Most supermarket accidents are slips on spilled food or liquid, or trips over stock and cages left in an aisle. This page explains the shop's legal duty to customers, and how its cleaning system and CCTV decide these claims.
A supermarket accident claim is a personal injury claim against the shop where you were hurt, usually after a slip on a spillage or a trip over something left on the floor.
As a customer you are a "visitor" under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1995. The shop, as the occupier, owes you the "common duty of care": to take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances for your safety.
The usual causes are broken jars and bottles, water leaking from chilled cabinets, grapes and leaves on the floor by the fruit and vegetable stands, and rainwater carried in at the entrance.
Pallets, roll cages and boxes left in the aisle during restocking cause trips. Stock falling from high shelves and trolley collisions come up too.
A shop is not expected to keep every floor spotless every minute. The question is whether it had a reasonable system for checking and cleaning the floors, and whether staff followed it that day.
Since 2023, section 3 of the Act asks how likely the danger was, how likely and how serious an injury would be, and what precautions would have cost.
A spill that sat unnoticed for half an hour in a busy aisle points to a failed system. A jar dropped by another shopper seconds before you fell is much harder to blame on the shop.
The claim then goes to the Injuries Resolution Board. Read how the Injuries Resolution Board works.
Keep the receipts for each of these from the start. The shop's insurer will ask for proof of every loss you claim.
Contact us through our enquiry form, phone, or email. We’ll review your situation, answer your questions, and explain what to expect next. There’s no upfront fee to begin your claim.
Your case will be carefully reviewed by our legal team.
We assess the strength of your claim, advise on the documentation needed, and guide you through key steps such as attending an independent medical examination and preparing the information required for the Injuries Resolution Board (IRB).
Once you decide to move forward, we take care of everything. This includes gathering evidence, contacting the other party or their insurer, submitting your claim to the IRB, managing settlement discussions, and handling any court proceedings if needed.
Paul Kearney founded the practice and leads its personal injury work in Ireland. He is regulated by the Law Society of Ireland. Read Paul's profile.
We prepare your application to the Injuries Resolution Board, including the medical evidence, and advise you on any assessment before you decide whether to accept it.
You can meet us at any of our four offices, or deal with us by phone, email or video, wherever you live in Ireland.
There are no upfront fees. Before you go ahead, we set out in writing how legal costs work, as section 150 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 requires. No Win No Fee explained.
No. The shop is liable if it failed to take reasonable care, for example where the spill was there long enough that a reasonable floor check would have found it, or where there was no proper system of checks at all.
The shop's own records and CCTV usually show which it was.
That staff checked the floors at sensible intervals for the size and busyness of the shop, that someone was responsible for each area, and that spills were dealt with quickly once reported.
A system that exists on paper but was not followed on the day does not help the shop.
Ask the shop in writing straight away to keep it.
You can also make a data access request for footage of yourself, which the shop must answer within one month; see your data protection rights.
The Data Protection Commission says footage should not be deleted once an access request has been received.
The shop is not liable just because someone else dropped something. What matters is how long the spill was there and whether staff should have found and cleared it. CCTV often shows the moment the spill happened, which settles the timing.
Yes, if the shop was careless. Shelves stacked so that items can topple when a customer reaches for them, or staff pushing loaded roll cages through a crowded aisle, are both matters within the shop's control.
It makes the claim harder to prove, but it does not end it. Report it to the shop in writing as soon as you can, give the date and time, and ask it to keep the CCTV. A GP record made soon after the fall helps link the injury to the accident.
Two years from the date of the fall, or from the date you knew about the injury if later, under the Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act 1991. Separately, write to the shop within one month of the fall.
No. There are no upfront fees. Before you go ahead, we give you clear written terms explaining how legal costs work, as section 150 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 requires. Read No Win No Fee explained.
Regulated by the Law Society of Ireland
Kearney Law handles only personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
We act for clients across Ireland, including Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Letterkenny. See all the areas we cover.
Contact us to talk to a solicitor about your claim, or request a case review.
Email: [email protected]
Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday 8am – 8pm
Friday 9am – 5pm
