Accident In A Pub or Bar Claims Guide

By Megan Webster. Last Updated 7th December 2023. On this web page, you will read a guide to making a compensation claim for an accident in a public bar. The guide is aimed at people who are considering using a No Win No Fee claims service, to have their claim processed. It contains the kind of information that you will need, to begin to understand how best to approach your own claim. It provides examples of different types of claims, and also explains legal concepts such as eligibility and liability.

If you need to talk to somebody to get some advice, or to have questions answered that are not covered by this guide, you could speak to one of our claims team on 0800 408 7848. They will be able to assist you further.

Accident In Public Bar Injury Claim

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A Guide On How To Claim For An Accident In A Pub

First of all, for this guide to be of real value to you, then you will need to be ready to begin making your claim within the personal injury claims time limit. This time limit is three years in general, but it can be different in certain circumstances. We recommend you talk to a personal injury solicitor to find out exactly which time limit is applicable in your own case.

This guide will give information on how to sue a bar for negligence, and how to engage a personal injury lawyer to process your claim for you. The guide begins by covering several legal and financial aspects of a claim.

This includes a table listing potential compensation ranges for many different injuries, as well as a list of some of the kinds of damages that your settlement could be made up of. We also take a look at what a bar accident is, and also the duty of care that the operator of a bar, pub or nightclub owes to its patrons, members of the public and workforce.

The middle part of this guide is made up of separate sections each covering an example of the kind of claims that a person may need to make. Each section gives the risk and hazards that could lead to such a claim, etc.

In the final part of this guide, we give some advice on how best to start your claim. We also explain how a claims service works, and why this kind of service offering can be a financially risk-free way for you to get the compensation you are eligible for, in a simple way.

What Is An Accident In A Public Bar?

If you are injured in a pub, for any reason that is the fault of the bar owner, landlord, manager or member of staff, then it could be possible for a personal injury solicitor to process a pub injury claim for you. However, it must be proven that the accident was at least partially the fault of one of the aforementioned parties, in order for you to be eligible to make a claim. To demonstrate this, take a look at the two examples below:

  1. A patron of a pub slips on spilt food or drink on the pub floor, and this results in an injury.
  2. A patron of a pub trips over their own briefcase, handbag, etc. and this results in an injury.

In the first example, the spillage should have been cleaned up or marked as a hazard until it had been cleaned up, so the pub or its representatives are clearly at fault here, and it could be possible to make a claim. In the second example, the injured party caused their own accident, by placing their bag in a place that caused a trip hazard, and the pub or its staff are not responsible.

In some cases, the pub might have been partially responsible for an accident. This third example shows this quite clearly:

  1. A patron of a pub, is forced to place their bag in a hazardous place, due to spilt food or drink on the pub floor. The patron subsequently trips over their own bag, resulting in an injury.

Here, the pub is partially to blame. The legal teams that are representing both parties, would negotiate a reduced level of liability, as a percentage, which would drive the amount of compensation paid.

Personal Injury Claims Calculator For Accidents In A Public Bar

Accidents in a pub or other public bar can lead to a variety of injuries of different severities. It’s because of this that the value of injuries sustained due to an accident in a pub can also vary.

Because of the array of variables that can affect the value of your compensation, it’s difficult to give a specific example of how much you could be awarded. As an alternative, this section includes example figures from a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is used by legal professionals, along with medical evidence, to assist them in valuing your claim.

The table below contains these example figures from the JCG. Compensation that’s awarded for your physical pain and mental suffering is known as general damages.

 

Injury Description Amount
Neck Injuries (a) Severe (i) – Usually associated with incomplete paraplegia that may result in spastic quadriparesis that is permanent. In the region of £148,330
Back Injuries (a) Severe (iii) – Chronic conditions, with severe pain and discomfort due to disc lesions or fractures. £38,780 to £69,730
Elbow Injuries (a) Injury that is severely disabling £39,170 to £54,830
Injuries to the Hips and Pelvis (b) Moderate (i) – A significant hip or pelvis injury but any permanent disabilities are minor. £26,590 to £39,170
Leg Injuries (c) Less Serious (i) – An incomplete recovery is made from a fracture. The person may be left with a limp and defective gait. £17,960 to £27,760
Ankle Injuries (c) Moderate – Ligamentous tears and fractures that make it difficult to walk on uneven ground and stand for a long time. £13,740 to £26,590
Arm Injuries (d) Simple forearm fractures £6,610 to £19,200
Shoulder Injuries (e) A clavicle fracture. Various factors, such as residual symptoms, will affect how much is awarded. £5,150 to £12,240
Damage to Teeth (i) Several front teeth lost or seriously damaged. £8,730 to £11,410
Chest Injuries (g) Rib fractures or soft tissue injuries that cause serious pain that lasts a few weeks. Up to £3,950

You may also be entitled to additional sums known as special damages. This figure is made up of costs you have experienced due to your injuries. Here are some examples of the kinds of things you can be reimbursed for:

  • Medical expenses – for example, prescription costs.
  • Damage to your personal property – you may need something like your phone or watch repaired or replaced if it was damaged during the accident.
  • Loss of earnings – you may have been unable to work for a period of time due to your injuries.

For more information regarding what else can be claimed via special damages, get in touch with us today.

After An Accident At A Public Bar, What Financial Losses Could I Claim For?

When a solicitor is successful in processing claims for accidents in a public place such as pub, bar or nightclub, the settlement the claimant receives could be made up of damages such as:

  • General damages (these compensate for injuries and other forms of harm):
    • General pain and suffering.
    • Long-term or permanent disability.
    • Psychological damage.
    • Mental trauma, shock and stress.
    • Painful treatment and recovery.
  • Special damages (these compensate for ad-hoc and financial losses):
    • The cost of home care or home help.
    • Loss of earnings or salary.
    • Loss of future work prospects.
    • Private medical fees.
    • Travel tickets and related expenses.

