Slip and fall accidents happen quickly and can easily cause significant bodily harm, resulting in expensive medical bills and time off from work. These accidents can happen in seconds, but the results can last days, weeks or months. “Slip and fall accident” is the term used for a personal injury case where a person slips or trips on someone else’s property due to the owner’s negligence, and is injured.
Property owners and their agents, managers and employees, have a responsibility to keep their property safe and free of hazards. However, their negligence can cause injury. Whenever this happens, you need to know your rights and what to do to receive maximum compensation for your injury.
What Causes Slip and Fall Accidents?
Here are some common slip and fall accident causes:
- Ice: Property owners should make sure their space is free of slipping hazards. After a winter storm, clearing ice, snow, and slush and salting walkways are some of the property owner’s responsibilities.
- Poorly lit stairwells: Property owners must keep stairwells on the premises illuminated, so patrons don’t miss a step and injure themselves.
- Faulty handrails or stairs: Handrails and stairs can wear down over time, making them dangerous. If they aren’t properly maintained or repaired, a severe accident can occur.
- Food spills: Spilled food and drink can create a slippery surface. If no one cleans up these spills, they become an accident waiting to happen.
- Uneven sidewalks: Overtime, paths wear down and can crack or lift, creating a lip. These deformities result in tripping hazards.
What to Do If You’re In a Slip and Fall Accident
If you are injured due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills and/or lost wages. Getting compensation may require a slip and fall lawsuit. Follow these steps to position yourself for success:
- Get evaluated by a healthcare professional. If you slip and fall, visit an urgent care facility or schedule an appointment with your primary care doctor. This visit is crucial to getting an accurate assessment of your injury. While you may not feel the effects of the fall immediately, a doctor or other healthcare professional can help diagnose any underlying damage.
- Take photos relevant to the accident. If possible, take photos of the accident site and conditions. Pictures can be key to your case, especially in a situation like ice or spill where the condition can change or disappear easily.
- Take notes of what happened and keep all official documentation relevant to the accident. Write how you fell, what caused the fall, what type of signage was up and the injury you sustained. It’s essential to keep your facts straight. Hold on to all of your relevant documentation about the accident.
- Speak with a personal injury attorney. A personal injury lawyer can guide you through the process of filing a lawsuit. Having a legal expert in your corner is advised to make the best decisions possible regarding your case.
Why Do You Need a Personal Injury Attorney for a Slip and Fall Accident?
Slip and fall injuries require a lot of carefully laid out evidence and reasoning. A personal injury lawyer will help you to defend your claims better.
- A lawyer can help you to defend and refute claims. When it comes to getting fair compensation, defense attorneys will try to deny your claims. Having an experienced lawyer is crucial to maintaining your case and defending against the counter-arguments.
- An experienced attorney can provide the best estimate of what your claim is worth. Experienced personal injury lawyers can tell if the insurance adjuster is lowballing the compensation for your claim. Getting someone who has dealt with injury settlements will help you to maximize your reparation.
- Lawyers have an understanding of foreseeability and proximate cause. A key to proving the negligence of the at-fault party is showing how a foreseeable problem with their property caused your injury. Our lawyers work hard to investigate whether or not the property owner met their legal requirements.
- A lawyer has your back while you recover. When you are injured, you should be able to recover with as little stress as possible. An experienced personal injury lawyer will help you focus on your recovery while going to work to get what you deserve from the responsible party.
Are you dealing with an injury from a slip and fall accident? Don’t deal with the compensation negotiations alone. Contact a lawyer from Eng and Woods Attorneys at Law. We will fight to make sure you get the compensation you deserve.
Rebecca Gardner
It was helpful when you explained that an injury attorney can help us accurately determine how much our slip and fall claim is worth. My uncle injured his wrist when he tripped on an unmarked step at the store last week. I’ll share this info so he can see why consulting with a local personal injury lawyer would be worth the cost for him.