Slip-And-Fall Accidents

• San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer Allan Field has drafted the following article in his continuing series of columns to better educate the Southern California community: Premises Liability.

What Do I Do If I Suffer A Slip-And-Fall Injury?

Slip-and-falls refer to any accident in which you sustain injury, either in a public place (such as a supermarket or restaurant) or a private residence due to the negligent condition of their premises.

Public Places

If you are injured while in a business establishment, you need to ensure that the manager or someone in authority is immediately contacted to allow you to fill out the appropriate accident forms. It is in your best interest not to comment or speculate about the extent of your injuries while speaking to the manager or person in charge.

The only purpose in making the initial report with the business is so they will have a record that your accident actually happened. Make sure you get the name and the job title of the person who took the report. Many times, the victim of a slip-and-fall accident is embarrassed by having fallen and tries to quickly leave the scene without bringing attention to themselves. That's a mistake.

Should you attempt to report the claim the next day, or even a couple hours after the accident happened, the business will simplu deny the accident ever took place. It's also very important you try to locate any independent witnesses at the scene who might have either seen your accident OR the conditions of the property that caused you to fall. If there are any witnesses, get their names and telephone numbers.

After you report the accident, you will either be given the name and phone number of the insurance claim office OR you will be told that someone will contact you. When you are contacted by an insurance representative, you should not discuss the facts of the accident or the extent of your injuries. Simply explain that you are represented by The Law Offices of Allan S. Field and give them our telephone number. From there, we will protect your interests and fight for your rights.

Private Residences

Obviously, the procedure for initiating a claim from an injury suffered at someone's home is somewhat simplified. Typically, the owner of the home (who might be the landlord if the people who live there are renting) will have a policy of homeowner's insurance to cover their property.

A homeowner's policy will cover losses for people who are injured due to a negligent condition on the insured's property. This condition can be anything from badly maintained steps that caused you to fall, to badly maintained electrical wiring, which caused you to receive a shock. Any condition which can be attributed to the negligence of the owner may give rise to a claim under this policy.

A homeowner's policy will also cover such things as dog bites and intentional assaults. For example, if the owner has a party and allows a guest to become violent and you are injured, you may have a claim. This is especially true if the owner knew or should have known of the violent propensities of the person.

Procedure for obtaining homeowner information

Often, a person who is injured on a friend's property does not want to initiate a claim, because he or she does not want to sue a friend. You must realize, very rarely is anyone sued when a homeowner policy is involved. That's the reason for the policy.

Once our office assists you in establishing your claim, the homeowner will not be involved any further and you will not be required to have additional contact with the homeowner. If the homeowner is your friend, you will not have to discuss the matter with them again when you get together. If you are injured on the property of another, you need to ask the owner of the property for the name of the insurance company, the agent's name and phone number, and the policy number concerning their homeowner's insurance.

Don't worry if you cannot obtain this information, do not wish to communicate directly with the homeowner, or do not know the identity of the homeowner. Regardless of Whether you have the insurance information, you still should immediately contact The Law Offices of Allan S. Field for assistance in handling your claim.

In any case, do not contact the insurance company or discuss with any representative of the insurance company who contacts you, any facts regarding the accident. Simply inform the insurance person that you are represented by The Law Offices of Allan S. Field and instruct them to contact us immediately.