Eye injury in a shop - can I claim?

Laz123

boliston wrote: »

Were you aware of the loose wire when you tried on the glasses?

You should have gone to Specsavers.

Plus the OP couldn't see the wire for the very reason they needed glasses in the first place.

custardy

As someone who has suffered a similar eye injury.
not fun and very painful. However how did you manage to take a picture of the wire?
When I had my injury I could barely force my eye open,2 weeks later I was still sitting in dark rooms with sunglasses Roy Orbison would have been proud to wear.

steampowered

bris wrote: »

Are you now blind in this eye? I will hazard a guess at no any you have made a full recovery. You can try and make a complaint which will result in a £10 good will gift voucher, if you want more then off to the courts you go but without any lasting damage no one will be interested in taking this on for you and your claim will be small.

Personally I think an incident that causes someone a great deal of pain to their eye and requires multiple trips to the hospital is worth more than a £10 goodwill voucher.

DeathMuffin

"I lost a finger! Can I claim?"
"Don't bother, you don't need them all"

neilmcl

steampowered wrote: »

Personally I think an incident that causes someone a great deal of pain to their eye and requires multiple trips to the hospital is worth more than a £10 goodwill voucher.

I tend to agree. I don't agree with the whole compo culture we have nowadays but this isn't exactly a case of "oops I stubbed my toe in a shop how do I take them to the cleaners". This could have been very serious indeed.

lincroft1710

aaroncaz wrote: »

a claim is not just abt compensation it is abt making sure does not happen to someone else who might not be so lucky and could end up being blinded.

You can never make sure that this won't happen to someone else. Even with the best staff training, you may still get a lazy or negligent employee who fails to do their job properly. In any case I would imagine that after this incident, the store has made its staff aware that the security wires need to be kept tightened.

maninthestreet

TBH, I can't see the OP winning any claim they make for this eye injury...

hollydays

lincroft1710 wrote: »

You can never make sure that this won't happen to someone else. Even with the best staff training, you may still get a lazy or negligent employee who fails to do their job properly. In any case I would imagine that after this incident, the store has made its staff aware that the security wires need to be kept tightened.

Op it would maybe help your case if you could find out some more information about the security device, I'm guessing it may have had a brand name on it somewhere.

Then you could look it up online and find out how it's meant to be maintained.

I know sunglasses are high risk for theft , and they are hard to protect, but using a device with WIRES on a product that goes near the eyes does not seem in any way a good choice.

If it's possible a customer in trying to steal them had exposed the wires , it seems a very big and dangerous flaw in the design, and one that needs highlighting.i think emphasising this is your best way forward.Personally I've never seen this product.

unholyangel

steampowered wrote: »

Personally I think an incident that causes someone a great deal of pain to their eye and requires multiple trips to the hospital is worth more than a £10 goodwill voucher.

While I agree in the circumstances more than £10 should be offered without a doubt, I think bris was just pointing out that given OP has mentioned no time off work/lost earnings or lasting damage, the damages awarded would be nominal and would require the OP either to pay a solicitor from their own pocket or proceed without one. A law reform now means you can no longer claim legal costs from the defendant - now instead the costs are paid by the claimant from any damages awarded to them - capped at 25%. Which means unless there is a claim for substantial amount of damages, no solicitor will be interested.


However theres no rush to make a claim and certainly its sometimes advisable to wait until you at least know the extent of the injuries. Because once you make a claim, you can't then claim again if your injury turns out to be more extensive than you first though.

naedanger

tillylou wrote: »

A brief version of the story - I was trying on some sunglasses in a large store, and the security wire that they are attached to the stand with was loose and had a large bare wire sticking out at the end near the lenses. I did not see this and when I put the glasses on, the wire went straight into my eye. I had my 2 year old granddaughter with me at the time and was not offered a seat, a drink, nothing, and the incident had really made me feel quite nauseous.

An accident report was filed and I went in to see the stores optician who sent me straight to a&e. By the time I was out of the opticians, they had tightened up every security wire but I did take a photo before they did this. I have since been to a&e twice - once because the pressure in my eye was high, and the second time because of a suspected infection.

I would just like to know if and how I can make a claim for this as I really feel that this was a completely negligent accident.

Thank you

The following website (which just came up on google) suggests:

"Minor eye injuries – last for a few weeks with no permanent symptoms: £1,450 – £2,600"

http://www.firstpersonalinjury.co.uk/guides/much-compensation-eye-injury/

Personally I would be very wary of using no win, no fee solicitors. For example the firm I have linked to say - "In limited circumstances, fees may be charged when your accident claim is not successful."