The average slip and fall settlement is between $10,000 and $50,000, but your case may be worth more or less than this based on the individual circumstances involved in your case. For example, we obtained $2.2 million for a woman who fell on black ice in a Modesto parking lot.
If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident which occurred on a property owned by someone else, you might wonder what kinds of financial compensation you may be eligible to recover.
No two slip and fall cases are identical. The amount of compensation you can recover in a slip and fall case will depend on the amounts and types of losses you suffer.
The experienced, expert slip and fall lawyers at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers will fight tirelessly to show that your losses extend way past medical bills, and include damages such as pain and suffering, occupational therapy, rehabilitative therapy, and lost wages.
Slip and fall law can be difficult to understand, so it is vital for you to get legal advice from a knowledgeable slip and fall attorney if you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident. You can call us at 800-718-4658 for a free consultation to learn more about what kinds of damages you may be able to recover in a slip and fall lawsuit.
Do I Have A Valid Slip And Fall Claim?
The first factor that will determine how much you can receive in a slip and fall case is whether you have a valid slip and fall claim under California law. If you do not have a valid claim, then the amount of money you can receive in a slip and fall case is nothing.
Slip and fall accidents fall under an area of law known as premises liability law. A plaintiff in a premises liability lawsuit must be able to prove the following in order to win the case:
- A defendant owned, leased, occupied or controlled the property the plaintiff slipped, fell and was injured on
- The defendant negligently used or maintained the property
- The plaintiff was harmed
- The defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff to be harmed
In other words, you have a valid slip and fall claim if you slipped, fell and injured yourself due to the negligence of someone else who owned, leased, occupied or controlled the property you were hurt on.
Negligence is the failure to be reasonably careful in order to prevent harm from occurring. A property owner is negligent when they fail to uphold their duty of care as a property owner.
A person who owns, leases, occupies or controls a property is negligent if they fail to use reasonable care to make sure that the property is always in a reasonably safe condition. Those who own, lease, occupy or control property have a duty of care to identify unsafe conditions and repair them, replace them or adequately warn about them if the conditions can be reasonably expected to cause harm to others.
In other words, a defendant in a slip and fall case is negligent if they knew about or should have known about a dangerous condition on a property but failed to repair, replace or warn about the condition.
California juries are asked to consider many factors when determining if a defendant was reasonably careful in premises liability cases, including:
- The property location
- How likely it is for someone to come onto the property like the plaintiff did
- How likely it is for someone to be harmed
- The probable seriousness of said harm
- If the defendant knew or should have known about the condition that caused a risk of harm
- How difficult it was to protect against the risk of harm
- How much control the defendant had over the dangerous condition
One does not have to own a property to have a duty of care to keep it safe. Anyone who controls property has this duty of care. Those who use property as if it were their own, even if they don’t own it, are considered to control property in California, and are thus duty bound to keep the property safe.
Those who own, lease, occupy or control property can be held liable for slip and fall accidents that occur on sidewalks next to said property, as they must avoid creating unsafe conditions on surrounding public sidewalks or streets under California law.
Landlords, under California law, must conduct reasonable periodic inspections of rental properties. They are duty bound to inspect rental properties for unsafe conditions, and to take reasonable precautions in order to prevent injuries due to any conditions that were discovered or should have been discovered during these inspections. These inspections must include common areas that the landlord controls.
What If I Was Partially At Fault For My Slip And Fall Accident?
Another factor which can affect how much money you receive in a slip and fall lawsuit is whether or not you were partially at fault for your own injuries.
California law allows for multiple parties to be assigned a percentage of fault for any accident. The way this works is this: if you are found to be 30% at fault for an accident you were injured in, the amount of financial compensation you can recover in your case will be reduced by 30%.
There are many situations in which comparative negligence may come into play in a slip and fall case. For example, you may slip and fall on spilled liquid in a business. The business owner knew about or should have known about the spilled liquid, yet did nothing to clean it up or warn about it. In this case, the business owner was negligent. However, there was also a hand railing that was available to you, and you failed to use it. In this case, a jury may find that you were partially at fault for your own injuries.
