What To Do After a Slip and Fall Accident
If you or a loved one slipped and fell down on the floor on someone else’s property and suffered a serious injury, you may have a slip and fall claim. A slip and fall claim against the owners or the managers of commercial or private property can help slip and fall victims receive the compensation that they need to recover from their injuries and preserve their quality of life, but to do so, victims should know what to do after a slip and fall accident.
The slip and fall lawyers at Grimes & Fertitta are experienced in researching, negotiating, settling, and taking slip and fall cases to court. They know exactly the evidence that you will need if you want your slip and fall case to be successful and can help you get what you deserve.
Knowing what to do after a slip and fall accident can strengthen your case and increase your chances of receiving maximum compensation, and the Houston injury attorneys at Grimes & Fertitta are here to tell you how to do just that.
Liability in slip and fall accidents
Help with proving liability in slip and fall accidents is one very important reason to have a slip and fall lawyer assist you with your slip and fall case. Depending on the circumstances of your slip and fall case, you could have a claim against a property owner, business owner, landlord, manager, product manufacturer, or really anyone who acted negligently and directly caused your slip and fall.
Texas is what’s called a modified comparative fault state, which means that, depending on your actions and the actions of everyone else involved, it is possible to be held partially liable for your own accident.
In order to make sure that the courts do not assign you culpability for your own injuries, it must be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the responsible party caused your accident. Proving this often requires an exhaustive investigation containing witness interviews, surveillance footage access and review, report review, and hours upon hours of slicing through bureaucratic red tape — none of which you should do on your own while you’re attempting to recover from your injuries.
What to do after slipping and falling
In order to give your attorney a better shot at getting you maximum compensation, you need to make sure you do everything you can to strengthen your claim.
- Get emergency medical treatment if necessary. Before you even think about your slip and fall claim, make sure you get the treatment that you need first.
- Once you know that you are safe to do so, report that you’ve had a slip and fall accident. This will likely be to a manager on site. Request that you receive a copy of their report before you leave the premises.
- While you are waiting for a copy of the incident report, you can begin to collect evidence. This can include taking photos of the area in which you fell, recording the personal information of eyewitnesses, and/or taking their statements.
- Seek continued medical treatment for your injuries to ensure that you begin the healing process, and make sure to document everything.
- Contact a slip and fall attorney from Grimes & Fertitta, file a claim, and sue for damages*.
Do NOT provide a statement or sign any paperwork from the insurance company or the business owners, and do not settle until you’ve had an opportunity to appraise your situation with an experienced and aggressive personal injury lawyer.
*Keep reading about the types of damages in a lawsuit
Common injuries from slip and fall accidents
How bad are injuries from slips and falls? How long does it take to heal after a slip and fall? Slip and fall injuries symptoms (and slip and fall injury settlement amounts) will vary depending on the severity of your accident, but common injuries suffered during slip and fall accidents include:
- Spine, neck, and back injuries, which often have a permanent impact on mobility and ability, often cause lifelong conditions that require physical therapy, pain management, and seriously limited quality of life. Neck injury settlements can be higher than other injury settlements because the consequences are often so severe.
- Head injuries such as traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are another severe injury commonly sustained after a slip and fall. TBIs often have a huge impact on victims’ lives because they can cause lasting brain damage.
- Broken bones and fractures are among the most common injuries sustained during slips and falls. They often require surgery and physical therapy, and can have a lifelong effect on mobility.
- Sprains, strains, and tears may seem like the lesser of these slip and fall injuries, but soft tissue damage can require surgery and physical therapy, and begin a horrible cycle of re-aggravation that can last a lifetime.
Injuries from slip and fall accidents can have a permanent impact on your and your family’s quality of life. If you or a loved one has slipped and fallen, seek medical treatment and do not hesitate to call an experienced slip and fall lawyer in Houston.
Wondering what to do after a slip and fall accident? Call the slip and fall lawyers at Grimes & Fertitta.
Trying to remember what to do after a slip and fall accident? Report, record, and recuperate. The more information you recover, the more information your attorney will have to work with, the more information you give the property owner or insurance company, the more information they will have to work with.
If you need a personal injury lawyer in Houston, whether you slipped and fell down on the floor on someone else’s property or you need a workplace injury lawyer for an on-site accident, the trusted attorneys at Grimes & Fertitta are here to help.
Call us today at (713) 224-7644 or contact us online for a consultation.
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