If you suffered serious injuries in your slip-and-fall accident, most of the time, it is absolutely worth hiring a lawyer to help you deal with your personal injury claim. A lawyer can offer several critical advantages that may help you decide on the best course of action following your accident–and many slip-and-fall accident victims find that they can get more compensation for their accidents and their injuries when they work with a personal injury lawyer.
What to Expect When You Hire a Lawyer for Your Slip-and-Fall Case
With a lawyer by your side, you can:
Make Sure You Know How Much Compensation You Deserve for Your Injuries
Most of the time, following a slip-and-fall accident, you will need to move forward with a premises liability claim through the property owner’s insurance company. In many cases, the insurance company will not offer you the full compensation you deserve for your injuries on your own. You may be pressured heavily to accept an offer that acts in the insurance company’s best interests, rather than focusing on your own. Often, the insurance company will not even issue an offer that accounts for the full value of your medical bills.
Investigate to Determine Whether Multiple Parties May Share Liability for Your Accident
Did poor construction cause you to slip and fall? Did the property owner fail to take care of needed maintenance? Did a vendor on the property bear responsibility for a specific incident, but fail to take needed precautions? In many cases, a lawyer can help uncover multiple parties that may share liability for your slip-and-fall accident.
Deal with the Insurance Company for You to Alleviate Stress and Raise the Odds of Increased Compensation
Interacting with the insurance company after an accident can be a massive source of stress. You may feel as though the insurance company refuses to act in your best interests, tries to trip you up and make you take responsibility for the accident, or simply does not provide you with the information you need.
A personal injury lawyer can take over dealing with the insurance company for you, which may help you feel more confident moving forward and increase the odds that you will recover the full compensation you deserve.
When Do You Need a Lawyer for a Slip-and-Fall Accident?
If you suffered relatively minor – or no – injuries in a slip-and-fall, you might not need an attorney. Sometimes, the insurance company might even issue a fair offer that reflects what you feel to be the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Other times, however, you may start to handle your claim on your own and even assume that you can reach a reasonable resolution, only to determine that the insurance company is not being as flexible or willing to negotiate as you might have hoped.
In general, you should make sure you get in touch with a lawyer when:
You Have Suffered Serious Injuries
Any time you suffer serious injuries due to someone else’s negligence, you need to call a lawyer as early in the process as possible – including slip-and-fall accidents. Serious injuries, from multiple broken bones to back and neck injuries or head injuries, often bring with them substantial medical bills.
Because of those substantial medical bills, you may deserve more compensation for your injuries than someone who has suffered only minor injuries in a slip-and-fall. However, the insurance company may not make pursuing that compensation easy. Working with a lawyer can make it easier to pursue that vital compensation.
The Insurance Company Offers a Very Low Settlement Offer
You have a good idea of what bills you may have sustained because of your accident and, as a result, the compensation you may deserve. Unfortunately, the insurance company refuses to pay out the compensation you really deserve.
You may end up with a very low initial settlement offer that simply does not seem to meet your needs. If so, an attorney can help you negotiate for the compensation you really deserve and should expect for your injuries.
The Insurance Company Denies Liability on the Part of the Party It Covers
The insurance company may use a variety of strategies to try to dispute liability. The adjuster may try to claim that your own negligence caused the accident: that you entered an area you should not have entered or failed to engage in basic safety practices. In other cases, the insurance company may try to pass liability on to someone else: a vendor working on the property or a contractor, for example.
If you find yourself wrestling with a slip-and-fall claim that includes disputed liability, an attorney can help you determine who really bears liability for the accident.
The Insurance Company Tries to Dispute the Extent of Your Injuries.
Slip-and-fall injuries can be debilitating. Sometimes, even a minor slip can result in long-term disability, especially if you have a preexisting condition or injury made worse by the fall. The insurance company, however, might try to deny that you could have suffered such severe injuries in your fall, or that you suffer the limitations you claim.
A lawyer can help you establish the full extent of the damages you suffered and the compensation you deserve as a result, then fight to help you get it.
Contact the Attorneys at Pacific West Injury Law for Help Today
Following most slip-and-fall accidents, working with an attorney offers the best way to ensure that you get the full compensation you deserve. At Pacific West Injury Law, we will start with a free consultation to help you determine your next steps. Contact us today to learn more.
