If I fall in a supermarket or a shop, can I claim against its insurance?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

Yes, if the fall was due to carelessness on the part of the business, such as a wet floor with no warning sign, a spilled product that nobody cleared away or an unmarked step. In that case you can claim directly against the liability insurer of the business. It is not enough simply to fall inside the shop, because the courts do not award compensation for trips that are part of the normal risks of everyday life. It is up to you to prove what caused the fall, so the evidence gathered at the outset is what decides the case. What to do at the time Take photos of the spot, of what caused the fall and of the absence of warning signs before it is cleaned up. Ask any witnesses for their names and phone numbers. Report the fall to the business in writing and note down who dealt with you. In Catalonia you can use the official complaint forms. Ask in writing, on the same day or in the days that follow, for the camera footage to be kept. The law requires it to be deleted within one month at most. Go to accident and emergency that same day. The medical report links the injuries to the fall. When a claim usually succeeds Claims succeed where it is proved that the business created a hazard or failed to remedy it, or did not put up a warning when it should have done. The “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, rejected the claim of a customer who slipped at the entrance to a supermarket on a rainy day, because damp at the entrance was foreseeable. By contrast, the “Audiencia Provincial” of Barcelona, the provincial appeal court, held another supermarket and its insurer liable because, after a storm, it had not put down mats or warning signs on the wet floor. How to claim Ask the shop for its insurance details, which it is obliged to give you. Then make a written claim against the shop and the insurer. Compensation for injuries is usually calculated using the statutory compensation scale for road traffic accidents (the “baremo”), which judges use as a guide. If the fall happened in Catalonia, there are in principle three years to make a claim, normally from your discharge from medical treatment or from when the after-effects stabilise, although the prudent course is to make a written claim against the shop and the insurer within the first year. Outside Catalonia, the time limit is one year.