Insurance underwriter trips over accident claim forms

An insurance underwriter who tripped over a stack of accident claim forms at work has won compensation for the "pain and loss of earnings" caused by the incident, the BBC reports.

Linda Riley, of Newburgh, Scotland, was working at Norwich Union's Perth office three years ago when she "tripped over files which had been left lying on the floor by another office worker".

She sued Norwich Union parent company Aviva PLC claiming the former "had a duty to provide a safe system of work and the untidy files presented a danger". She said she had suffered "pain in her left ankle, lower leg and foot, and needed a course of physiotherapy" as a result of the fall, had "lost wages as a result" and was "still suffering from pain three years after the accident".

She claimed £5,000 compensation at Perth Sheriff Court. The matter was settled out-of-court for an undisclosed sum. ®