A fall in a parking lot may happen when you least expect it. A slip and fall in a parking lot might be traumatic and even life-changing. After it happens you may be wondering what to do next.
Here’s what you should do after slip-and-fall accidents in parking lots.
1. Get medical attention immediately
After a slip and fall, it’s important to seek medical attention as soon as possible and get the care you need.
An additional reason to receive medical care right away is to document your injuries and how they happened. It prevents the other side from making allegations that you incurred your injuries in any other way. It also prevents the other side from attempting to imply that you aren’t taking your injuries seriously.
2. Call the police and/or file a report with mall security
It’s possible that filing an accident report following a slip and fall in a parking lot is not immediately necessary, but it may be helpful in some cases. If you’re seriously injured, you might want to consider calling the police and having them take your statement. It could prove helpful in the future should your injuries suddenly get worse or if you need to file a lawsuit. It’s also helpful if the floor was wet or covered in some other substance that had no business being there.
3. Take plenty of photos
To win your case, you need to show that another person acted negligently and caused the injuries. A parking lot owner is usually at fault for a slip-and-fall in their parking lot, so showing the accident scene itself can help prove they were negligent since these conditions are often present when accidents occur.
If you or anyone else can take photos of the accident scene, they can preserve evidence that’s valuable to your case. Your photos don’t have to be professional and you should take as many pictures from different angles as possible.
4. File a report
You should report an accident to the business as soon as possible, and create a timeline of the incident. They may have forms for you or you might need to create one yourself. Review any previous accidents that occurred in the parking lot and ask them for copies if they show a dangerous condition that has not been fixed.
5. Get as much witness information as possible
Witness testimony is important evidence in giving a complete account of the events leading up to and after a slip-and-fall accident.
At this point, do not worry about which witnesses are good and helpful or not. Your attorney will help you with this later. The important thing is to collect their contact information so that you can follow up with them as you continue your case building process.
6. Save all of your clothing
If you fall in a parking lot and your clothes are dirty, don’t wash them. Take photos of the clothes as evidence for what happened to cause injury, then store each piece in a plastic bag.
Your attorney may want to send them to a laboratory for testing. It can show if there were hazardous chemicals on the floor or anything else that could’ve caused you serious injury.
7. Stay quiet
If you have been injured as a result of defendant’s actions, do not make statements about the event to anyone. Statements made can be used against you in court – and might even damage your case. It is best to tell people that your lawyer will handle it instead.
8. Consider how you may be held legally responsible
You may file a personal injury claim if you have been hurt on someone’s property, or are the victim of another person’s negligence. If you’re injured on someone else’s lot, or as the result of someone else’s carelessness, your state’s legislation allows you to claim compensation.
9. Make a record of everything that happens
When a fall occurs in a parking lot, keep all paperwork coming your way. Medical records, invoices, documentation of lost wages, medical aid receipts, and any other documents regarding the accident might be very useful in supporting your claims. Saving all of your papers may assist you in evaluating your claim and collecting the evidence you need to win it.
You don’t have to be seriously injured to have a slip and fall case. Even if you had only minor injuries, you can still file a claim against the business for failing to provide a safe environment. And, while some people might not think their minor injuries are worth filing a lawsuit over, consider this: If you don’t document your injury on paper with some kind of medical report, then the insurance adjuster will likely try to play hardball when it comes time to pay out on your claim. That means they’ll do everything they can to minimize what they owe you by trying to minimize your injuries.
10. Keep track of timelines
You only have a certain amount of time to bring a legal claim following a slip and fall in a parking lot. The opposing party may try to divert your attention in the hopes that you’ll overlook the deadline. The sooner you can contact an attorney, the better, since this will allow you to file your case on time so that you don’t miss out.
11. Hire a parking lot slip and fall attorney for help
If you’re injured, a good lawyer can help you evaluate your claim, file it, and gather the proof you’ll need to win.
One of the biggest reasons you might want to consider filing a lawsuit is if the lot was in some way unsafe, and this led to your fall. If you can prove that business did something negligent, then your attorney can help you file a personal injury claim against them. This will be especially important if it’s the case that there are other people who have had similar accidents in that same parking lot.
If you’ve been injured in a parking lot, it’s important to take the necessary steps to protect your case. Follow these 11 tips to increase your chances of winning compensation for your injuries.