We recommend that you speak to a solicitor, to find out what kinds of damages you could possibly claim for your own public bar accident.

What Duty Of Care Do Pub Managers Owe Customers And Employees?

Regardless of whether you are an employee or customer in a public bar, you are owed a duty of care.

If you are an employee at a bar, your employer owes you a duty of care. Per the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASWA), all employers must take reasonably practicable steps to keep their employees safe when in the workplace and performing work-related duties. They could do this by performing regular risk and hazard assessments. If an employer were to act negligently, this could lead to you being injured in the workplace, and you could claim.

You are also owed a duty of care as a customer in a public bar. Per the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (OLA) any party that controls a public space must do all that they reasonably can to keep that space safe for members of the public to use for its intended purposes. This is also applicable to the owners and managers of a pub. If a pub owner were to breach this duty of care, this could lead to you becoming injured in a pub.

If you were injured as an employee or customer in a pub, to be eligible to claim compensation you will need to prove that you were injured due to a breach of duty of care.

Contact our advisors today if you would like free legal advice concerning your potential claim.

Accidents In A Public Bar Caused By Negligence

It could be possible to make public accident claims, when negligence on the part of a pub owner or its staff, results in a bar accident. Negligence could be deemed to have occurred, when due diligence is not given to all aspects of Health & Safety, or when Health & Safety is approached in a careless manner, and this results in an injury to a patron, member of staff, or a member of the public. The same holds true for a nightclub accident, if negligence occurs, causing harm to a person visiting or working in the nightclub, a reason to make a claim could exist.

Accidents And Injuries Working In A Pub

A pub accident can affect employees, not just customers. The pub owner or operator is legally obliged to comply with all workplace safety regulations, at all times. If there is a failure in this compliance, the injured member of staff could be able to make a claim.  Workplace accidents in a pub are bar can be caused by hazards such as:

  • Somebody has slipped at work due to spilt drinks.
  • A person is injured lifting heavy crates or barrels.
  • A member of the bar staff is assaulted by a customer.
  • A staff member can be cut by broken glass.

Any person injured while working in a bar, must follow the procedure for reporting an accident at work, and this will include making sure the incident has been recorded in the company accident book.

Slip And Fall Accidents In Public Bars

Slips, trips and falls are one of the most frequently seen types of accidents in the UK each year. If you have slipped in a pub or slipped in a bar, then if it can be proven the business operator was at least partially to blame, it could be possible to make a claim for accidents such as:

  • People may have slipped on a wet floor in a pub.
  • A person might trip on a damaged or frayed carpet.
  • An accident could be caused by potholes in the pub car park.
  • Accidents could be caused by uneven pavements in the pub garden.
  • A patron could slip on food that has been dropped on the pub floor.

If you are injured in a slip, trip or fall accident in a pub, then if it can be proven that the pub was to blame in some way, it could be possible to make a claim.

Accidents Caused By Damage And Disrepair

People can be injured in a public place due to damaged or poorly maintained facilities and amenities. In the case of accidents in a nightclub, pub or bar, if it can be proven the business operator has failed to meet obligatory safety requirements in keeping facilities properly maintained, it could be possible for injured parties to make public injury claims. for example:

  • Damaged chairs causing a person to fall.
  • Poorly maintained play equipment in a pub garden, injuring children.
  • Cracked or broken glasses causing injuries to customers.
  • Bad or contaminated drinks causing an illness of some kind.

The key here, is that the business owner or one of its representatives need to be at least partially to blame, in order for a valid claim to exist.

Injuries Caused By Violent Crimes

In this section, we will answer the question, I was assaulted at a bar UK can I sue a bar for assault? There are two potential answers here:

  1. If you were assaulted by a member of staff, you could be able to make a claim against the bar owner or operator.
  2. If you were assaulted by a member of the public, then the bar is likely not liable. However, you may be able to make a claim via the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority (CICA).

We recommend you speak to a solicitor, explain your situation to them, and they will be able to tell you which of the two sets of circumstances apply in your own case.

Public Liability Claims Explained

Part of the answer to the question, how to sue a pub? is that your solicitor will attempt to process a pub accident claim for you, and the company that provides the pub with its public liability insurance would pay the compensation.

Every pub, bar and nightclub must have public liability insurance. This is a legal requirement of doing business and is not optional. However, if the business owner is found not to have valid public liability insurance, then it could be possible to pursue the actual business for compensation. The risk here, is that the business does not have sufficient monetary resources to pay compensation.

No Win No Fee Claims For Accidents In Public Bars

You could use some form of No Win No Fee claims service, that specialises in processing claims for accidents in public places such as bars, pubs or nightclubs. When you use this kind of service, you will be provided with a solicitor who will process your claim for you, and you are not expected to pay anything until you have actual won a compensation settlement.

There would be no fee at all to start working on your claim, and there would also be no ongoing charges while the solicitor processes your claim. This could take many months, and there would be no charge in all this time. Furthermore, if the solicitor fails to secure you any compensation at all, they would not charge you any kind of fee. However, when the solicitor is successful in processing your claim, they would take their fee out of the compensation payment they have received for you, and then they would give you the remainder.

How Do I Claim Damages For An Accident In A Public Bar?

Have you been injured in an accident in a bar, nightclub or pub? Do you think the premises owner was in some way responsible for causing the accident? Would you like to find out if you have a valid reason to make a personal injury claim? If so, you could speak to our claims team on 0800 408 7848. They would be able to go over your claim for you, talk about your legal options, and explain how you can move forward with your claim today. You can also contact us online.

References

You may find the information at these external links to be of some use: