All supermarkets have a duty of care to their customers and employees. In other words, they have an obligation to ensure that you can shop safely without risk of injury. Therefore, if you slip in a supermarket then it is quite possible that they could be in breach of their obligations and you could be entitled to compensation. However, a lot will depend on how and why you slipped.
Establishing liability for your slip
In law, while supermarkets have a duty of care to their shoppers, it is not absolute. This means that a supermarket has to be at fault if you slip in one of their stores and has to be shown to have been neglectful. For instance, if you slipped on an item of fruit left on a supermarket floor then you could only make a claim if staff members were aware of the hazard and did nothing about it. If, for example, another shopper had just dropped the fruit, a supermarket may not be seen as liable, as it could have been powerless to prevent the accident.
I slipped on a wet floor
One of the most common causes of slipping in supermarkets is a wet floor. However, just because you have slipped on a wet surface, it doesn’t mean that you can automatically claim for any injury that may have occurred. Supermarkets have a need to keep their stores clean. If they do wash a floor, they have to provide adequate warning to customers so that they can avoid the hazard. Normally they will put up signs warning of a wet surface. If for some reason a supermarket fails to provide this warning then you could claim for compensation if you suffered an injury as a result of slipping.
Making a claim for damages
If you have been injured after slipping in a supermarket then you need to speak to a personal injury specialist as soon as possible, as it will need to be established whether or not the supermarket is liable. Expert injury solicitors may be able to get hold of evidence to prove that the supermarket failed in its duty of care, from the company’s accident book or accounts from other shoppers or employees.