You may also be found to be partially at fault in a slip and fall accident if you:
- Wore inappropriate footwear for the situation
- Were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when your accident occurred
- You ignored signs warning about a dangerous condition
- You slipped and fell while you were distracted by your cell phone
- You were trespassing when you slipped and fell
- You tripped over an object that was large and clearly visible
- You attempted to climb stairs that were obviously broken
- You tried to cross an area that was obviously icy
- You entered an area that was obviously under construction
You may be accused of being partially at fault for your own injuries in a slip and fall claim. This accusation may even be a false, unfounded claim. It is important that you have strong, experienced slip and fall attorneys like those at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers on your side to defend your legal rights and maximize the compensation you obtain in a slip and fall case if this occurs.
Did You File Your Slip And Fall Lawsuit In Time?
Another factor which can impact how much money you receive in a slip and fall lawsuit is whether you file the lawsuit in time or not. The statute of limitations in California for personal injury lawsuits, including slip and fall lawsuits, is two years from the date of the accident, or one year from the date you discovered your injuries, whichever comes later.
If you fail to file your slip and fall lawsuit in time, the amount of money you can receive in a slip and fall lawsuit is nothing. While most personal injury cases are settled out of court, the settlement process can be very long and can take years. Thus, it is very important for you to contact a slip and fall lawyer right away if you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident, in order to give your lawyer as much time as possible to work through the settlement process and, if necessary, file a lawsuit on your behalf.
How Much Insurance Does The At Fault Party Have?
Almost all personal injury settlements and awards are paid by insurance companies. Thus, one of the primary factors that can determine how much your slip and fall case is worth is how much insurance the at fault party has.
You may be able to file a lawsuit against an uninsured party and even win the lawsuit, but collecting compensation in this case will be unlikely, as most people can’t afford to pay a judgment like this out of their own pocket.
What Damages Are Available In A Slip And Fall Lawsuit?
There are numerous types of damages which are available in a slip and fall lawsuit, and these damages will determine how much money you can receive in a slip and fall case. These damages include:
- Medical bills: These bills may include ER visits, medical devices, hospitalizations, in-home care, prescription medications, surgery costs and more.
- Property damage: Your fall may have caused you to drop a laptop, cell phone or another device, or break a sentimental or expensive item. You may be able to recover the costs of items like these to replace or repair them.
- Lost wages: Your slip and fall injuries may cause you to be unable to work for a substantial period of time, or even permanently. Filing a slip and fall lawsuit may enable you to recover lost wages, missed promotions, missed bonuses, lost savings, or loss of future earning capacity.
- Pain and suffering: Pain and suffering damages can include damages for physical pain, emotional distress, and the inability to enjoy activities you once enjoyed due to physical disability.
The severity of your injuries will be a very large factor in determining how much money you can recover in a slip and fall cases. The more severe your injuries are, the more medical bills will result from your injuries, the more time you’ll miss from work, the more likely you are to be left permanently unable to work, and the more pain and suffering you will undergo.
The amount of money you are making at the time of your accident will also help determine how much you can recover in a slip and fall claim, as the more money you make, the more money you lose every day you’re unable to work.
How Patient Are You?
Your patience can be a factor in determining how much money you receive in a slip and fall case. For example, an insurance adjuster may quickly offer you a settlement offer that is well below the actual value of your case. You may be tempted to accept this offer if you’re facing huge medical bills and are unable to work.
It is important to consult with an experienced slip and fall lawyer before accepting any offer from the insurance companies. Insurance companies will do anything in their power to avoid paying you what you truly deserve for your injuries, and this includes tempting you with low ball offers.
How Skilled And Experienced Is Your Lawyer?
One of the main factors in determining how much money you receive in a slip and fall claim is how skilled and experienced your lawyer is. An experienced premises liability lawyer can seek compensation for your injuries, determine who is liable for your injuries, establish how much your case is worth, draft a legal claim for you, gather evidence, negotiate with the at-fault party’s insurance company, litigate your case in court if necessary, and collect your award or settlement.
Insurance companies will not offer you a fair settlement if you are not represented by a lawyer. They know you can’t beat their expensive corporate lawyers in court if you don’t have a lawyer of your own, so they will offer you next to nothing for your injuries and dare you to sue them without a lawyer.
However, if you’re represented by lawyers with decades of experience handling slip and fall claims and a long track record of success handling these claims, insurance companies will be much more likely to offer you what you’re entitled to under the law for your injuries, and they’ll be much more likely to do so out of court to avoid expensive legal fees.
