What are public liability claims?

If you’ve been injured in a public or private space and it wasn’t your fault, you may be able to claim public liability compensation.

Public liability claims include injuries caused by dog attacks, slip and fall accidents, falling objects and faulty goods. Compensation depends upon many things, including the seriousness of the injury, how it has affected your life, medical expenses and your ability to earn an income.

An accident can happen to any one of us when we’re out and about.

And the injuries can make life tough. If your injuries have turned your life upside down, a claim may make a big difference to your recovery and peace of mind. That’s where we can help.

Need advice? Just ask us a question

Public liability injuries can happen on public or private property

For example, in public parks, footpaths, sporting fields, shopping centres and other commercial properties.

  • Slip and fall injuries
    Injuries from slips, trips and falls include slipping on loose food or liquid spills in a supermarket, or falling on walking surfaces, and other safety hazards.
  • Dog attacks
    Injuries caused by dog bites are common in claims for compensation. Injuries can also involve other animals, for example falling off a horse.
  • Faulty goods and services
    These injuries are also known as product liability injuries. Injuries can range from broken bones, cuts and burns and respiratory problems to faulty drugs and medical devices, or even defective beauty treatments.
  • Falling objects
    Falling objects can cause significant damage, for example, head injuries, brain injuries and spinal injuries.
  • Sporting accidents
    Public liability compensation may be payable for sports injuries. This includes indoor sporting venues and water sports.
  • Physical assaults
    If you’ve been physically assaulted, you may be able to claim compensation. This is regardless of whether there are criminal charges against the person who assaulted you.

What can I claim?

You may claim for medical costs already paid, as well as any future medical costs. They can include psychological services, specialist medical services and allied health services such as physiotherapy.

You may also be able to claim for assistance from a carer, and for future care requirements. This is especially important if a loved-one has stopped work to provide care.

If you’ve taken time off from work due to your injury, you may be able to claim compensation for loss of income. If your injury is likely to affect your future earning ability, you can also claim loss of future income.

In some circumstances, you may also be able to make a claim through your superannuation policy or life insurance policy.

Compensation sometimes includes an amount for pain and suffering. This is also known as damages.

What costs should I expect?

At your obligation free first interview, we’ll get some information from you about the accident, your injuries, and whether an insurer will be involved. We’ll then be able to give you a written estimate of our fees.

For all clients, we provide detailed information about our fees before you commit to using our services and we keep you fully informed along the way.

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No-win no-fee arrangements

In some claims, we can offer a no-win no-fee arrangement, which means that you won’t need to pay our legal fees unless your claim is successful. Conditions apply, and this arrangement excludes some costs. Please speak to one of our lawyers for more information.

How long until I'm paid compensation for my claim?

If you’re considering making a public liability compensation claim, it’s best to get in touch as soon as possible.

There are time limits for making some claims for injury compensation, for example, three or six years after the injury. Once the time limit has passed, your right to make a claim usually expires.

The timeline of public liability claims will vary because it’s often necessary to wait for the injury to stabilise before making the claim.

In other words, we must be sure that the injury isn’t going to get any worse because this will affect how much you can claim.

We can estimate a timeline at your obligation free first appointment with us.

Frequently asked questions

These terms are two key legal principles in the law of public liability. “Duty of care” means that the owner or occupier of the land had a responsibility to keep it safe for users. If the owner/occupier failed to take those steps even though they had a duty to do so, they were negligent.

If the accident was your fault, you may still be able to claim compensation, but it may be a reduced amount. If you contributed to your injury by failing to take steps to ensure your safety, the law says that you should receive lower compensation. This principle is known as “contributory negligence”. We can work this out for you and discuss your options.

Liability is legal responsibility. The liable party is the one who is responsible for paying the compensation. In most cases, an insurance company is liable if the private or public landowner has public liability insurance.

If there’s no insurance, you’ll need legal advice about whether the occupier of the land is capable of paying compensation to you. The occupier may be a rent-paying tenant.

In some circumstances, you can claim compensation for food poisoning. These types of claims often arise in restaurants and can sometimes even lead to, especially if there’s a public health concern, for example, salmonella poisoning.

Usually, workers who are injured in the course of their employment will make claims for workers compensation. Once there’s a claim for workers compensation, the law may not allow another claim for the same injury. However, if a person is on a work site but not classified as a “worker” under workers compensation laws, the situation is more complicated. You’ll need legal advice about what you can claim.

Ready to get started?

Step 1 – Contact us to arrange an obligation free first appointment.

Step 2 – Meet with one of our public liability lawyers.

Step 3 – We’ll advise you about your claim.

Step 4 – We’ll give a written fee estimate, as well as information about how we work and what to expect from our legal services. This is a Terms of Engagement letter.

Step 5 – If you’re happy with the terms and fee estimate in the Terms of Engagement letter, sign it and return it to us.

Step 6 – We’ll get your claim started.

Step 7 – We’ll continue to manage your claim until it’s resolved to your satisfaction.

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Public Liability team

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