How do you know if you have a valid slip and fall case?
Slip and fall accidents are quite common these days, and they can happen anywhere, be it at work or at home. And while they can be just an accident, there are also situations when they appear due to unsafe property conditions or businesses that don’t repair things which were already reported. That’s why you always want to know if the slip and fall case is indeed valid or not, and if you can go to court for something like that.
What is a slip and fall case?
Simply put, slip and fall cases are a type of premises liability claim. That means the property owner is always responsible for keeping the property in good shape. And if any slip and fall incident is happening within their property’s premises, they could be at fault.
These slip and fall accidents take place due to slippery/wet floors, bad lighting, snow or ice accumulation, cluttered walkways, broken hand rails or stairs, loose carpets or rugs, uneven flooring and so on. If that’s the case and the tenant reported these things to the property owner, but they were not repaired and a slip and fall incident happened, you definitely have a case here.
Was the property owner negligent?
In order to have a valid slip and fall case, you need to show that the property owner was negligent. And that might be a lot harder to do than you might expect. Most of these slip and fall cases are focused on 4 major elements, as follows:
- The property owner is owing you a duty of care. That applies if you are a delivery worker, tenant, customer, guest or lawfully on the property at that time.
- A dangerous condition needs to exist. As we said, it could be a broken step, cracks in the sidewalk, ice not cleared responsibly, spills that were not attended in time, etc.
- The same thing is valid if the owner knew about the hazard, or if they should have known about it. If that’s the case, they needed to act and not leave things the way they were.
- Of course, you also need to show that the hazard caused the injury. Without proof that was the cause of your injury, you won’t really have a place.
Most of these slip and fall accidents take place in locations like retail shops, office buildings, apartment complexes, restaurants, resorts and hotels, garages and parking lots or anything else similar to that. One thing to note is that every setting has their own legal standard. That’s why you always want to have the right San Luis Obispo Personal injury lawyer to represent you in this case. It will streamline things, make the process easier, and you don’t really have to worry about any other thing in the end.
Injuries associated with slip and fall accidents
If you had a slip and fall case, most likely you also suffered one of the common injuries like hip fractures, herniated discs, head injuries, concussions, spinal or back injuries, knee injuries, broken arm/wrist and so on. A lot of the time, older adults are the ones the most vulnerable to these injuries. But in general, people of any age can suffer consequences from a fall like this, so keep that in mind.
Evidence that will strengthen your case
Generally, you want to acquire as much evidence as possible to build up your slip and fall case. That’s because evidence is everything in this type of situation. And that’s why you need photos and videos of the hazard, but also surveillance footage of the accident, if you can access that. You should also have an accident report, witness statements, along with inspection and maintenance logs, medical records linking injuries to the fall, but also prior repair requests and complaints.
The more you have when it comes to evidence, the easier it will be to build up your case. Granted, the lawyer will try to gather evidence for you as well, but you should also focus on getting the evidence where possible. It’s going to help quite a bit, and that’swhy you always want to avoid any rush. In the end, it’s a great idea to have legal representation that assists with this, as it can be tricky to handle such a case.
Conclusion
Overall, it’s extremely important to know what makes a slip and fall case valid and ensure that you are dealing with it appropriately. It’s never going to be easy to handle all those things, but in the end, the more you are tackling them, the better. It’s a great idea to consider working with a legal expert, and also make sure that you always gather evidence. That will help strengthen your case, while avoiding any problems and making it easier to receive any reimbursement for your medical expenses, among others.
