You probably thought you’d never end up here: lying in a hospital bed in pain because of a slip and fall injury. Consider this little not-so-fun fact, though—every day roughly two thousand people in the United States receive medical care because of injuries from falling. No matter if the injury is a sprain, a strain, or a broken bone, the one thing for certain is that your injury is going to take some time to recover, and it could be expensive.
We know this because the average cost of a hospital visit for a slip and fall injury is between $30,000 and $40,000.
If you weren’t responsible for your injury, you shouldn’t have to pay for it, right? To protect yourself from financial ruin in the event of one of these accidents, here’s what you should do.
Was Your Slip and Fall Accident the Result of Negligence?
It can be as simple as neglecting to put out a caution sign for a wet floor. Businesses and public officials have a responsibility to keep the public safe while they are on their property. The thing that determines whether you have a case for your slip and fall injury is negligence—did the property or business owner do everything in their power to prevent your injury from happening?
To make your case more solid, document any conditions that might have contributed to your fall. Special things to take note of include the condition of the floor, whether railing is installed properly on stairs, and whether the lighting was poor. If you are unable to gather evidence because of your injury, send someone to take pictures in your place.
Determine the Responsible Party
Determining who is responsible for your injuries requires that you find out who is in charge of the conditions of the property. For businesses, you usually have two possibilities: the business owner and the property owner. For an injury that results from the day-to-day operations of a business—examples include wet floors from mopping and objects left on the floor from restocking—you’ll probably pursue damages from the business owner.
But injuries can result from things of a structural nature too. For instance, loose or dangerous steps and leaky pipes might lead to a fall. In such cases, you would pursue the property owner.
Once you determine who you will be pursuing in court, you’ll need to consider how you can demonstrate the cause of your injury.
Demonstrate What Caused Your Injury
As pointed out in the first section above, you’ll have to show that conditions were unsafe when you had your accident. However, that is only the first step. You’ll also need to show that those unsafe conditions contributed, in part at least, to your slip and fall accident. When documenting evidence for your case, try to answer the following.
- Why were conditions unsafe?
- How long was the structure or area unsafe before the accident?
- Was there any warning that the space was unsafe, such as caution signage?
- Was the responsible person aware of the unsafe conditions? For how long were they aware?
The more detail you can provide in your answers to the above questions, the better chance you have to get the compensation you deserve.
Were you in a slip and fall accident? Pacin Levine Attorneys at Law will help you determine whether you have a case. Contact us today to learn how we can help.
