Slip and fall injuries are common and can be avoided. Knowing what to do and who is responsible for the injury is essential to determining who is liable to pay for the injuries.
Table of Contents
Determining Responsibility
When someone suffers a slip and fall injury, the first step is determining who is responsible and liable to pay. The property owner could be found responsible if they had prior knowledge of the dangerous conditions that caused the accident and did not try to fix it. All property owners are expected to perform a reasonable amount of maintenance or care on their property to make it safe and prevent possible injuries. If a property owner fails to provide this “duty of care”, this would show negligence and the property owner would need to find a premises liability lawyer because they are ultimately responsible for the injury.
There are chances that the property owner is not responsible if they show that they were not negligent of the potentially dangerous condition and took necessary precautions. In that case, it may also prove that the injured person is responsible for their injuries. Therefore, a premises liability attorney may not be necessary.
Determining Payment
Once responsibility is determined, the next step is to figure out the amount to pay for damages. This is relatively easy to resolve after concluding the cost of medical bills and loss of income due to the injury. The tricky part would be to gauge the amount of pain and suffering that occurred because of the injury. Unfortunately, there is no concrete amount set for the potential emotional damages caused by the injury, making it difficult to receive compensation for this.
In many cases, a slip and fall injury can be settled outside of court. However, an entire case will ensue in other instances, and a jury will then be called to determine the cost awarded to the injured and who is liable for the injury.
