By Jade McCoy. Last Updated 25th June 2024. Welcome to our guide to pub accident claims and bar accident claims. The catering and hospitality industry is not only one of the biggest employers in the UK, it’s also one of the most visited by guests, patrons, and customers. In the first 4 weeks of the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme in 2020, 64 million meals were claimed for. With so many people involved in the industry, it is not uncommon for accidents to take place.
Of these accidents, many trips and slips annually occur in the catering and hospitality industry. One of the main causes of slips in kitchens is food spillage, and most slips are likely to happen on wet or dirty floors. In cases where an employer or occupier may have acted in a negligent manner, you may have a viable claim for compensation.
Making a pub or bar injury claim might seem difficult. This guide is designed to provide you with an introduction to the process, providing the necessary advice to those who might have been affected by an accident in a pub or bar. See the Health and Safety Guidelines for the Catering Industry for more detailed information.
Or you can contact our personal injury claims team on 0800 073 8804, or by using our live chat feature, in the bottom right. Alternatively, you can see if you have a claim online by filling out the form on our website.
Select a section:
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- How Much Can I Claim for Pub Or Bar Accident?
- A Guide To Pub Or Bar Accident Claims
- Pub Or Bar Accidents Caused By Drink Spillages And Broken Glass On The Floor
- Pub Or Bar Accidents Caused By Poor Maintenance
- Other Common Accidents That Feature In Pub or Bar Accident Claims
- What To Do If You Have Suffered A Pub Or Bar Accident
- No Win No Fee Pub Or Bar Accident Claims
- How To Start Pub Or Bar Accident Claims
- Why Choose Us As Your Claims Service For A Pub Or Bar Accident
How Much Can I Claim for Pub Or Bar Accident?
Compensation awarded in successful pub accident claims might be made up of two types of losses. These losses are categorised into general and special damages.
If your bar accident claim is successful, you will definitely receive compensation for general damages. This covers the physical and mental suffering you have gone through because of negligence. Some considerations under general damages include:
- How long it will take for you to recover from your injuries.
- Your pain severity.
- Loss of amenity.
Reports from an independent medical assessment and the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are documents that can help value general damages.
The JCG contains guideline payout awards for different physical and mental injuries.
Guideline Injuries Table
In this table, you can find some injuries and guideline compensation amounts from the JCG (only the very top figure for multiple injuries is not from the JCG). These are just some example injuries of what could be sustained after an accident in a pub or bar.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline award payout |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious injuries plus expenses | Serious | Up to £500,000+ |
| Leg | Severe (b) (i) | £117,460 to £165,860 |
| Less serious (c) (i) | £21,920 to £33,880 | |
| Back | Severe (a) (iii) | £47,320 to £85,100 |
| Moderate (b) (i) | £33,880 to £47,320 | |
| Ankle | Very severe (a) | £61,090 to £85,070 |
| Moderate (c) | £16,770 to £32,450 | |
| Wrist | Complete loss of function (a) | £58,110 to £73,050 |
| Less severe (c) | £15,370 to £29,900 |
Special Damages
If your bar accident claim is successful, you might receive compensation for special damages. This covers the costs you have incurred because of negligence, such as:
- Medical expenses.
- Loss of earnings.
- Travel costs to attend medical appointments.
Because you only might receive compensation for special damages if your claim is successful, you must provide evidence of your injury’s financial impacts. For example, receipts, invoices, bank statements, and payslips.
To find out more on how much compensation can potentially be awarded for a successful pub accident claim, please contact us and we can help you.
A Guide To Pub Or Bar Accident Claims
There are tens of thousands of hospitality venues across the UK. Some are licensed and some are not. If they are licensed, this means they are legally permitted to sell alcohol. Whilst some venues like cafés can carry licenses, it’s more common for this to be the case for a pub, bar or nightclub.
