A slip-and-fall accident can have dangerous, if not deadly, consequences. It’s not so amusing to watch someone trip when you realize that the results of the fall can be as serious as a traumatic brain injury or even death. With slips and falls totaling 1 million hospital visits annually across the country, adding up to thousands of hours of lost time and pay, slip-and-fall accidents are extremely damaging. They can cost much more than the initial medical bills. Injuries obtained by people on company premises can be just as devastating as workplace slip-and-fall injuries, and both need to be compensated accordingly.
The top slip-and-fall lawyers at Pastrana & García Injury Law can help you with the financial side of your injury. If you’ve been injured in a slip-and-fall accident resulting from employee or company negligence, contact our team. Our team is ready to help you assert your legal rights and receive compensation for your personal injury recovery.
How Do Slip-and-Fall Accidents Happen?
On the surface, slip-and-fall accidents are just that — an accident. However, looking at the responsibilities a company or property owner has to their customers and the general public, slip-and-fall accidents can occur from their, or their employees’, negligence, meaning they are responsible for the injured party’s accident. Below are just a few reasons that slip-and-fall accidents may occur on company premises:
- Dim lighting that makes it difficult to see your footing
- Spills on the floor
- Cords or other obstacles littering the walking path
- Faulty handrails or guardrails
- Damaged flooring
- Uneven surfaces
- Rugs or mats that are unsecured
- Improper signage in dangerous areas
You deserve a level of safety when you are going about your daily life. And as a worker, you have a reasonable expectation to be kept safe on the job. Some additional safety concerns may cause slip-and-fall accidents on a job site:
- Unsteady scaffolding
- Oil or other liquid spills
- Equipment that is not put away “properly”.
Companies have an obligation to keep their workers safe. Our firm can help you if you’ve been injured in a slip-and-fall accident as either a client or an employee, and we will hold the company or property owner responsible for premises liability.
Immediate Steps to Take After a Slip-and-Fall Accident
Slip-and-fall accidents can be more devastating than they might first appear. Immediately after this type of accident, you might notice a few bumps, bruises, or aches and pains and think that you’re fine. In reality, slip-and-falls can be responsible for life-changing injuries. If you’ve been injured through a slip-and-fall accident, follow the steps below.
Have a Medical Professional Look at your Injuries
The first thing you should do after a slip-and-fall accident is to either call 911 or go to the hospital, depending on your capacity for movement. Get seen by a medical professional that same day or as soon as possible to determine the extent of your injuries. You may feel fine and think you may have nothing more than a few external scrapes, but a lot of internal damage can occur from a slip-and-fall accident. Have a doctor check for traumatic head injuries, among other injuries, and make sure you keep the report of their findings.
The insurance company will want proof that you were injured, the extent to which your injuries caused you distress and suffering, and the monetary loss you experienced. The longer you put off a trip to the doctor, the greater the risk that the insurance company will try to say that you received your injuries from a different “accident”, and the harder it will be to prove your case. Sometimes, you won’t notice that your body feels off until a few days after the accident, but that’s too late to go. Get to the hospital immediately.
Tell the Person in Charge
Depending on where you were when the fall occurred, you should report your accident to the appropriate person. For example, tell the manager in charge if you experience an accident in a store or on company premises. If you’re at your workplace, tell your boss. Companies are required to have incident reports in these situations. Do not assign blame to yourself during the recounting of your accident.
Write it Down
Keep a running document of what you remember leading up to, during, and after the accident. This will most likely come into play when negotiating with insurance companies. In fact, it’s also a good idea to keep track of your emotional and physical well-being during this time. You’ll want documentation of how much pain you were in, how long it lasted, and where you felt it. This is often information that insurance companies will ask for.
Contact a Trusted Lawyer
Your team at Pastrana & García Injury Law is standing by, ready to help you file a slip-and-fall injury claim. Because slips and falls are often brushed off as not critical, it can be difficult to get the support or compensation that you need. We have the experience to change that outcome.
Our team thinks about the future and what financial and medical needs you will have after your accident. We can handle all communication between the insurance companies, ensuring that they don’t offer you a number that sounds good but won’t give you the stability you need in the long term.
Your injuries matter. After the hospital, your first call should be to our firm so we can help you collect the necessary evidence for your claim.
Types of Injuries You Can Receive from a Slip-and-Fall Accident
The injuries you can sustain from simply falling can be lifelong. Even minor falls can cause injuries that take months or years to heal.
