Briefing
When Ms. Downey (Andrea Downie) finished shopping at a supermarket on Woolworths Sunshine Coast in April 2014 and was pushing her shopping cart to settle, she slipped to the ground. After getting up, she found that a few grapes on the supermarket floor had caused her to fall and hurt, and Ms. Downey returned home without much treatment. Ms. Downey herself had a waist injury and stress disorder, which directly aggravated her injury and prevented her from returning to work the next day. As a result, Ms. Downey told the supermarket court, that the supermarket did not keep clean and tidy, did not put a non-slip mat under the shelf where the grapes were placed, did not provide a safe shopping environment for customers, and asked the supermarket to compensate for treatment expenses, loss of income, compensation for mental damage, etc., a total of 320 thousand Australian dollars.
Supermarket parties believe they have done their duty to clean the supermarket floor, and they have provided complete training to employees, there is no staff malfeasance. At the same time, the supermarket believes that on the day of Ms. Downey's fall, she did not report the injury to the supermarket, can not be sure whether Ms. Downey's injury was caused by the fall in the supermarket on that day.
After receiving Ms. Downey's prosecute, the supermarket also actively responded and made a settlement proposal, which was finally reconciled with Ms. Downey after many times of rejection.
Revelation of the case
In shopping centers, parking lots, supermarkets and other public places, injuries due to slippery ground falls are more common. Usually these public places have managers, and they have mandatory public safety insurance to avoid accidental injuries to people. And so if we're injured by accident, we' re all classified as public safety insurance claims in Australia (Public Liability Insurance Claim).
How do we make sure we can settle the claim?
First, determine whether managers have management negligence.
After the accident, we have to determine that the public place managers are fault caused by certain safety risks, such as whether to arrange regular cleaning of cleaners? Are goods placed on shelves too high or too low? Are warning signs placed? Even if we have part of our own responsibility, we can ask managers for compensation within the scope of their responsibilities.
Second, we were personally hurt.
Since it's a settlement, the amount of compensation is our most concerned part. Compensation is based, of course, on actual harm to our own health. If there is no personal injury, there is naturally no compensation. So, how to judge the severity of personal injury?
First is the actual feeling of oneself. If it's a fall, does it suddenly feel that the part of the fall has a sting? Do you feel paralyzed? Any fractures? These are all possible injuries, involving orthopaedics, neurology and so on.
Second, the expert's judgment. In the event of an accident, if the injury is serious, an ambulance may be dispatched. The doctor's first time is to judge the severity of the injury first-hand information; if the injury is not serious, can be handled by themselves, but the body is not comfortable, then the first time to make an appointment with the family doctor, quickly let the family doctor to give a professional judgment of whether there is any injury. When explaining the injury to the family doctor, be sure to be comprehensive and pay attention to the details. These injuries can affect the settlement of claims.
Another point that needs to be raised in particular is mental impairment. As in Ms. Downey's experience, if you' re suffering from stress, depression, and other symptoms after an injury, be sure to mention these mental changes when consulting a family doctor, who will recommend a suitable psychiatrist according to your situation. Mental injury is one of the most easily overlooked, but it is also a key part of the settlement.
Third, the ability to work is affected.
In public safety insurance, the most important part of the settlement of claims is the part in which the ability to work is reduced by accident. The reduction in income is divided into two parts, one is the actual reduction in income suffered before the settlement of claims. According to the post-accident work content, working hours, work experience and so on compared with the pre-accident income loss part; second, for the future economic loss reasonable inference. If it is a long-term injury, then the impact on the work is also long-term. The resulting loss of income can also be claimed by insurance companies. The amount of compensation for public safety insurance also depends primarily on the extent to which the ability to work is affected.
[法] limitation
After confirming that the claim can be settled, we should still pay attention to the statute of limitations on the law.
Generally speaking, the filing of prosecute brief to the court is completed within three years from the date of the accident. This may seem like a long three-year period, but in Australia's public is a law pre-procedure before filing a complaint, which can not be submitted directly to the complaint court. so in the event of an accident, be sure to start the settlement process as soon as possible, and be careful to keep a good record of their work changes, treatment records, expense receipts, etc. as first-hand evidence.
Write in the last and most important part!
Be sure to consult the lawer! before preparing the claim Public security claims and other personal injury claims are very professional areas of civil litigation, substantive law and procedural law have more strict provisions. The guidance of professional lawer ensures that the rights of the injured person is protected in the most comprehensive way, and in terms of lawer costs ," no winning and no charge "is already the lawer universal principle in the field of compensation for personal injury, so do not worry about the lawer fee, rest assured to settle the claim.
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