If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident, it’s important to know the slip and fall statute of limitations. California sets a time limit, called a statute of limitations, of two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. This means you are given two years to file your lawsuit after your incident.
However, there are exceptions to the time limit for filing a slip and fall lawsuit. Some exceptions can shorten or lengthen the time limit. Examples of exceptions include a slip and fall claim involving government property, and fall injuries which happen to minors.
If you are unsure as to whether you qualify to file a lawsuit or recover a slip and fall settlement, our lawyers know all of the relevant laws regarding the statute of limitations and can advise you as to if you qualify. Call us today for a free consultation if you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a slip and fall accident in California. We can help you recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, wrongful death and more.
Calling us today can make sure your claim gets filed in time and evidence is preserved. It’s vital to address your situation as quickly as you can since gathering witness testimonies and evidence can end up being harder over time. Call us today for a free consultation – we won’t charge anything until and unless we recover money for you.
What Is the Slip and Fall Statute of Limitations in California?
The statute of limitations can vary or extend based upon your specific circumstances.
Private Property
Those who are injured on private property typically have two years in order to file lawsuits against private defendants such as property owners.
This will include:
- If you slipped and fell at the store
- If you slipped and fell in a business
- If you slipped and fell in someone’s home
Government Property
Those who are injured on government property typically have six months to file claims against government entities such as transit centers, sidewalks, office buildings, public schools or parks. Should your claim get rejected, you will be given an additional six months to file your lawsuit.
What Are Exceptions to the Slip and Fall Statute of Limitations?
There is an exception known as discovery of harm. This means that the two year time limit won’t start running until the injury victim knows or should reasonably know about their injuries.
For minors who are injured in slip and fall accidents, their statute of limitations will not start to run until they turn 18.
Circumstances which can cause the statute of limitations to get extended include:
- Defendants fleeing after committing negligence
- Plaintiffs being under 18
- Plaintiffs being mentally ill
- Plaintiffs being disabled by accidents
Should you miss the deadline to file a lawsuit, you will lose your right to recover compensation for the injuries you suffered. Consult with a personal injury lawyer at our firm as quickly as you can to learn about your options and rights as well as understand your case’s details and any possible statute of limitations exceptions.
What If I Fell at Work?
If you fall while at work, then you will likely file a workers’ compensation claim, in which you have one year from the date of the injury to file a claim and 30 days to report the accident to your employer.
If you fall at work:
- Report the accident
- See a healthcare professional
- Contact an attorney
What Is the Average Settlement for a Slip and Fall Case in California?
Personal injury claims regarding slip and fall accidents in California can be complicated. How much compensation you’ll be able to receive may vary widely depending upon your circumstances.
Because slip and fall cases are complicated, it’s vital to talk with an experienced personal injury attorney in order to understand how much compensation you may qualify for based upon your specific situation.
Some things to consider regarding California slip and fall cases are:
Settlement Amount
The average California slip and fall settlement will be from $30,000 to $60,000. However, these settlements may range from just a few thousand bucks to millions of dollars. You may receive compensation in installments or a lump sum. How much compensation you’ll qualify for will depend on numerous factors, such as:
- Injury severity – cases involving severe injuries like traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord damage will be worth more – cases with severe injuries can be worth $100,000 or more, and cases involving catastrophic injuries may be worth millions of dollars
- What body part got injured
- How your life has been affected by your injuries
- Medical expenses – you may receive compensation for future, present and past medical costs, such as medical devices, prescription drugs and rehabilitative therapies
- Lost wages, including future lost wages
- Physical pain, mental suffering, disability and emotional distress
- Evidence which proves negligence on behalf of a property occupier or owner, meaning they failed to maintain a safe environment
- Local laws
- Shared fault – your settlement could be reduced if you were partly at fault
- The level of negligence which is involved in your accident
- If you hire an attorney
- Your attorney’s quality
Consult with one of our personal injury lawyers to better understand the possible compensation you qualify for.
Proving Fault
In order to recover any money at all, you’ll need to be able to prove that a defendant was negligent. You need to demonstrate:
- A duty of care
- A breach of that duty
- Causation
- Damages
Put another way, you will need to be able to prove that:
- A hazard was caused by a property owner
- The owner of the property knew or should have known the hazard existed
- The owner of the property failed to fix or warn about the hazard
- You were hurt by the hazard due to the negligence of the property owner
Landowners cannot be expected to fix or warn about dangerous conditions when they don’t know about them. It’s critical to be able to prove that a landowner knew or should have known about a condition in order to recover compensation in a slip and fall case.
Things which you should document to build a strong case include:
- The date, time and location of the accident
- The accident report
- The accident’s cause
- Statements from witnesses
- Pictures of your injuries and the hazardous condition
Punitive Damages
These damages will rarely be available in slip and fall cases in California. However, exceptions exist. Courts may award punitive damages when the conduct of defendants results in serious injuries or is egregious.
How Much Is Pain and Suffering Worth in a Slip and Fall?
How much pain and suffering compensation you’ll qualify for could vary widely. It will range from just a few thousands bucks to in excess of millions of dollars. It will depend upon your injuries’ severity, how they impact your daily life, and your specific case details. Generally, slip and fall cases involving compensation for pain and suffering may settle from $2,000 to $100,000 or even more. Average settlements will fall between $30,000 and $60,000.
The value of pain and suffering compensation can depend on:
- Injury severity: More severe injuries such as chronic pain, soft tissue damage or fractures can lead to larger pain and suffering awards compared to bruises or minor sprains.
