Injuring yourself unexpectedly can be very jarring, especially when you believe you are promised a safe space on someone else’s property. Whether the property is residential or commercial, it is reasonable for you to expect that your time at their property is safe and free of injury.
If you do injure yourself on someone else’s property, then you may be entitled to recover compensation for those injuries. Learn about what you should do after you injure yourself at someone’s home, a store, or another type of property.
Premises Liability and How It Can Affect Your Case
If a property owner fails to provide a safe area for you, then they could be held liable under premises liability laws. Essentially, premises liability means that landowners or property owners have an obligation to anyone who is legally visiting their property. If anyone is injured, they can be liable to pay for the medical bills and other expenses resulting from the incident.
So long as you can establish that you were legally on the premises and that the owner was neglectful in the circumstances surrounding your injury, then you should be able to claim your expenses under premises liability.
What to Do After Your Injury
Immediately after your injury, you should contact first responders if your injury is severe. Sometimes, slip and fall injuries can cause concussions, broken limbs, and more. Even if your injury is not immediately apparent, you still need to visit your doctor as soon as possible so that you have an official record.
You also need to get photos and videos, if possible, of the accident scene. If you slip and fall in a store, they will clean up the scene quickly, and that evidence will be gone. Try to also collect any witness statements from anyone nearby who may have seen your injury happen.
If your injury happens at a commercial property, you need to report it to the store manager or person in charge at the time. They will create an official report that will be on file at the store.
Finally, consider hiring a premises liability lawyer to handle your case. They may be able to provide you with some insight into the circumstances and tell you whether or not the owner was negligent.
What to Expect When You Hire a Lawyer
Once you hire a lawyer, they will take over everything having to do with your case, including communicating with the property owner and their insurance company. They will ensure that the owner’s insurance company does not try to take advantage of you and give you a low settlement offer.
Your lawyer will also assemble all the evidence needed for your case, which could include medical records, witness testimony, security camera video, photos, and more. It will take some stress off of your mind and give you the chance to worry about recovering from your injuries.
They will take that evidence and use it to help prove that the property owner was negligent in fixing whatever circumstances caused your injury, which may have been anything along the lines of:
- Icy/Snowy Surfaces
- Broken Sidewalks
- Beverage Spills
- Uneven Doormats
- Unsecured Pool Areas
- Misplaced Merchandise
To show that the owner was negligent, you must demonstrate that they knew of the problem before your accident and did not fix it in a timely manner. If you injure yourself while on someone’s property and you were trespassing, then your case may be harder to prove as you were not invited to their property and were there illegally.
Types of Compensation You Might Be Able to Recover
Once your lawyer proves that the property owner was negligent, then there are types of compensation that you could potentially recover. These types may include:
- Medical Costs: This could include surgery bills, hospital stays, prescription pills, or future costs of medical treatment such as continued physical therapy, rehabilitation facility stays, and more.
- Lost Wages: You might need to miss some time at work to recuperate fully from your injuries, or may not even be able to return to work in a full capacity, and you should be compensated for that.
- Wrongful Death: If a loved one sadly dies as a result of an injury they suffered on someone else’s property, then you may be able to recover funeral costs, burial bills, loss of income, and more.
- Pain and Suffering: Injuries can also cause emotional and mental trauma, and it is tough to place a direct value on these, but you should be compensated for dealing with this type of trauma as well.
A Premises Liability Lawyer Can Help You
If you are a victim of a property owner’s negligence, then you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. The legal team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm may be able to tell you what you should do after injuring yourself on someone else’s property. Contact us at (800) 223-5115 to learn more and speak with one of our representatives in a free consultation.