on homes or other places where people will be, have a clear duty to ensure that their working activities do not cause harm to anyone. When it comes to decorators there are plenty of hazards they can create – although as long as they stick to their legal obligations there shouldn’t be any problems.
But when they fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent an accident occurring they can be liable to compensate an injured victim.
Common scenarios
Scenarios where you may have a legitimate claim for personal injury compensation can be:
- Trips on items or tools left in walkways – such as trips on paint tubs or toolboxes left in places where people will walk
- Slips on spilled paint or other liquids being used
- Being hit by a falling object from a decorator working on a set of ladders or at height in general
It’s dead easy to prevent these kinds of things from happening. Signs for wet floors and cordons, as well as placing tools or other potential tripping hazards away from walkways, are easy enough things to achieve. General care and concern for anyone who may need to frequent the area is a simple enough task.
Insurance and who to blame
So if you have slipped or tripped due to the negligence of a decorator or decorating company you may have a claim for compensation. One issue that can sometimes arise though is insurance.
Whilst a company or sole trader ought to have public liability insurance, they may not have any. If they don’t, then unless they have any assets or finances to settle a case with you, it could be a real struggle to actually obtain any compensation from them.
We can certainly establish that they are at fault – but if you are not going to get any sort of recompense for it then there may be little point in pursuing it.
HOWEVER – if this happens in a public place like a shop, or even in your own home if it is a rented property, then you may be able to claim from the shop owners or the landlord. If it were them who instructed the decorators then they can be liable for any negligence of ‘employees or agents‘ working on their behalf. Even if a decorating company is entirely independent of a shop they can still be held accountable as ‘agents‘ working for them.
What to do
Contact our free claims helpline on 0800 634 7575 for vital help and advice today. We can normally assist with claims on a no win, no fee basis and we can normally save our clients thousands of pounds when they claim the safe way with us.