- Treatment length: How long treatment lasts, including surgery or physical therapy, can lead to larger pain and suffering values.
- Impact upon daily life: How much your ability to do hobbies, daily activities or work is affected will be a factor.
- Emotional distress: You can be compensated for psychological impacts such as depression or anxiety which stem from your injury.
One common method of calculating pain and suffering is known as the multiplier method. This calculates total economic damages, like lost wages and medical bills, then multiplies them by a number between 1.5 and 5. The number will depend on the injury severity.
It’s important to maintain medical records, document the daily activities affected by pain and suffering, and keeping a pain and suffering diary to strengthen your claim.
In order to accurately put a value on your pain and suffering, it’s vital to talk to a personal injury lawyer at our firm who can analyze your situation’s specifics. Call us today for a free consultation.
What Is the Legal Term for a Slip and Fall Case?
Premises liability is the legal term for a slip and fall case. This refers to lawsuits filed when those are injured on others’ property because of defective or dangerous conditions.
Key points regarding premises liability include:
Definition
Premises liability claims are legal claims which hold property owners responsible for any injuries which happen to others on their property because of hazardous conditions.
How Premises Liability Is Applied to Slip and Fall Incidents
If someone slips or trips and falls on the property of another due to a dangerous condition such as broken stairs or a wet floor, they are eligible to file a lawsuit over premises liability against the owner of the property.
Proof of Negligence
If you want to be able to win your premises liability case, you’ll need to prove that the owner of the property negligently maintained their property, as well as that the negligence was the direct cause of an injury.
How Long Does a Slip and Fall Case Take To Settle In California?
The average slip and fall case in California will last from nine to 12 months, but these cases make settle within a few months or may take several years in order to settle.
How long your case will take will depend on numerous factors, such as:
- Complexity: More complex cases will take longer to resolve.
- Injury severity: The timeline can be impacted by your injuries’ extent and the length of your recovery.
- Evidence: How much time is required to settle can be affected by evidence availability.
- Negotiation: Whether the parties show willingness to negotiate or settle can slow down or speed up the process.
- Settlement: If a claim gets settled prior to trial, this may shorten the process.
- Court schedule: Delays can be caused by court backlogs.
- Liability: The timeline can be impacted by if liability is accepted by a property owner.
- Insurance: How insurance companies negotiate and if insurance coverage exists can affect timelines.
A personal injury lawyer can help to make sure that no delays occur in the process of recovering a settlement. Call us today for a free consultation so we can file your claim prior to the statute of limitations expiring.
Should I Report a Slip and Fall?
Yes. It is important to always report slip and fall accidents as quickly as you can. It is vital to document your incident, preserve all evidence, and possibly strengthen your case should you decide on pursuing a legal claim against the owner of the property. Notifying the property owner lets them address any hazards and prevent additional injuries. It also helps to establish a clear event timeline.
Key reasons you should report your slip and fall:
- Preservation of evidence: Immediately reporting the accident helps make sure evidence such as the hazard condition, witness statements and surveillance footage get preserved.
- Medication attention: The property owner can provide you with immediate medical assistance should you need it.
- Legal grounds: Your case will be strengthened by the creation of an official accident record should you decide upon pursuing legal action.
- Liability protection: By reporting the accident, you can help to prevent the owner of the property from making a claim that you didn’t promptly report a hazard.
When reporting your slip and fall accident:
- Immediately inform the property manager or owner
- Ask for an incident report
- Keep a copy of the incident report
- Document accident details including witnesses, a hazard description and the time and location of the accident
- Take pictures of the hazard and scene
- Get medical attention even should you think you’re not hurt or your injuries are only minor – some injuries can take up to months to show symptoms, and if you wait to long to get an injury documented, insurance companies can claim something else caused your injury
How Successful Are Slip and Fall Lawsuits?
These lawsuits may be successful. However, only very few actually end up going to trial – only around five percent. Most slip and fall cases will settle outside of court via negotiation with insurance companies.
The success rate will largely depend upon your injuries’ severity, how strong the evidence is which proves negligence on behalf of the property owner, and if you’re able to prove a hazardous condition existed which the property owner know or should have known about. Evidence will include medical records which document your injuries, documentation of medical treatment, statements from witnesses, and pictures of hazardous conditions.
It will be easier to prove easily preventable and obvious hazards like wet floors without warning signs.
Another factor which can affect how successful your claim will be is if you were acting reasonably and paying attention at the time of the accident.
You can significantly improve the chances you recover money successfully by hiring a personal injury attorney. A lawyer can help you navigate complicated legal procedures and effectively negotiate with insurance companies for you.
Contact a Slip and Fall Lawyer Today
Call us today for a free consultation if you or a loved one was injured or killed in a slip or trip and fall in California. We can help you recover financial compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, wrongful death, pain, suffering and more after a slip and fall.
We have been handling slip and fall cases in California since 1990 and have recovered over $750,000,000 for clients. Our experience in handling California slip and fall cases will let us recover the most money possible for you.
If you can’t afford treatment for your slip and fall injuries, we can get you to California doctors who will treat you without charging you until your case is over. They do this for us because they know we get great results for our slip and fall clients.
We won’t charge any fee until and unless we recover financial compensation on your behalf – our only fee to handle your slip and fall case will be a percentage of the compensation we recover, so you won’t be charged any upfront or out-of-pocket fee.
Call us today for a free consultation.
