When you experience a slip and fall injury, your world is (quite literally) turned upside down. Along with the immediate physical pain, the incident will likely reroute the course of your day and your week. Additionally, if severe, a slip and fall can lead to longer-term medical complications that affect your ability to work and enjoy your daily life.
In the aftermath of such an injury, you will likely be filled with emotions and presented with dozens of questions. The proper resolution of the situation – one in which you receive adequate compensation and your needs are fully met – is possible, however, if you take the right steps. Here’s how to obtain proper compensation for a slip and fall:
Document the Details
After contacting any necessary first responders to address your injury and making sure your immediate basic needs are met, take a moment to document as many details as possible about the incident. Take a few photos with your phone of the location where you fell, paying special attention to the conditions of the actual walkway. Document the day, time, exact location, name of surrounding businesses, and circumstances under which you fell. If there are any eyewitnesses to the fall, make sure to take down their contact information.
The reason your careful documentation is helpful – and often necessary – is that it may serve as material evidence if your case goes to trial. Even if a settlement is made, the details describing the condition of the area will help in the filing of an insurance claim and potentially a police report. Your personal injury attorney will conduct their own evaluation, but your recollection will prove useful in their research process.
Conceptualize the Severity of the Situation
When you are the victim of a slip and fall, it may be tempting to “shake it off,” deal with the inconveniences of the injury yourself, and move on. However, this would be a grave mistake. If you are injured as a result of careless practices by a business, or poor maintenance of a facility, you are legally entitled to compensation for your injuries. The onus for the care of a storefront or the safety of a pedestrian walkway lies with the proprietor or the manager of the facility, not on you as a pedestrian to navigate unsafe situations. Recognizing this fact will help ensure you obtain your rightfully deserved compensation.
Addressing the severity of the injury is also an important step in the process – if the injury you sustained as a result of your slip and fall interferes with your ability to work, is disrupting your sleep or leisure time, or has resulted in any medical bills, it cannot be overlooked. These various costs, financial and otherwise, should not go uncompensated, and you do not deserve to pay the price yourself.
Consult a Personal Injury Lawyer
Once you’ve gathered all the relevant information and recognized how severe the situation has become, it’s time to take matters to the next level by consulting an experienced and trustworthy personal injury attorney. Your slip and fall case can involve communications with multiple insurance companies, the authorities, and the legal counsel for the defendant. This is not something to handle alone.
A personal injury attorney can advise you on the proper actions to take, help you develop timelines for those actions, and serve as your liaison with all the parties involved. The lawyers at Nelson Personal Injury have over 30 years of experience handling slip and fall cases – they can help evaluate your case, guide you on next steps, and vigorously defend you if faced by adversarial communication from insurance companies or other attorneys. Letting the experts handle your case from start to finish could be the difference in getting the compensation you deserve.
Partner with the Slip and Fall Attorneys at Nelson Personal Injury
The attorneys at Nelson Personal Injury understand that personal injury claims can be difficult and time-consuming – and we’re here to help. We work hard to make sure you feel heard, fully understand your case, and get the compensation to help you on the road to recovery. If your insurance company has denied your claim, or you have questions regarding a slip and fall incident, contact the attorneys at Nelson Personal Injury by visiting nelsonpersonalinjury.com.
