Any time you step foot onto property that someone else is responsible for maintaining—whether public or private—you have every right to expect that those responsible for the upkeep have done an acceptable job, and have either repaired or adequately warned you of any possible hazards. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Known as premise liability, a property owner is liable for the safety of visitors to their property, and in the event that you are injured due to a failure on their behalf, you have a right to compensation for the damages you have suffered.
One of the most common premise liability injuries is a “slip and fall,” which, as it sounds, is when someone slips, trips, or falls because of a hazard and is injured as a result. If you have been hurt from a slip and fall in West Palm Beach, it is important that you partner with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Filing a claim with an insurance company is a fairly simple process at first glance, but understanding that the insurance company is hard at work to pay you as little as possible is a compelling reason to partner with an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.
Hire a Slip and Fall Lawyer in West Palm Beach Today
1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service. In the days and weeks following an accident, it is understandable that the thought of trying to find an attorney, in addition to everything else that you need to do, is overwhelming. This is why many people simply file an insurance claim on their own, accept the insurance company’s initial offer, and move on with their lives, only to realize later that their settlement failed to adequately cover the costs of their accident.
Read more below to get a better idea of what to expect during your claims process following a slip and fall in West Palm Beach. Contact us as soon as possible to be connected with an attorney who is ready to take your case today. The sooner you are partnered with a lawyer, the sooner you can move forward with the important legal steps necessary to get the money that you deserve, and not just the money that the insurance company wants to pay you.
What To Do After a Slip and Fall in West Palm Beach
The following are a few of the most important steps to take after being injured in a slip and fall accident in West Palm Beach. It is important that you act swiftly so that you can start to move forward with your case with a clear target, and are able to get the money that you need and deserve. Of course, your unique situation will likely not fit exactly into these steps, but once you are working with an attorney they will be able to guide you through this process with experience.
Call 911
As soon as you are injured, it is extremely important that you or someone else calls 911 so that the police department, fire department, and EMTs can be alerted to the accident and be dispatched to the scene. Once they arrive, each will have a specific set of tasks to attend to, all with the intention of providing you with care and safety. The police officer at the scene will be in charge of completing an accident report, which will include eyewitness statements, statements from you, and any other relevant information, as well as their own opinion as to what happened and possibly who is responsible.
Document the Accident and Your Injuries
If you are in the condition to do so, take pictures and videos of the scene of the accident. A video can be helpful because you can leave yourself “notes” while filming, explaining why something is a certain way, how something happened, and other details that you may forget after the panic and excitement wear off in the coming days, weeks, and months after the accident. Remembering as many details as possible is essential to getting the money you deserve, and unlike the human brain, a video never forgets.
Get Medical Care
The EMTs will be able to administer emergency medicine at the scene of the accident, but there are a variety of reasons why it is extremely important to see your primary care physician as soon as possible. The first, and most obvious reason, is that you need to make sure that you get ongoing care for your injuries so that you can make a full recovery. The second—nearly as important—reason is that you need to document your injuries with a medical professional. If you claim injuries without having clear proof, the insurance company will very likely deny that area of your claim, which can be a costly mistake to make.
Hire an Attorney
Filing a claim with an insurance company for injuries is a simple process, which is intentional on behalf of the insurance company. If claimants found the initial process difficult, they would be more likely to hire a lawyer. However, hiring a lawyer is one of the first things that anyone should do after being hurt in a slip and fall – you can be nearly certain that the responsible party did so immediately, and between their attorney and the insurance company you have a whole team of people working to deny as much of your claim as possible. When you hire an attorney on day one, you can be confident that they are taking steps to maximize your claim.
Calculating Damages After a Slip and Fall Accident
The central question of your claim is that of compensation: how much are you entitled to as the victim of the defendant’s negligence or recklessness? Your lawyer will spend a lot of time in the early days of your work together attempting to identify every impacted area in your life, and then gathering evidence that supports the dollar amount claimed for each line item.
Damages are divided into two separate areas of compensatory damages: economic, and non-economic. Economic damages are the basis of your claim and are the easiest to measure. They include financially-measurable damages, such as your medical bills and impacts on your income. Non-economic damages are more tricky to calculate, and they include the things that do not come with dollar values such as the actual pain and suffering of your injuries. Trying to calculate these damages without experience is extremely difficult, and defending them in negotiations can often feel impossible.