If you or a loved one suffered extensive injuries on someone else’s property, you may be wondering how you prove damages for a slip and fall accident.
Your damages will depend on the circumstances of your accident as well as the severity of your injuries, and the overall effect the injuries have on your life as well as your career. Generally speaking, slip and fall accidents can change lives and cause considerable expenses for accident victims. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the costs of fall accidents amounted to a staggering $50 billion in 2015 alone. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) notes that falls often constitute greater risks of injury and permanent disability for elderly adults, as well.
Gathering evidence of the unsafe condition that caused your fall, as well as your medical bills and other expenses, can help you prove your damages. If you have not yet seen a doctor, you should go and get a medical evaluation as well as a report that can help prove your injuries and any related treatment expenses.
Economic and Non-Economic Damages
In a slip and fall accident, you could potentially recover economic as well as non-economic damages. Economic damages refer to any compensation for expenses that have a dollar value. A victim will usually have bills and receipts for these expenses. They could include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Medical devices
- Prescription and over-the-counter drugs
- Transport costs
- The costs of having help in the home
- Out-of-pocket expenses
Non-economic damages can be more complicated to quantify as they do not have a dollar value attached to them and can be somewhat subjective. However, if you have suffered extensive injuries, non-economic damages can be considerable, and can include awards for:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional anguish
- Loss of life quality
- Disability
- Loss of a limb or a sense
- Disfigurement or scarring
Other economic or non-economic damages may apply in your specific case. If you are unsure which damages you could claim, a slip and fall lawyer can advise you and help you calculate your damages accurately. This can be important if you are considering taking legal action, as knowing all your damages can help with negotiating a fair settlement.
Proving a Slip and Fall Case
Your entire claim will hinge on proving someone else’s negligence in a slip and fall accident. There are two main ways in which a property owner or employee can be negligent.
Causing a Dangerous Condition
You may be able to show that the property owner or an employee created a dangerous condition. They may have installed a type of flooring that is generally too slippery for the premises and therefore unsuitable. They may also have caused a dangerous condition by waxing a floor, causing it to be too slippery.
Failing to Fix a Dangerous or Hazardous Condition
You could also prove a slip and fall case if you can show that a property owner failed to remedy an existing hazardous condition in a timely manner. For example, if you are a guest in a restaurant and the restaurant staff fails to mop up a spilled drink or spilled food promptly, and you then slip on any debris on the floor, you could potentially hold the restaurant owner to account for your injuries and expenses.
In order to prove your slip and fall case, you will also need compelling and clear evidence. Your evidence should show the hazardous condition, as well as demonstrate that the property owner should have known about the condition and had time to remove or fix it, yet chose not to do so. Evidence could include photographs, security camera footage, and witness testimony. Witnesses can include other customers, employees, and eyewitnesses of your accident.
If you are looking to file a personal injury lawsuit and hope to receive any compensation, you will also have to provide evidence for your damages. You will most likely have to provide medical reports, hospital and treatment records, and potentially also expert witness testimony.
While all this can seem overwhelming, especially if you are still recovering from any injuries suffered in an accident, help is available. A lawyer can help you prove damages for a slip and fall accident as well as build a case against a negligent property owner.
We Can Fight for Your Rights
If you suffered serious injuries and damages in a slip and fall accident, you do not need to worry about every detail of proving your damages. We can handle your case for you, including gathering the necessary evidence to prove your injuries and expenses.
Not all personal injury cases go to court, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). We can help to assess your damages accurately and aim to reach a fair settlement, in or out of court, that takes into account all your present as well as your potential future damages.
If someone else’s negligence caused your injuries and suffering, you should not be stuck with the costs. We could help you seek fair compensation either through a settlement or a court-awarded offer. Contact Ben Crump Law, PLLC today for a free evaluation of your slip and fall accident case. You can reach us at 800-959-1444.
