Slipping and falling in someone else’s property is a completely different story from when you slip and fall on your own property. Even though both can cause you a severe injury, that’s where the similarities end. If you get injured on someone else’s property, you might have a legal ground to claim compensation for your injuries. Slip and fall accidents sound mild, but they are a leading cause for non-fatal injuries for age groups 24 and above.
Many of these accidents take place at work and factories, but they can also happen in stores and sidewalks. While they are considered accidents, they can be the result of negligence or a lack of a safe environment for employees, customers, clients, guests, or pedestrians. These avoidable accidents can keep you out of work for a long time on end, costing you lost wages and a fortune in medical bills. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average medical bill of a slip-and-fall accident is between $30,000 and $40,000.
Many people might not know that they have the right to make a legal claim if they’ve been in a slip-and-fall accident, and in that case, it would be best to have a lawyer with you.
So, have a look at the 6 reasons why you would be better off hiring a lawyer for your slip.
1. Receive Compensation
An insurance company may try to downplay your injury or downright refuse to pay compensation. Over and above, many injuries do not show up immediately after a slip-and-fall accident; they could take days to show up. So if you aren’t getting anywhere with the insurance company, your only option to be able to receive compensation is to hire a lawyer.
2. Prove Liability
You have the right to make a claim, but it’s not an automatically-given right. You need to prove someone is liable for your slip-and-fall accident. A lawyer will first figure out who is potentially liable, then work on finding out if they are indeed liable. It’s not an easy task to prove that a property owner caused a slip-and-fall due to negligence because the counter-argument would easily be that the injured person was careless or distracted, and caused their own injury. Since it’s not an easy case to prove, an experienced team is indispensable to establish liability. They will identify fault, bring in the facts of your case to light, and bring in new perspectives that you might not necessarily be aware of.
3. Will Litigate for You
If the situation escalates, you might find it necessary to go to court. Even if you don’t want the issue to reach a courtroom, the party you’re making a claim against might contest your claim and take you to court regardless. You will need a lawyer at that point to represent you.
4. Protect your Legal Interests
There are rules and laws put in place to determine who is eligible for compensation. A lawyer will know all the ins and outs of your case and the laws; they’ll know about things that deserve compensation that you don’t know about, such as pain and suffering. They will make sure there are no loopholes or errors in your claim that could stop you from receiving fair compensation. There is a lot of red tape in the process of making a claim. For example, if you try to go at it alone, you’ll come across a lot of legal and medical jargon that most of us are not familiar with. If you don’t understand the terminologies, you can make a mistake and ruin your chances of compensation.
5. Negotiation Skills
Some people think that making a claim automatically means having to go to court. True, you might have to go to court, but lawyers have their negotiation skills to try and avoid that. The fact is, most claims never go to court and are settled outside. A good lawyer has the talent and skill to negotiate on your behalf. More often than not, they are able to produce results without having to go to court.
6. Saves Time
After an injury from a slip-and-fall, your main concern is in getting better. Getting medical records, communicating with an insurance company, and filling out the necessary paperwork takes a lot of time; time that you don’t have as you’re working your way back to recovery. This is the main job of a lawyer and it will speed up the process for you.
No matter how careful you are, you can have a slip-and-fall accident at any time and at any place. The last thing you need after such an accident is the headache an insurance company can give you by downplaying your injury and not receiving proper, or any, compensation. Don’t take that risk when you can hire an expert lawyer to help you out and make sure you get your due compensation.