If you have been injured on someone else’s property, you’ll need to file a slip-and-fall claim with the property owner’s insurance company. Slip-and-fall lawsuits are difficult to prove in Texas. To be successful, the victim must establish that the owner/defendant knew or should have known a dangerous condition or defect existed. While I don’t encourage victims to handle these claims without a lawyer, here are a few steps to help the process. If you continue to have difficulty, Give me a Call or Text at (214) 699-6524 or email me at awooley@wooleylaw.com for a free case evaluation.
First: File an Incident Report
After the accident, it is important to contact a manager or employee and file an incident report. An incident report will be the first documentation of the accident and will become the starting point for how your claim is evaluated. If you didn’t file one on the day of the accident, contact the company as soon as possible and file a report.
Second: Take Pictures
Get Your Phone Out and Take Pictures of Everything! Pictures say a thousand words!
Take pictures of the entire location of the accident as soon as possible. It’s easy for a landowner to fix the dangerous condition or defect within hours of the accident. If you slipped on water, take pictures of the water, the ceiling (if there is a leak), and the location of the accident.
Additionally, take pictures of your injuries as soon as the accident occurs and everyday afterwards. Often times, clients will wait a couple days or weeks before taking pictures of their injuries. By this time, most of the swelling, bruising, and cuts have healed. Insurance adjusters handle hundreds of claims everyday and have become immune to victims’ complaints. By showing pictures of your accident and injuries, the adjuster sees first hand how the accident has affected your life. This will help facilitate the claims process and may increase your compensation.
Third: Gather the Names and Contact Info of Any Witnesses and Employees
Proving a slip-and-fall claim is very difficult. Any witness or employee that has information regarding the dangerous condition or defect will help establish liability. If there are witnesses to the accident or the dangerous condition, gather their names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Nothing helps establish a claim or lawsuit better than witness testimony.
Fourth: Seek Medical Treatment
Do not delay seeking medical treatment. Insurance companies look at the time between the accident and when treatment was provided, when evaluating a claim. The longer a victim delays seeking treatment the less likely an insurance company will pay for such treatment. Whether it is an emergency room, your primary care physician, a clinic, a chiropractor, or a massage therapist, it is important to seek treatment for your injuries as soon as possible.
Fifth: Be Honest With Your Healthcare Providers
Many victims do not provide an accurate description of their condition to their healthcare providers. Victims routinely downplay their pain or only tell their healthcare providers about their main injuries. For example, if you have severe pain in your knee and minor pain in your lower back, tell your healthcare provider about your knee and lower back. Pain often increases within days after the accident. Insurance companies are hesitant to provide compensation for injuries that were not documented on a victim’s first treatment. Thus, it is important to have your healthcare provides document all pain and injuries.
If you have been injured in a slip-and-fall accident, it is important to contact a slip-and-fall lawyer to help process your claim. If you think I can help, Give me a Call or Text at (214) 699-6524 or email me at awooley@wooleylaw.com for a free case evaluation.