accident in tesco

Dizzy_Ditzy

i am posting this on behalf of my mum

a couple of weeks ago she was in tesco at about 11.30 on a saturday night. She went to get something and fell over some crates that had been left there. She landed on her knee, which is already showing signs of being arthritic (according to her GP). She spent the night in A&E having x-rays and scans to make sure everything was ok. Whilst she was on the floor, both customers AND staff were just stepping over her rather than asking if she was ok.

She is ok now, a couple more weeks of hobbling around on crutches and she should be able to bin them.

This is where I could do with some advice please. People have been telling her to go for compensation through one of these no win no fee type places. I have a very low opinion of these companies, feeling that they would just fill her head with hope and ideas just for it to come to nothing. In the meantime, my dad has been telling her that she should complain directly to tesco, not only for leaving things around that people can trip over, but also for the attitude of the staff who were stepping over her.

I dont really know what to advise her to do for the best. I despise "compo chasers" but at the same time, I know they can do with some money as she doesnt work (and claims zero benefit), my parents surviving on my dad's wages, which arent fantastic.

My personal feeling is that she should complain directly to tesco and see where that takes her.

Does anyone have any sane advice for me to pass on please?

Thanks

fluffnutter

If she were unable to work and had lost money, or there were particular jobs around the house that she couldn't do, and your dad had to pay someone else to do them whilst she was poorly, then I suppose claiming compensation for loss of earnings, or additional costs due to her injury would be perfectly sensible. I'm not sure if this is the case, and any compensation she might receive through these ambulance-chasing type companies would just be about distress or whatever. In which case I'd say don't do it. Compensation isn't really there to just top up low income households!

I'd complain to Tesco. They have a legal duty to record the incident anyway and the staff's attitude sounds appalling. See where that gets you. Has your mum incurred any costs at all? Bus/petrol/taxi to the hospital? Phonecalls? Prescription charges? Charge all of that back to Tesco.

GarryJ68

yeah as much as its upsetting as your mum really hurt herself and you want someone to blame - i think you need to step back for a moment and think about it from a neutral perspective.

A similar thing happened to one of my parents, but they should have asked for assistance, but were a little too proud too and instead thought they could manage - but then had an accident. I was never angry with the shop - just concerned for them... i see them especially as they've got older putting themselves at risk all the time like putting knives in toasters and drying stuff in front of the fire... which makes it hard knowing how independent they are to find anyone at fault.

Dizzy_Ditzy

My personal feeling would be that she shouldnt "lean" over crates next time and if they are in her way ask a staffmember for assistance. The fact she acted like that along with the fact the knee was already injured would prejudice any court settlement; wouldnt be surprised if the claim companies refused to take the case without a large fee up front.

She did not "act" in any way. The crates werent exactly stacked up one on top of the other! She could not get back up again without the assistance of the paramedics who were called when someone realised that she was actually in distress and not just lying on the floor having a kip!!


If she were unable to work and had lost money, or there were particular jobs around the house that she couldn't do, and your dad had to pay someone else to do them whilst she was poorly, then I suppose claiming compensation for loss of earnings, or additional costs due to her injury would be perfectly sensible. I'm not sure if this is the case, and any compensation she might receive through these ambulance-chasing type companies would just be about distress or whatever. In which case I'd say don't do it.

I'd complain to Tesco. They have a legal duty to record the incident anyway and the staff's attitude sounds appalling. See where that gets you. Has your mum incurred any costs at all? Bus/petrol/taxi to the hospital? Phonecalls? Prescription charges? Charge all of that back to Tesco.

Thankfully, me, my dad and my brother managed to get all the things done that needed doing. She didnt incur any costs which is a good thing i think given their current financial situation :-)


A similar thing happened to one of my parents, but they should have asked for assistance, but were a little too proud too and instead thought they could manage - but then had an accident. I was never angry with the shop - just concerned for them... i see them especially as they've got older putting themselves at risk all the time like putting knives in toasters and drying stuff in front of the fire... which makes it hard knowing how independent they are to find anyone at fault.

I worry about them all the time, they arent elderly but they arent far off it and there have been occasions where i have wondered if they are as ok as they tell me they are (if that makes sense!) . I'm not angry with Tesco. I am angry with people for stepping over her like she was a piece of litter, but I dont think thats Tesco's fault, I think its more a view of how society in general is today. I would like to think however that if it was me on the floor in quite obvious pain and distress that someone would take 10 seconds from their life to ask if i was ok!

