The first thing to state here is that when you enter the property of a public entity you should be able to do so without the concern that you might be injured as a result of that. The same applies to the employees of any public entity, or business, in that you should be able to engage with them without the fear of being injured by another person.
In a situation where you do suffer an injury through the negligence of a public entity, or their employee, then you are well within your rights to pursue a personal injury claim. Please note that if you were trespassing on that property – you were there without any legal right to be – then you may have forfeit most of your rights to financial compensation as part of your personal injury claim.
You do have one very real legal obligation after an accident involving a public entity though, and it is that you will take reasonable steps to reduce, or mitigate, the damages claimed against the defendant as a result of your accident. Obviously you can\’t undo the circumstances of the accident, but you are legally obliged to not cause the defendant any more financial hardship, through a personal injury claim, than is absolutely necessary. Your obligation to reduce the amount of damages claimed against the public entity remains even if you suffered injury through no fault of your own.
Failure to Reduce Damages
The reasonable steps you would be expected to follow after an accident including the following:
- Seeking medical attention immediately after the accident, and not several weeks layer
- Following the medical advice provided to help you recover from your injury as quickly as possible
- Agreeing to a surgical procedure if it is deemed necessary to correct damage caused by your injury
- Not using alternative treatments such as acupuncture, home remedies and homeopathic medicine to treat what might be a serious injury to your person
- Not engaging in activities which might potentially make your injury worse than it already is
- Failure to seek employment, unless medically advised not to do so
You are expected to behave as a normal adult would after suffering a personal injury e.g. seeking medical help immediately. Doing anything else would indicate to a court that you\’re either not concerned about the extent or severity of your injuries, or that you\’re deliberately attempting to make your injury appear to be more serious than it is, resulting in more money being awarded when the case goes before a judge.
The other reason you should follow your legal obligation to mitigate damages is that in personal injury claims a well counseled defendant will do their best to prove that you did not take reasonable steps to reduce your damages. This could, at worst, have your case dismissed, or at best the amount of financial compensation you actually receive will be a fraction of what you expected it to be.