If you suffered a serious injury from slipping and falling, contact our experienced St. Petersburg slip and fall lawyers to find out if you are eligible for compensation. You have most likely incurred a lot of unexpected medical expenses and have had to miss time at work to recover from your injuries. Our St. Petersburg injury attorneys work hard to get you compensation for your injuries and hold the insurance company for the liable party responsible for your damages.
Call our St. Petersburg slip and fall attorneys to set up a free consultation to review your case and discuss what your next steps should be to get the results you deserve.
Under Florida law, property owners have a duty to maintain safe premises. If a hazard arises on the property, the owner must respond to and remedy it within a reasonable amount of time. If the owner is unable to fix the hazard right away, he or she must take reasonable steps to warn visitors of potential dangers. Unfortunately, not all property owners uphold this standard of care, leading to painful slip and fall accidents.
Slips and falls can occur due to a number of potential hazards. For example, a grocery store employee may spill a bottle of cooking oil and fail to place a warning sign around the area, putting shoppers at risk. A property owner may fail to warn visitors of uneven terrain on his or her property, which poses a slipping hazard. In these situations, the property owner may be liable for any injuries that occur due to the hazard.
Common causes of slip and fall injuries include the following:
Common Slip and Fall Injuries
Not only are slip and falls slightly embarrassing, but they can cause some serious injury that have the potential to be life-changing. The most common types of slip and fall injuries that we see clients get include:
Seek medical attention right away for your injuries. Do not ignore any pain you may be feeling and brush it off, because you don’t want to risk worsening your condition down the road.
In Florida, you have four years from the date of the slip and fall to bring your claim or settle it in civil court. That means you have a four year time frame in which you can pursue compensation from the liable party. If you wait longer than four years, you will be barred from receiving compensation altogether. Four years may seem like a very long time and you may think you have plenty of it to bring your claim, but we do not advise waiting any period of time. As soon as you’re able to call, you should. You want to be able to give your attorney as much time as possible to put together your case and make sure they fully investigate it to create a strong argument for you.
If you are injured in a slip and fall accident, you may be eligible for financial compensation. Through an insurance claim or lawsuit against the property owner responsible for your injuries, you can recover compensatory damages for the economic and non-economic losses you sustained in the accident. Economic losses involve your tangible, financial damages, including the following.
On the other hand, non-economic damages involve your physical and emotional pain and suffering. Common types of non-economic damages include the following.
The moments after a slip and fall accident can feel scary and overwhelming. However, it is important to take the following steps to get to safety, preserve evidence, and seek the help you need.
The most important step will be getting yourself in front of a medical professional. Whether this happens because you got in the ambulance and were taken to the ER that day or you went to see your primary physician the next day, you need to do it as soon as you can. You want to ensure that you have documented proof of your injuries so you can show the liable party’s insurance company just how badly you are injured because of their insured’s negligence.
The second most important step after your slip and fall is the collection of evidence. You want to make an accident report if you’ve slipped in a store or on public property. On private property, you want to let the owner know you were hurt on the property. You should take photos of what caused your trip or slip and ask any witnesses for contact information. Lastly, never admit that it was your fault. That is important if you want that full and fair compensation.
Owners of public properties such as storefronts, businesses and parking lots are required to keep their premises safe. Because many of these claims are fraudulent or part of an insurance scam, it has become common practice to settle for small fees out of court. By choosing the St. Petersburg slip and fall lawyers from Salter, Healy, Rivera, you are choosing lawyers who aren’t afraid to fight on your behalf against negligent parties and go to court, if necessary.
In slip and fall cases, we primarily look for issues such as:
Our board-certified trial lawyers seek the full compensation to which you are entitled. We will examine your case from a variety of perspectives to determine the best course of action, and then proceed in the following ways:
The biggest mistake people often make is done because they want to cooperate. The insurance company that represents the liable party in your slip and fall case will be contacting you, and they will ask for a recorded statement about the accident. They will say it is to help them help you. Never give them a recorded statement, because it will only hurt your case. They are trained to ask questions in a way that will force you to answer unfavorably, and will try and trick you into blaming yourself. From our experience, we suggest having your lawyer either moderate a conversation between you and the insurance company, or have your lawyer take over the communication completely.
If you have been seriously hurt in a slip and fall, please do not hesitate to reach out to our St. Petersburg slip and fall lawyers today to set up your free case evaluation. Your case is important to us and we want to ensure you will be getting the best possible compensation award. We are here to answer your questions, guide you through the legal battle, and safeguard your right to full and fair compensation. We have handled many cases just like yours and are eager to take your call.
