Slips and Trips Inside a Supermarket

If you do not order your food shop online, you most likely visit a supermarket to purchase your groceries. Supermarkets can be hazardous places to visit due to the following:

• Rainwater accumulating on the floor in and around the entrance / exit of the store,
• Packaging on the floor from stock replenishment or displays,
• Water on the floor near the floral, fridge or freezer areas or due to spillages,
• Products falling off shelves due to overstocking or poor display methods, and
• Vegetable matter on the floor, such as squashed fruit or leaves.

If you encounter such a hazard, and it causes you to slip or trip, you may be entitled to pursue a civil claim against the supermarket as the occupiers of the premises.

The burden of proving your claim falls with you as the Claimant. Accordingly, if you are able, you should do the following as soon as practicable after the incident:

• Take a photo and / or video of the hazard if you have a camera on your mobile phone.
• Take details of any witnesses, ideally their name, address, and telephone number.
• Report your trip or slip to store staff, taking a note of the employees name and role.
• Request the incident be recorded within the store accident book and ask for a copy of that entry; they may refuse to provide that.
• Ask if the incident was captured on CCTV and if so, request a copy, asking staff preserve the footage if they refuse to provide you with it.  
• Report your injury to your GP and / or a Hospital, and follow any medical advice given.

For a claim to succeed you must prove that:

• The supermarket owed you a “common duty of care” as a lawful visitor to their premises (s2(1) Occupiers Liability Act 1957).
• The supermarket breached that duty of care by failing “to take such care as in all the circumstances ….. to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises” (S2(2) Occupiers Liability Act 1957). Examples of such a breach could be store staff failing to inspect the store at reasonable intervals whereby the hazard may have otherwise been noticed and removed before an accident occured, or a failure to highlight the presence of the hazard by the use of a cone, wet floor sign, or corden.
• As a result of the breach, you sustained personal injury and consequential financial loss and expense (you should retain proof of that where possible e.g. receipts, pre and post-accident wage slips, photos of damaged clothing etc) – this is what you would seek compensation for.

If you have been injured as a result of an accident within the last 3 years, please contact the personal injury team at John Hodge Solicitors who will be happy to discuss your potential claim. We offer a free initial consultation whether by telephone or face to face at one of our offices.