Public liability Claims

Public liability insurance is purchased by businesses to cover damages and compensation payouts in the event that businesses have caused damages/injuries sustained on their property that they are negligent for. This also covers any damage caused to an individuals' property as a result of the incident. It is not a legal requirement for businesses to have Public Liability Insurance, but most are expected to have at least £2million of cover per annum. As a rule, public liability claims can tend to be high with many cases around six-figure sums, and as such it is extremely important for businesses to have cover otherwise the costs can prohibit company growth. Examples include:

• Ailments caused by uneven pavements, footpaths, roads and walkways, steps and stairs.
• Slip, trip or fall whilst in a shop, supermarket, amusement park, car park or shopping centre.
• Injuries due to objects falling from above whilst on public property.

You are entitled to make a claim in the event of an incident occurring in these circumstances. And, in most cases, your claim would be taken against the companies' public liability insurance. When considering a claim for compensation, it is important to establish the parties responsible for the harm caused. The defendant could be the local council or an individual such as a landlord, homeowner or business owner. Either way, it is important to ascertain who is responsible for the wellbeing of the individual on his/her/their property. Local councils are duty-bound to maintain public pavements and roads. Business owners and shopkeepers are responsible for the safety of individuals on their premises, and in public places, laws are in place to protect others from injury. Many solicitors will be interested to represent claims of this nature and there are a number of firms that may offer a "no win, no fee" service to claim compensation. In the heat of the moment, getting relevant evidence is sometimes overlooked and obtaining this information is extremely important. Try to provide as much evidence as possible such as eye-witness reports and photographs to bolster any submission as injuries alone may not suffice. You may know of people being injured in the same place or by the same defect in the past. Have you advised someone about a hazard? This may have been entered into an accident book on those premises. If you intend to claim for expenses for your claim, try to retain all invoices and receipts relating to the incident as evidence such as travelling costs, prescriptions etc… Providing as much information as possible is going to be extremely important in claims such as these as a sharp rise in similar compensation orders has meant councils and businesses are fighting many of the cases put before them as recent legislation has been tightened up, with more cases working in favour of the defendants.