Whilst an accident in a pub or bar can be caused by the injured person being intoxicated, the owner of the establishment still has a duty of care to its customers. This duty is stated in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. It basically points out that those responsible for a public space such as a pub, car or nightclub but make sure it is as safe as possible. If an accident occurs that could have been avoided had the occupier had been more aware of hazards, then it’s possible a personal injury claim could be made.
If you’ve been injured due to an act of violence in a pub or a bar, your claim is likely to be made through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). A criminal injury claim is not necessarily the fault of the venue where the altercation takes place. Therefore, they’re not liable to pay the compensation to the injured party. The payment would be awarded through the CICA instead.
The graph below shows just the amount of licensed venues around the UK, as of March 2019. Whilst it doesn’t show the number of accidents that occurred in them, it serves as a visual demonstration of the number of pubs, bars, and restaurants where an accident caused by negligence could take place.
Pub Or Bar Accidents Caused By Drink Spillages And Broken Glass On The Floor
One of the most common causes of a pub or bar accident (for both patrons and employees) is a floor that has spilt drinks or broken glass on it. With many pubs and bars serving alcohol, a large number of staff and patrons, and separate containers for every drink, spillages and breakages can be impossible to prevent.
When a spillage or breakage occurs, it can make the floor more hazardous. This makes slips, trips, and falls injuries more likely. With low lighting, large crowd numbers, and alcohol-affected senses, these hazards can become exacerbated. Should you slip and injure yourself, for example, a bar injury claim might be a legitimate course of action. In making such a claim, you may need to demonstrate that the bar or pub failed to provide adequate warning of the slippery floors, failed to clean the floors in a reasonable time, or acted negligently in some other manner. If this is the case, then they may have to pay you compensation.
Read on for more information on pub accident claims and bar accident claims caused by negligence, or contact us today for free legal advice relating to your accident.
Pub Or Bar Accidents Caused By Poor Maintenance
Pub or bar accidents can also be caused by poor maintenance. This could include uneven flooring, furniture which may collapse, loose carpets, or any other part of the venue which might pose a danger due to failed maintenance.
It is the responsibility of the pub or the bar to ensure that the facilities are safe.
As mentioned earlier, the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 requires the operator of a pub or a bar to provide a safe environment for both employees and visitors. The occupier (in this case, it might be the owner/operator of the pub or bar or the landlord of the venue) has a duty of care that is extended to visitors to the property, providing protection from accidents resulting from the defective or dangerous conditions of the property. For example, this could include beer gardens, car parks, and other exterior parts of the building.
If the landlord fails in their duty to provide a safe, risk-free environment to a reasonable degree, they may be liable for pub or bar accident claims in the event of an accident or injury.
Other Common Accidents That Feature In Pub or Bar Accident Claims
There are a number of accidents that frequently occur in pubs and bars. These include:
- Accidents due to cluttered stairways.
- Incidents as a result of unsafe furniture.
- Accidents due to poorly prepared food or drink.
Depending on the exact nature of your accident or injury, it may not conform to any of the issues outlined above. However, that does not mean that you will not win your compensation claim. Contact a solicitor and discuss pub accident claims and bar accident claims for more information.
What To Do If You Have Suffered A Pub Or Bar Accident
If you have suffered a pub or bar accident that caused you an injury, it is advisable to take action immediately. This means that if you are considering a compensation claim, you can begin the process of gathering evidence as soon as you have sought the correct medical help. If you have been injured, we suggest that you:
- Report the accident – you are expected to report the accident to a member of staff or management of the pub or bar. Ask that the incident is recorded in the accident book.
- Collect evidence – It is important to collect the details of the witnesses of the accident, take photographs of where the accident happened, and anything else that could help the case.
- Get a medical examination – as mentioned in a previous section, a follow-up medical exam can help diagnose future medical issues.
- Document all information – keep a record of anything that relates to the injury. For example, financial losses, medical expenses, and so on.
Taking the above steps can improve the standing of your claim before you even begin legal action.
