Slip and fall injuries can be quite serious. Many people don’t realize the extensive hip, spinal, neck, and head injuries that many slip-and-fall patients receive.
In fact, sometimes the first response people have in response to hearing about a slip-and-fall case is, “I trip all the time; what’s the big deal?”
Thus, taking the right steps to maximize your compensation will be absolutely paramount.
Types of Damages in a Slip and Fall Case
After a slip and fall case, you may be entitled to:
- Compensation for your medical bills.
- Compensation for lost wages incurred while recovering.
- Compensation for additional expenses incurred while recovering.
- Pain and suffering compensation.
Much of this settlement is math. Your economic damages, that is, bills and lost wages, are a fixed number that’s linked back to the bill. Your non-economic damages, or your pain and suffering, multiplies that number. You also lose a percentage of the award based on the percentage of fault you are thought to bear for the accident.
The pain and suffering multiplier ranges from 1 to 5, and there’s no fixed chart for which injuries correspond to which number. Ultimately this will often boil down to your attorney’s negotiation skills, but there are ways you can bolster your attorney’s efforts. The number will then be applied to the economic damages. So if you have $100,000 in economic damages and a multiplier of 2, then you’ll have non-economic damages in the amount of $200,000 for a total of $300,000.
If you are thought to bear some percentage of fault, you’ll lose money in accordance with that percentage. In the example above, if you are thought to be 10% at fault, then you’ll lose $30,000 from that settlement, for a total of $270,000.
In most settlements, your attorney’s negotiation skills can also account for that contributory negligence number being set higher or lower.
What You Can Do
You can take the following steps to maximize your settlement.
- Get medical attention immediately, and follow all doctor’s orders.
- Save all bills and receipts.
- Report the injury to the property owner on the day it happens.
- Take photos of the site of the injury, your injury, the shoes you are wearing, and more.
- Obtain the names and numbers of any witnesses.
- Call an attorney on the day of the accident or close to it.
- Begin documenting your recovery, as well as the impact your pain and injuries are having on your life.
Move quickly. The longer you wait, the weaker your case becomes. Evidence disappears, witnesses forget and move away, and the clock starts running down on the statute of limitations.
Get Help Today
Have you been injured in a slip-and-fall accident? Contact our team to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced attorneys!
See also:
Proving Liability in Slip and Fall Cases: The Importance of Evidence