Summary
The Claimant pursued a claim against the Insured, a High Street Betting Company, after he tripped over a step as he entered the Customer toilets on their premises. Whilst the claim was successful, due to inadequate lighting in the area and a failure to warn of the presence of the step, this matter shows the benefit of completing a prompt investigation.
Factual Findings
The Customer toilet was located on the Ground floor of the Insured’s premises, separated from the main area of the shop by way of two doors. The first door opened into a small hallway, whilst the second provided access to the toilet cubicle itself.
There was one step up located within the small hallway which led to the second door. The step was overlaid with the same dark carpet as the lower level, such that there were no provisions in place to differentiate the change in levels. There was a further small step after one walks through the second door, leading up to the toilet cubicle itself. This step was covered in linoleum and was highlighted by the presence of a yellow nosing strip.
The hallway and toilet cubicle were illuminated by two separate lights, both of which were sensor operated – the hallway lighting taking 30 seconds to activate and the toilet cubicle light taking 6 seconds once the second door had been opened. As the hallway lighting did not activate immediately, the hallway was left in darkness as the first door automatically closed soon after being walked through. It was at this point the Claimant suffered the material incident, having committed to entering the toilet, and missing the step due to the lack of lighting.
At the point of our investigation, the Customer toilet remained ‘out of order’, the Insured having taken no action to undertake improvements. This provided a general indication of the their approach to Health & Safety.
Outcome
The outcome in this matter was not positive, insofar as liability was admitted and the claim settled on the best possible terms.
We were, however, able to ensure our Principals reduced the claim spend by carrying out a prompt investigation, allowing the claim to remain within the MOJ Portal process, thus keeping Claimant’s Solicitors’ costs to a minimum. All told, we were able to investigate and report back to our Principals within 7 days of our initial instructions being received.
Not only did our prompt approach assist our Principals, a lower claim spend was advantageous to the Insured as it helped control their loss ratio, which is of course important at the point of renewal.
Speak with us for more information or to arrange a claims defensibility survey for your business.