Slip and Fall Claims

Description: Slip-and-falls sound like minor mishaps, but they can involve severe — even life-altering — injuries. They occur in many ways, from losing one’s balance on an icy sidewalk to taking a tumble down the stairs because of a loose handrail. Sprains, broken bones, and head trauma can burden you not only through medical bills but also lost work as well as pain and suffering. Many slip-and-falls are preventable and happen because of someone else’s negligence, in which case you may be due compensation. Businesses, private residences, and workplaces are expected to be safe. If you are injured in a slip-and-fall at your job, you are likely eligible for workers’ compensation. If it happens at a store or someone’s home and neglect is involved, you’ll need to prove it if you take legal action. That’s difficult to do, and you may experience resistance in all of these cases. Hiring a personal injury attorney is the most effective way to prevail.

A slip-and-fall accident may seem innocuous, but almost half of brain injuries are the result of such incidents. Slip-and-fall accidents can also result in broken tailbones, wrists, and ankles. Because of the burden of proof, it may be difficult to recover compensation in slip-and-fall claims without a lawyer. Hiring an attorney results in payouts that are three times higher, on average, than if you fight alone.

Why File a Slip-and-Fall Claim?

A lot of people don’t realize that a slip-and-fall accident can turn into a serious medical ordeal. Broken bones, joint dislocations, and other injuries can impact your life at work and at home, and cost you thousands of dollars. If you were injured in a slip-and-fall, you may be eligible for compensation to pay for medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses related to your fall.

What Causes Slip-and-Falls?

Slip-and-fall accidents can be the result of a variety of causes. What you slipped on — like a spilled liquid or an improperly laid-out rug — where your slip-and-fall accident occurred, and who was responsible for maintaining that space ultimately determine the responsibility for slip-and-fall claims. If you are injured at work, you only need to prove that you were hurt during the course of employment, not that your employer was at fault. For slip-and-fall claims that did not occur at work, you have to demonstrate one of two things:

  • That a person or business was responsible for the safety hazard that led to your slip-and-fall accident
  • That a person or business should have known about the existence of the safety hazard that led to your slip-and-fall and were responsible for remedying it

If either of these conditions apply, you may be eligible for compensation for damages related to your injuries. This may include not only coverage for treatment for your immediate injuries but also for follow-up appointments and lost wages. Depending on the severity of your conditions, you may be entitled to damages ranging from thousands to millions of dollars.

What’s the Process Like?

Because the burden of proof is so high in slip-and-fall cases, it is always a good idea to hire an attorney to represent you. This is because an experienced lawyer will know how to ensure that all of your needs are taken care of, based on past cases. Your lawyer will give you advice, but you will ultimately be in control of your case, deciding on whether to pursue further legal action or accept settlement offers. Insurance companies often use tricks to attempt to avoid liability for the costs of your injury, so having a lawyer who knows how to fight these often intimidating legal maneuvers is crucial to winning a reasonable payout.

File Your Claim Today

Sometimes an injury may be the result of a safety hazard suffered by dozens, hundreds, even thousands of other people. If this is the case, you may be eligible to file a slip-and-fall claim as part of a class action. Such lawsuits increase your chances of success because they demonstrate that your injury was the result of a common cause among many people. At ClassAction.com, we fight tirelessly for our clients, earning more than $5 billion in verdicts and settlements over three decades. To determine what options you have in filing your claim, fill out a free case evaluation.