I wanted to know if I can claim for chipped tooth compensation because my mouth was damaged when I slipped on what looked like spilt coffee in a supermarket.
It is possible that you can claim for chipped tooth compensation but only if it can be shown that the injury you sustained was a result of the supermarket’s negligence. Supermarkets are required to provide their customers with a legal “duty of care”, and they can be named as the responsible party in your claim if they are proven to have failed in this duty. However, the supermarket’s duty of care is not “absolute”; if staff could not have prevented your accident within a “reasonable” amount of time, they may not be held to blame.
An important aspect of a compensation claim for chipped tooth is how you looked after your health and safety. Your injury should have been treated by a professional medical practitioner immediately after the accident. This immediacy is not purely health related; if there is a significant gap between the date of the accident and the date the accident was reported in your medical notes, your claim could be disputed, and you may be accused of exacerbating your injury by your own lack of care.
Evidence should have been collected to support your claim for chipped tooth compensation, by reporting your injury to the supermarket manager and having it noted in the supermarket’s Accident Report Book. In addition, you should have gathered the details of any witnesses to the accident and accessed the supermarket’s CCTV, in order to establish how long the hazard had been there and to determine the efforts taken by the staff to wipe up the spillage and eliminate the risk of an accident.
It is recommended that you speak with a solicitor at the first possible opportunity after being treated medically. Most solicitors offer a free initial consultation where he or she could evaluate your claim for chipped tooth compensation and determine whether or not it is worth pursuing. If your solicitor advises you to initiate action, he or she would be able to assist with the collection of evidence – if you have not carried out all of the necessary procedures – and can ensure that your application from to the Injuries Board is adequately presented.
There is the possibility that, should the supermarket admit liability, you may be approached by their insurance company with an offer of compensation. Your solicitor would be able to assess their offer and determine if it sufficiently represents your injury and how it has affected your quality of life.
