Pauline Smith, associate and personal injury claims handler recently settled a case for a claimant who had sustained injury due to a defective metal crate.
The claimant was shopping in the Stechford branch of Aldi down the first aisle of the store to purchase some bread rolls. The bread rolls are stacked in metal crates that are approximately one metre wide and one metre long, which are located down on the floor. The claimant bent over slightly and reached into the metal crate with his left hand to pick up a pack of six wholemeal rolls. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the little finger of his left hand. It was only when he withdrew his hand from the crate when he noticed that his finger was bleeding. The claimant inspected the crate and noticed that one of the metal bars was damaged; the damaged bar was protruding approximately three inches from the lower crossbar and measured around one and a half inches in diameter.
The claimant notified an employee of the store who brought him a first aid kit and completed an accident report. He didn’t seek medial attention as he didn’t feel his injury was significant enough to visit his GP. The expert opinion was that the claimant would recover completely from his injuries five weeks post accident and would be left with a three centimetre scar which could be permanent.
After Stephensons proceeded with the case against the property owners, the case was settled and the claimant received £1,500 compensation.