“Tesco offered £400 after my fall on a wet floor – but Digby Brown got me £5,000”

Rhona MacDonald suffered painful sprains to her wrist and knee after falling on the wet floor of the Tesco in Renfrew.

The mum-of-two had been in the Newmains Road superstore buying chocolates for her children’s nursery teacher when she fell because of a “huge puddle”.

But it wasn’t just the injury that made the 37-year-old seek legal advice – it was the (lack of) aftercare from the store bosses that encouraged her to escalate things.

Rhona said: “Immediately after I fell a woman who worked there made a comment that suggested the floor was wet due to the nearby flower stand.

“It was at that point that I realised it wasn’t just a few wet drips on the floor – it was a huge puddle.

“I didn’t see it due to the lighting in the store and the pattern on the floor - when you’re going about your business you’re not exactly looking out for puddles inside a shop.”

Rhona initially tried to deal with the aftermath of her injury on her own.

She contacted the store manager and asked for the CCTV – she also raised concerns about why the staff member she spoke to did not start the accident reporting process by getting the accident log book, or even taking her details.

After some months had passed – and after dealing with many different people – Rhona was eventually passed the CCTV that showed her slip and fall along with an apology and the offer of £400.

She added: “I spoke with my partner about the offer and he figured this was a sure sign they were guilty and knew it.

“I then felt maybe this was some quick and quiet way of trying to sweep things under the carpet and I thought ‘No, I’ll not be fobbed off’.  I thought legal advice is the only real way I could work out what would be the right thing to do next.”

Kate Bruce, Solicitor in the firm’s Glasgow office, looked into the matter and pursued an occupier’s liability claim for Rhona.

She wrote to the insurance company which handles injury claims for Tesco and quite quickly the £400 offer Rhona received on her own increased to £1,500.

However, Kate’s advice was to refuse it because although it seemed like a big increase it still wasn’t actually fair.

Eventually the insurers came back with a revised offer of £5,350 which was accepted and all without even raising a court action.

Rhona said: “The claim process with Digby Brown was much easier than I expected.

“I had visions of having to stand up in court and give evidence but that didn’t happen.

“Kate was very friendly and kept me updated when I needed to be - I trusted Kate as the expert she is so that meant I could focus on my life.

“A few naysayers said personal injury lawyers all try and keep most of the compensation but they couldn’t be more wrong – with Kate I agreed a 20% fee in the no win, no fee deal and that’s exactly what happened.

“Couldn’t be happier with Digby Brown service and couldn’t recommend them enough.

“I think it’s important for people to know this because if they try and get compensation on their own – and even if it seems to be going well – you never actually know if you’re getting the full and rightful amount unless you get a lawyer to look into things.”