Thanks all, you've confirmed what I was already thinking, I think I just needed someone else to tell me :-)

PS- apologies- I havent quite worked out how to multi-quote yet

garth549

Sorry to hear about the accident, its terrible that no-one offered to help her!

It might be difficult to prove any negligence on behalf of Tesco, I would just do as others have suggested - write a letter to their head office, i'm sure they will offer her some goodwill for the inconvenience of having to spend the night at hospital etc.

Dont go to these so called "ambulance chasing" law firms. Most people and even a lot of respectable legal professionals have a very grim view of them. Its legalised robbery in my opinion.

Dizzy_Ditzy

MrCEO wrote: »

Crates are inanimate objects therefore she must have walked into them; leaned on them; had them pushed into her. How exactly did she collide with them? The rest is really a bit strange. Did she not ask people for help? Why did no one help when asked?

not having been there i cannot tell you word for word what was going on at the time. i can recall the distressed phone calls i was getting after the event though!

Thank you for your opinion. It has been duly noted.

Dizzy_Ditzy

MrCEO wrote: »

It wasnt an opinion. It were questions that are entirely relevant to the case.

How did the collision occur?
Why didnt tesco help her?

These could add/lose thousands to any payout or determine whether Tesco are legally liable dependent on the answer. If you want full advice you need to answer them.

OK thank you. As far as I am aware, the crates were on the floor in a rather haphazard fashion. I *think* my dad took pics of it on his phone but he can be a bit of a technophobe sometimes so dont know for sure!

I think she was on the floor for a good 5 minutes before some students came along and asked if she was ok and asked a member of staff for some help. I dont know the answer yet as to why staff were stepping over her and whether she asked for any help or not straight away or not, but I will check with her and point this out to her so that she can decide how she wants to play it. I dont think she should go to these no win no fee people but i cant force her not to do it. At least with this info, she can make a better choice as to which way to go.

Thank you :-)

System

Sue them, when people on this site mention compensation people jump down their throats, on some occasions this attitude is justified as alot of people seem to be after hundreds of pounds for the most ridiculous things. However in this situation is sounds like your Mum has a strong case, and the staff were terrible. Not sure who to go with, i would google and see who pops up. I would also suggest you put the case in reasonably quickly as I would assume the incident was captured on CCTV, and if it looks as bad as it sounds I would assume your Mum would do reasonably well.

System

I base this the same as when someone trips over a broken pavestone and then claims money from the council, or when someone slips on a wet floor. If Tesco are going to pile crates around the aisles that customers can trip over then they should provide the appropriate warning signs. I believe from a health and safety point of view they are not allowed to block aisles with crates so I suspect that legally the OP has a strong case.

Frankly when you go shopping you shouldn't have to weave in and out of different crates to get your food and though I doubt I would trip over them myself, many times i see people walking around not looking where they are going and I am not suprised that someone tripped over a crate (that shouldn't have been there).

As for the staff's attitude, I admit its strange but the alternative is to say that the OP is a liar and that the staff didn't step over her mother and ignore her. I choose to believe that they are telling the truth(as why would they lie to us), anyway CCTV would soon confirm this as all aisles in tesco are covered to deter shop lifters and they'll have the whole thing on tape

joeyboy

hmmm I don't think it's that fair to blame them for the incident, but obviously if it's true members of staff actually saw her on the ground(and not just members of the public) and did nothing, that's highly unusual and obviously needs reporting.

I work at the supermarket(well we're not that super sized) chain Iceland. As our stores are generally only 3-5 isles and those isles aren't that wide, we do have to put flat beds of stock on the isles and obviously folks have to walk around them, still there is enough room to do this, though not enough for say a trolley and a person to do so at the same time.

We've never had the problem of someone not paying attention and tripping over one or any boxes. we've had folks leaning over them to reach something on the shelves, I try and look out for that and get it for them or move the flatbed a little, luckily the older folks are more likely to actually ask for help then try and do it themselves here, but I can imagine someone trying to reach something and tripping over or what ever, probably happened a few times at different stores. We've had folks fall, just not in that way.

Bar an apology and possibly some sort of good will gesture(vouchers) I can't really see it going further, this scenario isn't really the same as someone say tripping over a small spillage which had no warning sign, and even that's pretty unfair to blame the supermarket for. Also obviously although her leg was bad as it is...and has probably been badly bruised or something(hence crutches you said)...it's not as if she's had to stop working. No loss of money involved..

Chester85

See, at Sainsburys, at least it's a better quality of crate you fall over