Did you know millions of Americans are injured by a slip, trip, or fall, every year? Slip and fall injuries range from minor scrapes or bruises to life-changing accidents that lead to disability.
You may be wondering what you can do to get back on your feet again. After all, on top of recovering physically, falls also present all sorts of financial challenges too. To help you out, we’ve created this short guide all about when you can and can’t sue for an accident.
Read on to learn about all of your legal options after a slip, trip or fall.
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What Counts as a Slip and Fall Accident?
What qualifies as experiencing a slip and fall accident in the legal world? It’s as simple as it sounds. If you fall and experience an injury, you might be able to sue with the help of a slip and fall attorney, no matter how minor the injury is.
You don’t have to break a bone to be injured following a slip-and-fall. While the more common injuries are broken bones and bruises, such as a back sprain or strain, injuries also count.
Does slipping because of something you did still count? It depends.
When You Can’t Sue
Let’s say you’re at home, and you trip over something you left on the living room floor. You wouldn’t have anyone to sue for your injuries.
You couldn’t even sue your homeowner’s insurance since that protects your finances and property, not health. Instead, if you fall at home because of your mistake, you have to handle the medical bills.
Of course, you could still reach out to your insurance provider and file a claim. However, you wouldn’t be able to sue anyone since the fall was your fault.
When You Can Sue
When can you sue? The same scenario; you’re at home, and you fall. However, this time you fall because of a faulty stair on your front porch.
Your landlord should have fixed that stair already, and because they didn’t, you suffered an injury. In this situation where the landlord was negligent, you will likely need to sue.
In these landlord cases, you need to prove that the building owner knew about any safety issues in the property. You also have to confirm that your landlord could have fixed these problems but didn’t. Then, if a safety hazard caused you to get injured, you can file a personal injury claim.
Other Examples of Accidents You Can Sue For
Landlord-tenant scenarios aren’t the only times when you can sue. You could also sue for a slip trip or fall if it happens on commercial or public property. Again, it all comes back to negligence.
Other common slip-and-fall incidents are outlined below to help you better understand how they work.
Slip-and-Fall Inside of a Public Store
If the store knows about the hazard but doesn’t try to fix it, they’re liable for your injuries. That goes for any business that has customers inside. Whether it’s a grocery store, restaurant, retail store, or even a hotel, you can sue if they know about the hazard and do nothing to fix it.
Slip-and-Fall Outside of a Restaurant
A slip-and-fall on the sidewalk outside of a restaurant gives you hope for compensation. That’s because the municipality almost always owns sidewalks. If it’s privately owned, you’ll need to know for sure before moving forward with your injury claim.
Slip-and-Fall Inside of an Apartment Building
Your landlord is responsible for fixing any hazardous conditions that could injure people. That includes faulty stairs, railings, and anything else that might prove dangerous to tenants living in the property.
How Personal Injury Claims Work
Do you think you need to file a personal injury claim? The first step is reaching out to an experienced Slip and Fall Accident Attorney.
A personal injury attorney focuses solely on representing clients who were injured during an accident. They understand what you’re going through and can make this process as quick and painless as possible for you.
When you retain a personal injury attorney, they’ll send out a notice to all parties involved in your slip-and-fall incident. The information will ask every involved party to provide a statement of their role in the slip-and-fall.
Some injured people choose to hold off on filing a personal injury claim until they have all statements from everyone potentially at fault. The only catch is that these deadlines vary depending on your state’s laws, and if you wait too long, you could lose your chance to sue.
Choose the Right Lawyer
It’s always a good idea to ask friends and family for a referral first. Reach out to coworkers, too, if you think they can help.
Referrals are great since you know how your friends and relatives feel about the person they’re recommending to. If nobody comes to mind, you can choose from many options online. Many personal injury attorneys list their services on their websites, along with helpful blog tips.
Damages You Can Seek
Once your case is filed, the court will schedule a “discovery” phase. During this time, you and your attorney can seek out different types of damages.
Damages in slip-and-fall cases aren’t always clear-cut. However, certain conditions related to your fall will help calculate whether or not you can receive compensation for your injuries.
Lost wages, medical bills, and property damage are the most common types of damages that you can receive for a slip-and-fall accident.
No Recovery No Fee
Personal injury attorneys usually have a set fee agreement. This means that if they don’t win your case, you won’t have to pay anything extra. That goes back to legal protection since it gives you all the more reason to make sure your attorney does their very best on your slip-and-fall case.
Get Back on Your Feet
Personal injury attorneys understand what you’re going through, whether you’ve been injured at work or somewhere else. They’ll make this process as easy and comfortable for you as possible. Their goal is to make sure that your settlement covers every expense related to your accident.
Instead of wondering if you have a case, find out today. Ask your friends for a slip and fall lawyer referral.
Then set up your first legal consultation. You might even be able to consult over the phone! For more tips, read another guide.