Looking to make an injury claim for a slip and fall? Better make sure you can prove these four things first.
If you are injured in a trip, slip or fall, you may want to make an injury claim. If the injury wasn’t bad enough, it leaves you out of work or unable to work, or if it means you need to attend physio to correct it, then you may well be entitled to compensation. Here is all you need to know about proving slip and fall cases in the USA.
The 4 Things to Prove to Win a Slip/Fall Injury Case
1 – Duty of Care
No matter where you trip, slip, or fall, your injury has been caused by someone’s neglect. It depends on the circumstances, of course, but if you trip over an obstruction in someone’s garden or on their property, or on the sidewalk or elsewhere inside someone’s property lines, they are at fault. You must prove that they were negligent and, to do this, you must show that they failed in their duty of care to you.
Duty of care is easy to prove in some situation If you are out on someone’s property and they do not know you are there, and you hurt yourself, then duty of care is much harder to prove.
2 – Your Injuries
You must prove that you were injured on their property or as a result of their negligence. This means that you need to prove you were injured to begin with. If you are not visibly injured by the time you get to court, then how do they know you were injured in the first place? This means taking photos or videos of your recovery, keeping your medical receipts and notes, and gathering witness statements if you have any.
3 – You are not at Fault
Obviously, a trip and fall is a bit tricky to pin down. If you fell over your own feet and there was no obstruction for you to trip over, you cannot very well sue the property owner who did nothing wrong. If the obstruction on a pavement is clearly indicated and you still fall in it, that is your fault, not theirs. Proving fault, therefore, is your next issue. You may well prove duty of care but be unable to prove that it was not your fault you fell. Both points need to be proven for damages to be awarded.
4 – The Results
You do not just have to prove your injury; you have to prove that they- injury cost you. This again means keeping medical receipts, adding up the total cost of loss of income, therapy sessions and more. Any damages need to be accounted for and proven before you receive a dime.
