£50,000 awarded to a woman injured by a fall in a supermarket | Case Study

Compensation of £50,000 was received in 2013 by an 80 year-old woman who badly fractured her left hip after an accident in a supermarket. The claimant sustained the injury falling over a marketing display.

See also:

Supermarket injury claims

Details of the injury

The claimant, who was aged 79 at the time of the injury, was shopping in a supermarket when she tripped over a display post that stood in the aisle down which she was walking.

As she fell passers-by came to her attention, including a paramedic. After being admitted to hospital it became clear that the fall had caused her to break her left-hip.

Due to her age and the extent of her injury the claimant's mobility was severely impeded, and she relied on a Zimmer frame to walk around. Later in the year she was examined by an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon, who concluded that she had sustained an intra-capsular fracture of the left hip and therefore required surgery.

She underwent the necessary surgical procedure and made a fairly good recovery.

What was alleged?

The claimant brought an action in negligence against the defendant supermarket. It was alleged that the erection of the display post in question was an obstruction and represented a foreseeable risk to the safety of the shoppers on site.

She argued that the defendant had negligently failed to stand the post a sufficiently small distance away from the display that it advertised. As a result it advanced into the aisle and was a hazardous object that many shoppers would fail to spot at only two-feet tall.

The agreed settlement

The defendant admitted primary liability, however they alleged contributory negligence on the basis that the claimant should have spotted the display post and in doing so would have avoided the accident.

Evidence from the consultant orthopaedic surgeon suggested that the claimant would continue to suffer restricted mobility for the rest of her life and that she will require domestic assistance as a result of her injuries.

The parties reached a settlement of £50,000.

The claimant's solicitors calculated that £33,823 of that amount constituted domestic assistance costs required during the claimant's recovery.