WA Accident at Woolworths - Claim Costs for Medical Expenses?

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now
21 June 2018
1
0
1
Hello. I'm new here so I hope this all works.

3 months ago while shopping in Woolworths, I had a bad trip that damaged my body.

I was at the checkout when I noticed that a bag of beans was cut open and it was easier to get a new one myself. As I was walking to the fruit and veggies, I was about to turn right when a Woolworths employee went in front of me. I was right behind him when he turned around and at the same time, I tripped on one of those big heavy thick black mats.

The mat had bunched up and my left foot tripped on it and because R, the Woolworth's employee, was about 2 feet away from me, I had to jar my right foot down hard. I jarred my whole body. R caught me as I was going to fall and I had to hold on while my body stopped. I had instant pain and I felt weird.

Once I gained my bearings, R said I had to fill out an incident report. I had to keep going as I had more shopping to do but I said if anything changes I will.

Well, we left Woolworths and started to walk to Coles. I was in Coles for about 10 mins when I realised the pain was getting unbearable and my daughter helped me get back to Woolworths. I filled in the incident report and Robbie was called over to verify my story and I was told by the store manager that it would be on CCTV as well.

They offered me $1000 and I had to fill in and sign papers saying I couldn't claim any further medical injuries from the incident. They were sent all my medical records and then I got a phone call saying that the report only said I had a little extra pain in my lower back and she was ready to settle but I would be lucky to get $500 now.

I said no and rang my doctors as I had told them everything that was going wrong in my body since the accident. The doctor's manager told me that everything that I had said was in the medical reports and that I had a few injuries that I could claim on. I then told her that she was lying and that I know what the doctors had said.

I got a final email today saying they will pay $4000 and no more.

Ok, I will make my medical background short. I have a rare disease called IIH and both my daughters have it as well. I am full-time carers for them both and I normally manage day-to-day and have managed to have a productive life. Since the accident, I have so much more pain. I have sharp pains in the lower back, shoulders. neck and head. I have not been able to care for my daughters like I should do. I struggle in everything I do. My depression is through the roof and I can't look after my daughters as I could.

Sorry for this long one but I would appreciate any help you have to offer.

I'm not a greedy person but $4000 is not going to cover medical, medications, transport, and having to hire people to help clean my house and anything else I might need in the future.

Thank you so much.
 

Owais

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
18 June 2018
32
4
124
Sydney, NSW
Hi Nikkiwaterfall,

Kindly ignore my suggestions if you have already resolved the above situation.

Generally speaking the insurer's try and resolve the matter as quickly as possible by offering as little as possible compensation. However, that is not a great outcome in every case. Given the information you provided above and considering you have or can get access to the CCTV footage, you may claim for a much larger sum then what the insurer is currently offering. Usually to determine the effects of such injuries are determined by specialist doctors eg; orthopaedic surgeons, neurologists etc.

Let me know if you need any guidance or contact me if you want a quick chat.

Regards
Owais