How To Know If You Have A Valid Slip Accident Claim?

Slips, trips, and falls can result in serious injuries. This isn’t only confined to older adults who have weak bones, but even the younger lads can pick up severe injuries as a result of a slip or trip accident. Fortunately, the law provides you with the option to get compensation for slip and fall injuries if you’ve sustained injuries and damages as a result of falling. However, this doesn’t always mean you have a valid claim for personal injury compensation. 

This guide will help you understand if the circumstances surrounding your accident make you worthy of slip injury compensation against the responsible administration, and if you should go ahead with the process. 

The Responsible Party

Slip and trip incidents can occur at any time and any day, but if you choose to claim compensation, you will have to provide sufficient evidence that the responsibility of this accident lies with a third party. Public places like shops, malls, libraries, cafes, offices, and parks, for instance, all have a duty of care to make sure that everyone on their premises is safe. Failing to abide by this responsibility means the management was negligent and thereby, is liable to compensate the victim(s). 

The vast majority of slip injury claims are made by people who trip in malls and shop floors due to wet floors. This wet floor can be caused by a spillage, leaking pipe, or any other thing. Other claimants come with the case of slipping on uneven and broken floors. Apart from these common instances, slip accidents can be caused by multiple hazards. 

This does not mean every slip injury will be compensated. For obvious reasons, if you slip and pick up an injury after running and jumping around, this will be deemed as your own fault. Your case won’t be entertained if the mishap happened because of your own carelessness, and this is why you must first be very sure that the other party’s at fault before you decide to pursue the claim process. 

Also, there are complicated cases where we witness split liability. This happens when the responsibility for the incident is shared between the two parties. Take the example of slipping and suffering from damages at a pub or nightclub where you were clearly intoxicated, but the cause of your fall can be credited to the negligence of the club management as well, in a case, both factors will be considered and the lawyers will determine how much each party is liable for the injury. So, for instance, if you’re told that you were 25% at fault, you will only get 75% of the compensation. 

Reporting The Mishap

Now that you’ve slipped and picked up an injury, the second most important thing is to report the accident and make sure that it was rightly recorded. Similar to all other types of personal injury compensation cases, you will have to report the details of the whole incident to the right authority. If you slip due to a wet floor in an establishment owned by someone, like a supermarket or a restaurant, you must do everything to ensure that the responsible party is aware of it. All public places are bound to keep an accident book where people can record such instances. This record will later provide the needed proof in investigations. 

If the 3rd party does not let you access the accident notebook, or they claim they don’t have one, you can do a few things in this case. Firstly, look for witnesses and collect their details. If that looks difficult, you should take photos or write a letter/mail reporting the mishap to the establishment. 

If all seems difficult, you can get in touch with a reputable law firm like Hamilton Douglas Legal and have us deal with your situation. 

Making A Slip Accident Claim

In order to make a successful claim and obtain a fair amount of compensation, you should do the following things:

• Reporting
• Witness Details: although slipping in a public place is awkward and embarrassing, there will be a lot of people who will help you out. Make sure you get in touch with these witnesses and take their names and contact numbers. 
• Photographic evidence
• Doctor’s certificate: make sure you reach out to a medical professional at your earliest after any such accident to get your injuries treated. The medical evidence you’ll get from here will greatly support your claim. 
• Bills and Expenses.