Slip and Fall Lawsuits Guide 2023 (2023)

taxpayer

Updated on September 29, 2022 7:03 am

Index

Show more

About eight million people visit a hospital emergency room after a fall each year.National Institute of Land Safety. Slip and falls account for 12% of all falls and independently account for one million ER visits.

Not all falls can lead to a slip and fall process. In order to successfully file a claim, you must show that the owner or occupant of the property should be responsible for what happened to you. This usually means proving negligence.

To win a slip and fall lawsuit, you must prove that the owner or occupant of the property failed to meet their obligations.duty to care. Your irresponsible behavior must have created conditions that directly led to your fall and resulting injuries.

Landlord Negligence Against Residents

Slip and fall cases can be complicated since the person who occupies the property is sometimes not the person who owns it. Therefore, you need to understand which party was responsible for maintaining the room and what types of mistakes are considered negligent.

All property owners have a duty to maintain their property. If they are aware or should have been aware of a hazard and fail to remedy it and/or provide adequate warning, the property owner may be liable for the resulting falls.

Residents are also required to properly secure their premises. If they know or should have known of a hazard in the space they rent, they must also fix the problem and/or warn of the hazard. If a resident cannot remedy the hazard on their own, they must notify the landlord immediately.

So what if you are injured in a rented space? They would typically file a slip and fall lawsuit against the occupant if they fail to address the hazard. However, you can also bring claims against the landlord if:

• The property owner retained control (for example, a common area in an apartment)
• The owner rented the property with undisclosed risks
• The rental agreement states that the landlord is responsible for certain repairs and maintenance that the landlord did not perform.

An experienced attorney can help you determine who is best to sue if you were injured in a slip and fall.

components of neglect

If you bring a claim against a property owner or occupant, you will still need to prove negligence to receive compensation in a slip and fall proceeding. And there are some specific components of negligence that you must prove, including:

• The owner or occupant of the property caused the dangerous condition, was aware of it, or should have known if due care was exercisedreasonable personwould have shown
• The property owner/user failed to remedy the condition when given a reasonable opportunity to do so and/or failed to indicate the hazard
• The fault of the owner/resident was the direct cause of the injury
• The injury resulted in property damage

Photos of accident scenes, expert reports, and medical records can help you prove negligence in a slip and fall proceeding.

Many types of dangerous conditions can cause slips and falls, including the following:

• wet floors
• uneven ground
• loose soil material
• thick carpet
• cold areas without salt
• holes
• Spills that are not removed
• Dirt or trash on the floor
• ropes on the sidewalks
• bad lighting

Owners or occupants must correct or warn of hazards when these conditions occur. For example, if a store clerk is washing the floor, he should post a "Wet Floor" sign to alert customers.

In some cases, you may share some responsibility for the fall. For example, if he walked around a wet floor sign, he made a decision that increased his risk of falling.

Whether your role affects your ability to file a slip and fall depends on your specific circumstances, as well as the rules where you live.

contributory negligence

In a small minority of statescontributory negligencerules apply. This means that even if he played a minor role in causing his own injuries, he cannot claim compensation for his slip and fall.

comparative negligence

In most of the United States, comparative negligence rules have superseded joint negligence rules. If you live in a state with comparative negligence rules, you can still bring claims even if you are partially at fault for your fall. However, you will receive less compensation.

In a state of pure comparative negligence, you can successfully recover compensation for a slip and fall, no matter the amount of fault. Your compensation will be reduced simply based on your error percentage. If you were 90% responsible for the fall and sustained $10,000 in damage, the other party may be responsible for the remaining 10% of your damage and may be awarded $1,000.

In modified comparative negligence states, you can only recover if the other party is 50% or 51% responsible for your losses. Again, your compensation would still be reduced based on your error percentage.

The location of a slip and fall accident can also affect your ability to file a slip and fall claim. Special rules apply to certain types of real estate.

Slip and fall on government property

If you slip and fall on government property, you can sue if it shows that the government agency or official acted negligently in a way that led to your fall. However, different procedural requirements apply to the prosecution of a case. You must file a formal notification of infringement, and there is a short time limit to do so. You may also face a legal limit on the amount of compensation you can receive.

Slip and fall in shops or shops

Stores and businesses invite people to their property to do business with them. Therefore, in some states, they are required to make the premises secure for their customers. They must take steps to identify and remedy the hazards, or they may be considered negligent if they fail to do so. This could mean that a victim can successfully file a slip and fall claim due to negligence on the part of the store owner or store employee.

The owner slipped and fell

If you are in a rental property and you slip and fall, there may be times when you can file a lawsuit against the landlord. However, you will need to show that the landlord was aware of and responsible for the dangerous condition, but was negligent in failing to do so.

If you slipped on uneven tiles in a common area or fell in your apartment because the floor was slippery due to a leak in the ceiling that your landlord was supposed to fix but didn't fix, you can successfully get compensation.

You can file a slip case in court in the area where the fall occurred. You also have the option to settle, which means you negotiate with the person responsible for the fall (or more likely the insurer).

If you agree, you will receive an agreed payment without going to court. You must release any future claims of Drop.

Each slip and fall event has unique circumstances, so it is difficult to determine an average count. However, many cases cost between $10,000 and $50,000. Claims related to fatal accidents lead to much larger claims, with survivors receiving hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in claims.

Economic and non-economic losses

When filing a slip and fall case, you should receive compensation for both economic and non-economic losses. Compensation for damages may include payment of:

• medical bills
• Past and future lost wages
• pain and suffering
• emotional suffering

How much is your slip and fall suitcase worth?

Many factors affect the value of your case, including:

• If you are partly at fault for the fall, compensation will be reduced
• The severity of your injuries and whether they are permanent.
• The cost of your medical bills
• When your injury prevents you from working
• How the insurer calculates pain and suffering

Some insurers assumepain and sufferingTake a real economic damage multiplier. For example, you may be offered 1.5 to 5 times your medical bills and lost wages. Others use a daily approach, paying you a set amount (usually a daily wage) for the number of days your pain lasts.

Slip and fall and household items insurance

Homeowner's insurance must provide coverage for slip and fall claims that occur on the insured homeowner's property. Liability insurance pays legal costs for homeowners as well as damages for victims. However, the insurance only pays up to the sum insured. So if a homeowner has $50,000 in liability insurance, that's the most the insurance company would pay. In the case of major damage, people who have been injured in a fall can file claims directly against the landlord.

Slip and fall and workers' compensation insurance

If a slip and fall occurs at work, employees cannot file a slip and fall claim. Instead, they should file a work injury claim. Government employee compensation rules determine the types of damages for which an injured employee may seek compensation. It is generally not necessary to prove negligence in workplace accidents, as the employer is almost always liable to cover losses from work-related injuries, regardless of fault.

Find out about other types of legal procedures with oursDefamation Complaint Guide.

You must have an attorney for a slip and fall case. These types of cases can result in significant compensation for injured victims, and you want to get the full amount you deserve. Your slip and fall accident lawyer can help you negotiate a settlement or file a lawsuit within the statute of limitations.