I work in retail and I was injured while shopping in the department store I work at on my lunch break. A few people have told me that I might be able to make two claims. How will I know if this is possible?
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Answer by Janelle Black, Brisbane 4000 QLD
- You may not necessarily know this in the first instance but it may become clear as time goes on that there is more than one person or party responsible for you being injured and there is more than one claim type that you can make. An example is when you are on your way to or from work.
- Investigations will give you an indication of whether there is more than one party against whom to make your claim. A lawyer can help you identify all of the parties against whom you have a claim and the types of claims available to you based on the circumstances of your accident.
- Examples of situations involving more than one party to a claim and more than one type of claim are when you are at work but working at a location that is owned and controlled by another company. This can often happen on construction sites where you are employed by a contractor but you are working on a site that is owned and controlled by another contractor. Both your employer and the owner of the site have obligations to keep you safe while you work however both can be negligent and this may result in you being injured.
- You can generally only recover once for one injury even if you have more than one claim available to you. The damages or compensation paid to you by one wrongdoer may be taken into account when assessing damages against the other, there may be legislation requiring you to repay amounts where you have ‘double-dipped’ (been compensated twice for the same injury) or the other parties may claim contribution from each other.