Injured in Tesco's - Advice Please

Brooker_Dave

Tozer wrote: »

Assuming no long lasting injuries, the usual amount for this sort of claim would seem to be in the region of £500 for 'general damages' - pain and suffering.

You know all this compensation nonsense makes everything here more expensive for us all (even the non greedy ones)?

hundredk

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

For a cut on her foot?

Why would a court feel the need to award someone thousands for such a non event?

Think it was 3 inch + 5 stitches on a 90yo foot. OP said medical advice was 6 weeks to recover because of age, yet someone younger would probably take 2 weeks. Pain suffering and stress plus potential complications could make a court award a few thousand.

hundredk

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

You know all this compensation nonsense makes everything here more expensive for us all (even the non greedy ones)?

Probably does but if a few thousand quid payout helps make all the places safer then that can only be a good thing (even for the non greedy ones)?

Tozer

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

You know all this compensation nonsense makes everything here more expensive for us all (even the non greedy ones)?

But this isn't nonsense. It is a genuine injury (not a case of "my child could have had his head mangled and he was lucky not to lose both legs as well") and the award will be modest.

It won't be a few £thousand. It will be less than £1k.

Most claims consist of loss of earnings, etc which I am assuming doesn't apply here. So it will be a claim for general damages only.

Believe it or not Courts are not hugely generous with these awards. But there is a very serious inconvenience of having an injury like this and, in my view, it should be compensated.

mountainofdebt

hundredk wrote: »

But Tesco employees knew first and made a decision the chair was OK to use. In making such a decsion on behalf of Tesco the employee must either be incompetent for not checking the equipment properly or no checking regime exists. Either way that, most likely makes Tesco liable.

But the OP's wife made the final decsion to use the wheelchair, knowing that it was faulty. This I would argue would mitigate any damages awarded.

Tozer

mountainofdebt wrote: »

But the OP's wife made the final decsion to use the wheelchair, knowing that it was faulty. This I would argue would mitigate any damages awarded.

Maybe but it would not extinguish any claim. She would also have been unaware of the consequences that the fault would cause.

Mrs_Ryan

Just to add on this one - my mum got clipped by one of those cage things years ago in what was then Safeway, she is disabled and although there was injury, thank god it wasnt serious, they settled out of court with quite a substantial sum.
And just to Ms Troll (aka SueSueSue) Im a nurse on a care of the elderly hospital ward and I would just like to say that what may seem like a trivial injury on a younger person can indeed become quite serious quite quickly on a person of advanced age such as OP's Nan.
Best wishes to your Nan for a speedy recovery, OP.

Blacksheep1979

Sorry, you knew the wheelchair was broken and chose to use it, you accepted the risks involved - why can't people take responsibility for their own actions any more?

dfh

To the OP-I am sorry about what happened.A small cut in the elderly may take longer to heal.Wish Nan a speedy recovery.

bumpoowee

Although Tesco may have been negligent, you yourself were negligent as you should not have used the wheelchair if you didn't think it was fit for purpose.

You may well have a claim that you can chase in court, and if you get greedy enough you may get a decent payout, however don't be at all suprised if, in this scenario, Tesco withdraw the use of all these wheelchairs and leave the elderly to deal with their mobility issues on their own. You only be hurting people like your nan by taking this course of action.

I think the best outcome would be an apology and small goodwill gesture (basket of fruit/vouchers/whatever) and an assurance that Tesco will amend their processes to avoid this in future.