Acting quickly after a slip and fall accident protects your health, finances, and legal rights. Start by assessing your injuries, seeking medical care, and documenting what happened. Taking these immediate actions will make it easier for you to hold the responsible parties accountable.
Another key task is getting support from an experienced slip and fall lawyer. The attorneys with Feller & Wendt, LLC™, will guide you through your slip and fall claim and lead your fight for justice. If you’re wondering what to do after a slip and fall accident, follow these steps to strengthen your case and improve your chances of recovering compensation.
Quick Answer: 10 Immediate Steps After a Slip and Fall Accident
Fear, pain, and panic make it difficult to know what to do after a slip and fall accident. Following these basic steps will put you on the right path.
1. Check for Injuries
After a fall, the top priority is to rapidly assess your injuries. Check for signs of bleeding and carefully attempt to move your limbs, neck, and back. Determine whether you need emergency care or instead want to schedule an appointment with your regular doctor.
2. Seek Medical Help
Getting a timely medical evaluation is essential for both health and legal reasons. Waiting to treat your injuries could cause your condition to worsen, and medical records are evidence in slip and fall accident claims. Ask your doctor to document your injuries in detail and show that they’re a direct result of your fall.
3. Notify Someone Nearby
If there are other people around when you fall, ask them for help. They can help check your injuries and call for an ambulance if needed. They can also make note of any environmental conditions that may have contributed to your fall.
4. Document the Scene
The scene of your accident contains important details that influence the outcome of your slip and fall claim. Use your phone to take photos or videos of the environment. Make sure to include any hazards that might have contributed to your fall, such as broken flooring, ice, or spilled liquids.
5. Collect Witness Information
Witnesses add validity to a victim’s account. While you might not be able to get full statements, collect their contact details. Ask for their names, phone numbers, and email addresses so your slip and fall attorney can get their perspectives on your accident.
6. Write Down Details
Pain, medication, and time might cause you to forget the core details of your accident. Record them while you’re still certain about what happened and why. This makes your recollection more reliable and consistent with witness statements and any physical evidence.
7. Report to the Property Owner
If you’re able, tell the property owner or manager about your accident. This gives them the opportunity to address any dangerous conditions and protect others. It also establishes their role in your accident.
8. Avoid Making Statements
Although notifying the property owner or manager is vital, limit your conversations to what they need to know. Don’t admit fault or acknowledge any responsibility for your accident. They could use this against you in the future.
9. Preserve Evidence
Keep any items that you were wearing or carrying at the time of the accident because they could be evidence. Torn clothing, broken glasses, or damaged shoes can support your case and illustrate how dangerous the property conditions were.
10. Consult a Slip and Fall Lawyer
Slip and fall victims are sometimes hesitant to reach out to attorneys, but seeking legal advice early is always the best practice. A lawyer can help you navigate the claims process more effectively, handling documentation, evidence gathering, and insurance negotiations on your behalf.
Why Taking Quick Action Matters
Prompt response following a slip and fall accident has a significant impact on your recovery, legal options, and evidence preservation. Acting quickly is central to:
- Protecting your health: Delaying your medical care could cause further complications. In addition, some injuries might not be visible right away, but doctors can identify them with the appropriate testing and treat them accordingly.
- Preserving evidence: A lot can change at the scene of an accident, particularly if the property owner cleans up or removes any hazards. Collecting evidence immediately gives you important information you need to prove liability and recover damages.
- Strengthening your legal case: In a slip and fall claim, accuracy is crucial. Immediately documenting the incident and the damages you experienced helps you provide the clearest and most honest account of what happened.
Waiting to respond to an accident can bring your claim into question, making it more difficult to prove in insurance negotiations and in court.
Legal Considerations After a Slip and Fall Accident
Laws around slip and fall accidents are specific and sometimes unclear. Your attorney can explain all the ins and outs of the process, but these are the major points to keep in mind.
Statutes of Limitations and Filing Deadlines
Missing a deadline could bring your slip and fall claim to a sudden end, as the court or insurance companies might dismiss it. A knowledgeable attorney will understand the statute of limitations in your area and the importance of sticking to them.
One point of confusion for some victims is that filing deadlines differ between states. For example, under Utah law, victims have four years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury claim. In Arizona, on the other hand, the statute of limitations is two years. The same two-year timeframe applies in Idaho, with a few exceptions.
Understanding Comparative Negligence
In comparative negligence states, shared fault has a direct impact on the compensation you receive. In other words, you’ll receive less money if you share some responsibility for the accident.
Insurance companies try to take advantage of accident victims based on these rules. They might present a narrative indicating that you shared a significant amount of responsibility and, as a result, should receive a smaller settlement or no money at all. Countering these arguments with the help of an attorney helps you recover full damages.
Insurance Implications
When you file a slip and fall claim with an insurance company, they will look carefully at your evidence. They’ll ask for proof that another party is liable for the accident and seek specific medical documentation showing the extent of your injuries. This information is central to their evaluation of your claim and their settlement offer.
Benefits of Hiring a Slip and Fall Lawyer
Dealing with physical and emotional pain is enough of a burden without the added stress of legal processes. An attorney can help with the aftermath of your accident, taking steps such as:
- Finding expert witnesses: Attorneys hire expert witnesses, including accident reconstruction professionals, to provide valuable insights into your case. For example, a medical professional can explain the cause and severity of your injuries, and a building safety expert can detail how a property owner’s negligence led to your injury.
- Managing insurance negotiations: Negotiating with insurance companies is stressful because they often try to convince you to take a lower settlement. An attorney will leverage their knowledge of legal rights, insurance practices, and fair settlement values to counter these lowball offers and advocate for you.
- Making accurate settlement estimations: Accident victims sometimes underestimate the extent of their financial losses. An attorney will calculate the full value of your claim, including medical bills, lost wages, rehabilitation costs, and non-economic damages such as pain and suffering.
Handling these tasks without the help of an attorney is time-consuming and often less successful.
Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents
In 2022, more than a third of preventable injuries in the United States were due to falls. They occur for a variety of reasons, but these are among the most common.
Environmental Hazards
Many slip and fall accidents occur due to unsafe walking surfaces. This includes slipping on ice on sidewalks, sliding on wet floors, or tripping on uneven platforms. Unsafe environmental conditions can occur at a person’s home, at a business, or at work.
Human Factors
People also play a major part in many slip and fall accidents. Being distracted, wearing inappropriate footwear, or neglecting to heed warnings significantly increases the risk of injuries.
Improper Maintenance and Signage
Building managers and property owners don’t always uphold their responsibility to maintain surfaces and provide warning signs for potential dangers. For example, a parking lot or garage slip and fall accident could occur if the manager fails to repair potholes or damaged steps.
Get Legal Support Today: Contact Feller & Wendt, LLC™
The attorneys at Feller & Wendt, LLC™, are proud to serve victims of slip and fall accidents throughout Arizona, Utah, and Idaho. As our client testimonials show, we have local knowledge of personal injury laws and a client-first focus. If you or someone you love has experienced injuries in a slip and fall accident, we’re here to discuss your options.
Contact us online or call (801) 499-5060 to discuss what to do after a slip and fall accident and go over the details of your claim.
*This information provided by Feller & Wendt, LLC™ is for informational purposes only and should be in no way construed as legal advice.