No Win No Fee Pub Or Bar Accident Claims
Whether you are making a claim against a bar for assault or you are making a claim against a bar bouncer, one of the most difficult challenges following an injury or accident is gathering together the funds to launch a legal claim. If you are considering a bar, pub, or nightclub injury claim, we offer an alternative.
Our No Win No Fee agreement could be the best solution. Commonly known as the ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’ (or by its abbreviation, CFA), this approach can dramatically lower the financial risk of working with legal professionals. A No Win No Fee arrangement basically means that if your case is unsuccessful, you won’t be responsible for paying your lawyer’s legal fees. If you are awarded compensation, then your lawyer is paid via a legally-capped amount taken from your payout. It really is that simple.
Our next section will look at the amounts that can be claimed for pub accident claims and bar accident claims. Please read on if this is of interest to you.
How To Start Pub Or Bar Accident Claims
If you are involved in a pub or bar accident, speaking to legal experts should be one of your first actions. If you are interested in a pub injury claim or a bar injury claim, expert assistance can help you through the complex web of regulations and bureaucracy that exists. For example, clients who decide to work with our team might follow this process:
- Call our offices and arrange for a free legal consultation. In this session, we’ll go over every aspect of your case and help you decide whether you have a viable claim for compensation.
- If you decide to continue to work with us following this session, we can then begin the process of launching legal action on your behalf.
- This can include a further fact-finding process, attempting to obtain evidence such as CCTV that you might not have been able to access.
- If a medical examination is needed, we can arrange a local medical appointment on your behalf.
- We can begin to file the correct paperwork and file the claim in the correct manner.
Rather than sitting at home wondering how to sue a bar for negligence, we believe that professional legal assistance can make the process much easier and much quicker. So if you’d like to know more about pub accident claims and bar accident claims, get in touch with us today for free legal advice.
Why Choose Us As Your Claims Service For A Pub Or Bar Accident
Claiming compensation is not easy. This is especially true when you have suffered an injury as the result of an accident. Rather than spending time recovering, you may be fretting about how to deal with the matter. This is where we come in.
We offer a simple, stress-free approach to claiming compensation. Rather than trying to handle everything yourself, you can trust our team to work with you to make the process as easy as possible. We’re experienced, friendly, and proud of our ethics and integrity. We can offer a ‘No Win No Fee’ agreement and we’ll work hard to ensure you get the maximum amount of compensation.
We’ve got the capacity, knowledge, and professionalism needed to handle your compensation claim. To find out more about how we’re able to help, you only need to get in touch.
If you’ve been involved in any form of accident in a pub, a bar, a nightclub, or a restaurant, we’re able to help you claim compensation. With a customer-friendly approach and years of experience, the entire process is so much simpler with our professional help. To discover more, you can fill out a contact form online, use our website’s chat feature, or call 0800 073 8804. We’ll arrange a free consultation session and start your compensation claim in the right way. Remember, the two alternatives are to use the live chat function in the bottom right, or see if you have a claim online by filling out the form on our website.
Helpful Links
Slipping on a Wet floor Compensation Claims
Have you had a slip on a wet floor due to a cleaner or a spilt drink? find out if you can claim compensation today.
How Much Compensation Will I Get For Assault?
Find out how much compensation you could claim for an assault compensation claim.
How Much Compensation Can I Claim for an Accident in a Restaurant?
Looking into making a claim after you sustained an injury in a restaurant? Read our guide on what steps you could take.
How To Obtain CCTV Footage Of Yourself
If the accident that caused your injuries was captured on CCTV, you have a legal right to request the footage.
Information on the process of appointing an adult to pursue someone else’s claim on their behalf.
Broken Bone Advice From The NHS
How to tell if you’ve broken a bone, and how they should be initially treated.
Allergic Reaction After Eating At A Cafe – What To Do
Our guide on this subject.
Get help claiming injury compensation after sustaining an injury while drunk with our helpful article.
Thank you for reading our guide to pub accident claims and bar accident claims.
