Injured In A Public Place? Here’s What You Need To Do...

Claiming public liability insurance is very tricky. Here, we’ll explain it to you how it does “not” work because most people have no idea what does and what does not come under public liability.

Lately there has been some construction going on in your neighbourhood. One fine morning, you are late to your meeting and are rushing to get to your car. A paper flies from your file and lands inside the construction site area. You run inside to collect the paper and fall on a piece of log that was placed the wrong way. You try to get up but your ankle is severely twisted. You call an ambulance and in all the rage, you start planning to sue the construction site owner.

The reason why you can’t hold the construction site liable for your fall is because there was a big sign outside the site saying “Danger – Stay Out”. So, the person here at fault is you because you charged inside without looking at the surroundings. Let’s change the scenario now, shall we:

You are walking down the street near a construction site. Suddenly, a wooden plank comes crashing down on your head, rendering you unconscious.

Here, the construction company did not take extra precaution and placed cones around the area, claiming it as dangerous. The accident occurred at their site and now they are liable for your injuries.

The Procedure

The trouble with claiming public liability insurance is that you have to prove that the accident was due to the negligence of the other party and not because of you being clumsy. To represent a strong case, you need to have a lawyer on your side, who will provide you with public liability injury legal advice. Some evidence you need to collect includes:

1. Pictures of your injury
2. Picture of the site of accident and the object that caused it
3. An account of the accident from the witnesses

Your next step should be to call your lawyer, so that they can get in touch with the legal team of the accused party. After the claim is lodged, the team goes over the evidence provided by you and the evidence collected by them. In case the settlement proposed to you does not cover the expense of the pain and suffering you are going through, your lawyer can take the case to court.

Here’s one last scenario:

Say, you are walking by someone’s driveway and there’s oil spilled on it. The fall that results is the house owner’s fault. However, if you were intoxicated and trespassing, you cannot hold the owner liable.

These three scenarios represent how public liability works and on what grounds you can sue the property owner. While the process is quite simple, complications can be created by the other team. This is the reason why you need a professional on your side who understands how insurance claims work and can handle all the legal aspects too.