At Alliance Compensation and Litigation Lawyers, our dedicated team will be able to assist you with your public liability claim and achieve maximum compensation.
What is public liability?
Public liability claims are claims for injuries sustained in a public place, such as a shopping centre, rental property etc. whereby the injuries sustained are the result of the negligence of the owner or occupier of the public place.
The owner or occupier of the public place owes you a duty of care to put measures in place to prevent your injuries, such as placing a sign to warn you that the floor is wet or regularly checking the premises to remove dangerous trip hazards etc.
If the owner or occupier has not taken reasonable steps to protect your safety and you suffer an injury as a consequence, then you are eligible to make a public liability claim.
Hence in order to make a public liability claim, you will need to prove two things:
- Your accident could have been avoided if the owner or occupier took reasonable steps to prevent it; and
- You suffered losses as a result of your injury.
Will my claim be successful?
It is important to note that not all injuries in a public place will result in a successful public liability claim. This is because in the case of spillages causing a slip and fall, it depends on how long the liquid has been there. If it has been there for some time and the owner or occupier had ample opportunity to inspect the premises and clean up the spillage but didn’t, then you are able to have a successful claim. However, if the spillage has only been there for a couple of minutes before you came along and slipped on it, then it will be difficult to prove that the owner or occupier had enough time to clean the spillage to prevent your fall.
In one case involving public liability, an older woman in her late sixties slipped and fell in the fruits and deli section of a supermarket. Upon review of CCTV footage and the incident report, it was noted the last time the staff members in the supermarket inspected the premises was an hour before the woman had her accident. This meant that they had ample opportunity to identify the slip hazard, either clean up the wet floor or place a sign to warn the customers of the wet floor. However, these measures were not in place. This is a case where the woman will have a successful public liability claim and outcome as the owner or occupier of the premises owed her a duty of care to place in measures to prevent her injury.
Here at Alliance Compensation and Litigation Lawyers, our hardworking staff will be able to provide you with advice on the prospects of success of your public liability claim and assist you in your claim. Contact our office today for your consultation with an experienced lawyer.
