There are 540,000 slip and fall accidents each year, 20,000 end up in a fatality. In fact, 30% of all injuries that are reported are a result of a slip and fall.
Slip and fall accidents can happen in a few ways. Either there was a potential risk and no warning was provided or the location where the accident happened failed to provide a safe environment.
The thing about slip and fall injuries is that they so often come out of nowhere. They happen fast and can cause significant injury.
7 Signs It’s Time to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer for a Slip and Fall Accident
While many want to brush off an injury, sometimes they are too significant to ignore. You might wonder if you need a slip and fall lawyer to help you with your case. Read on for the reasons you should hire a lawyer to handle your slip and fall injury.
1. You Have a Serious Injury
Slip and fall accidents can result in serious injury. Sometimes though, you might at first think you aren’t too badly injured only to have chronic issues that persist following the fall.
Either way, an injury means a long recovery. It also means medical care that can be expensive.
One thing about an injury, especially the kind you often get from a slip and fall, is that you don’t know how they will hang on, or whether they will become chronic.
You also might not, at first, recognize the long rehabilitative care you might need. Any injury that happens when it isn’t your fault should mean you are contacting a personal injury lawyer to help protect your interests.
2. Expensive Medical Bills
Any time you have an injury, the medical bills will pile up quickly. You might need some long-term care or rehabilitative care as part of your recovery. The cost can add up quickly.
If your injury is significant you might even need to be out of work and missing pay.
You may have your own health insurance and be surprised when they start to balk at paying for bills related to an injury where someone else might be at fault.
If you’ve experienced an injury, you’ll quickly see the medical bills piling up and need help.
3. The Case Involves Liability
The truth is any personal injury case will involve liability. The involved insurance companies and the legal system will want to assess the blame for the accident. They will want to know who’s at fault and hold them accountable.
Yet, liability can be tricky and insurance companies aren’t above trying to shift liability. For example, let’s say you have a serious slip and fall injury in a parking lot with a huge pothole. There was no warning so you could avoid falling. Yet, when you fell you also had out your cell phone.
It’s not likely you would have fallen without the pothole. Yet, the opposing counsel and the insurance company will want to tag you with blame because you had out a cell phone and were distracted.
Once you start talking with insurance companies, you want to be very careful so they don’t attempt to shift the liability on you.
4. Insurance Company Run Around
You buy insurance to protect yourself. You want it so that when you need coverage your needs are paid for. So, for many people, it comes as a surprise when they experience an insurance company that doesn’t want to pay for what it should.
When you get multiple insurance companies involved, it can get even more complicated. They do the game of trying to get the other side to take responsibility. Or they deny responsibility.
It can be difficult to deal with insurance companies without an attorney. And in most cases, they don’t give much credence to any one who isn’t represented by an attorney. Personal injury lawyers have experience in dealing with insurance companies and in the negotiation process of working with them.
5. Unfavorable Settlement Offer
In the same spirit, insurance companies will attempt to do a quick offer to settle a case, hoping to avoid the injured party getting a lawyer involved. They hope they can catch an unsuspected injured person into agreeing to a settlement before they realize perhaps either the extent of their injury or the associated cost.
Even if you start the process of negotiating with insurance companies, it’s very likely you’ll get a lowball offer, especially if they know you aren’t working with an attorney. The sad truth is that they hope they can get away with it and you’ll agree to their offer and take the money.
6. You Can No Longer Work
Personal injuries, especially ones that come from a slip and fall can be long-term and chronic. You might be already missing work as a result of your injury.
Many people don’t get sick days. If they don’t go to work, they don’t get paid. So, not only do you have medical bills to cover, now you aren’t making money by going to work.
The cost of the personal injury can add up quickly.
7. You Need Legal Help and Advice
Any time you experience an injury that isn’t your fault, not only do you need to deal with your recovery, but all the things that come with it too, like medical bills, insurance companies, and missed work.
Most people won’t even begin to know how to proceed to get their interests protected.
A slip and fall injury can feel overwhelming and you don’t want to make a mistake. The sooner you can get a lawyer involved the better. They can take over handling dealing with the involved parties.
Hiring a Slip and Fall Lawyer to Handle Your Case
While a slip and fall lawyer can’t help you to avoid your injury, they can help make your recovery go more smoothly. They can also help you to get the compensation you need and deserve.
If you have been the victim of a slip and fall accident, we can help. Contact us today to set up a free consultation appointment.