- Concussions can be extremely dangerous; in best-case scenarios, you might experience migraines or dizziness that keeps you unfocused, and worst-case scenarios include bleeding inside the brain, memory loss, and other permanent damage
- Broken bones don’t only happen when falling from heights and can occur from a standing fall. Falls that result in hip fractures can cause serious health issues and, for older folks, can be a life-or-death situation
- Spinal cord and back injuries can come back to haunt you years after an accident. While it’s possible to heal from these issues, intermittent or constant pain from the injuries might continue
- Herniated discs, once injured, are prone to re-injury
- Joint injuries, such as knee or ankle injuries, or elbow and shoulder injuries from trying to catch yourself when you fall, can take a long while to heal, keeping you from your daily life
Falls can also have a long-term or permanent impact on cognitive and mobility capacities, not to mention the emotional toll they can take on those who are recovering from catastrophic injuries due to these accidents.
Factors Determining Liability in Slip-and-Fall Cases
While companies and property owners have to be aware of their responsibility to keep their areas safe, Texas does take into account how responsible the injured party might be for the accident. As a comparative negligence state, any responsibility on your part diminishes the compensation you might receive.
Take, for example, a wet floor. If the person who mopped the floor did not set out a wet floor sign in a clear place for people to see, a slip-and-fall accident would most likely be the fault of the employee, and therefore, the company (baring other factors); regaining compensation, in this case, might be much easier. However, if the proper signage was still not there, but the victim was on their phone and not paying attention to their surroundings, then there could be shared blame in the accident. The details of the incident matter, which is why you’ll want to hire an attorney who has experience in this area of law.
How Our Slip-and-Fall Lawyers Can Assist You
Insurance companies don’t always play fair; they want to give you as little as possible in compensation. They will often try to make it seem like the accident is your fault. Their refusal to pay or their small payout can set you far back financially, considering medical fees and days you need to take off of work. We believe that our clients should know their legal rights after a slip-and-fall accident, and we do everything in our power to help you receive just compensation. Trust us because:
- We have three decades of combined experience that we put to work for you.
- We think ahead; our negotiations with the insurance company take into account your future needs, as well as your immediate medical bills.
- We’ve taken on companies that have paid our clients millions in compensation.
- We care about our clients and their lives and livelihoods.
- We take our work seriously; you won’t pay for our services unless we win your case.
Our team is known for their compassion and dedication to our clients. We see our clients as individuals and make sure they feel heard. We welcome the opportunity to work with your particular case.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Slip-and-Fall Injuries
To better help you when you come in for your first free consultation, here are common questions and answers that our firm receives.
- How common are slip-and-fall accidents? Slips and fall accidents are common at home, the workplace, and places of business. Hundreds of thousands of people each year experience slip-and-fall accidents at their jobs and need to take time off of work to heal.
- What happens if I am injured in a slip-and-fall accident at work? If you’ve experienced a slip-and-fall accident at work, immediately tell your supervisor and make a report that states the facts. Then, make sure that you seek medical attention, just like any other personal injury accident. Our lawyers can assist you in receiving fair compensation from your employer for your workplace injury.
- What do I tell my insurance company? Just the facts — that you had an accident — and that you have legal representation; let us handle insurance company questions and negotiations. By having a legal team handle compensation negotiation, we’ll ensure that the insurance company doesn’t lowball your payout.
- How much money will I receive for my accident? Without knowing the details of your case, we can’t give an estimate. That depends on the extent of your injuries, the cost of medical care, and the number of days you were unable to work, among other factors. Once we are familiar with your situation, we can give you a better estimate.
- What can I receive compensation for? Commonly, medical bills, surgery, and medication come to mind when thinking about compensation in a slip-and-fall claim. However, you may also be able to claim compensation for the time that you had to take off from work if you weren’t able to return to work full time or had to find a new, lower-paying job that accommodated your current physical needs, emotional distress or pain and suffering; future medical needs, including surgery or physical therapy.
- How long do I have to file a slip-and-fall claim? A slip-and-fall accident claim may be filed within two years of the initial accident; after that point, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims will have been reached, and you cannot file a claim.
Contact Pastrana & García Injury Law Today
If you’ve been injured through someone’s careless actions in a slip-and-fall accident, Pastrana and García Injury Law is here for you. Our team is waiting to help you recover financially from your accident so that you can receive the compensation you need to step forward with your life. Call us at 512-474-4487 or reach out to our team online today.
