If you slipped and fell on the property of someone with homeowners’ insurance, their insurance policy is highly relevant to the process ahead. The homeowner’s insurance company may be responsible for covering the cost of your fall, though you may also be entitled to sue the homeowner directly.
Your initial approach as a fall victim may be to seek fair compensation through the insurance company. If the insurer will not pay you fairly, you may then sue. Consider hiring a slip and fall attorney from the outset, as they will handle negotiations and file a lawsuit if you choose to.
Will the Insurance Company Pay What I Deserve?
When you file an insurance claim after a slip and fall, you hope the insurance provider will honor its obligation and pay you fairly. Time will tell if this is the case.
The typical homeowner’s insurance policy may provide coverage for:
- Liability coverage: Most insurance policies assume that the homeowner will have third parties on their property, whether friends, family, or contractors. If the homeowner’s negligence led you to slip, fall, and suffer injuries, their liability coverage may pay for your losses.
- Medical payments coverage: Medical payments coverage is a feature of many homeowners policies. This coverage applies specifically to the fall victim’s medical bills. Coverage limits on this type of coverage are typically low, so you may need to access liability coverage and medical payments coverage.
The question in your case will lie in whether the homeowner was negligent in exposing you to a slipping hazard. It will determine whether the insurance company is at fault for your losses and whether you can credibly sue the homeowner.
Proving negligence is not always easy, which is a crucial reason to hire an experienced homeowners insurance claim lawyer. Your attorney will identify all evidence suggesting negligence caused your fall and injuries.
Coverage Limits Are a Key Consideration in Your Case
Coverage limits are another insurance-related consideration that can affect your claim. The homeowner’s policy will likely have different limits for different types of coverage. For instance, the homeowner may have a much higher limit for liability coverage than medical payments coverage.
Coverage limits on homeowners insurance policies can:
- Vary from policy to policy, which is why your lawyer will obtain a copy of all policies in question
- Determine how much compensation the insurance company is willing to offer
- Partly determine if you need to sue the homeowner for fair compensation
Even if the insurance company does not offer you compensation beyond the coverage limits, the insurer will likely still defend the homeowner if you sue.
Every detail matters when you fall on a homeowner’s property. From insurance status to coverage types and limits, a single detail can significantly impact your claim. Allow an insurance-savvy slip and fall lawyer to mind these details while you recover.
Homeowner Failures That Can Qualify as Negligence
Since proving a homeowner’s negligence is crucial in obtaining compensation for your fall (whether through claim or lawsuit), it’s worth considering what it can look like. In the context of a slip and fall, negligence can include:
- Failing to inform third parties that a surface on the property is unusually slick
- Allowing hoses, pipes, spills, or other liquid spill hazards to persist without warning visitors
- Failing to install handrails and other slip-prevention resources where it would be reasonable to do so
- Failing to fix stairs, walkways, or other faulty surfaces where a slip and fall would be reasonably foreseeable
- Failing to install adequate lighting in areas where a slip and fall can happen
Some cases of homeowner negligence are more obvious than others. Whether or not you believe a homeowner was negligent in causing your fall, run your case by a slip and fall attorney. Lawyers understand what negligence means and what it looks like, and an attorney will be well-positioned to determine if you are the victim of negligence.
How Your Attorney May Prove the Homeowner’s Negligence
Lawyers follow a repeatable blueprint for proving negligence in personal injury and wrongful death cases, which is:
- Establishing the homeowner’s duty of care: Having a duty of care means someone must take reasonable measures to prevent harm to others. The test is whether, in the same circumstances, a reasonable person would have acted differently than the homeowner.
- Proving that the homeowner breached their duty of care: Your lawyer will cite specific failures by the homeowner that contributed to your slip and fall. For example, they will bring attention to a homeowner who allowed a puddle of water to build up on a tile surface and then invited a guest who slipped and fell on it.
- Tying the breach to the fall: This step is called proving causation, and your lawyer will work to prove a clear link between the homeowner’s negligence and your fall.
- Proving the resulting damages: If you suffered injuries due to a fall, you likely have several damages. Your lawyer will detail those damages to prove the cost of the homeowner’s negligence.
If someone has reached a place where they own a home, they have a baseline level of intellect and foresight. This means they should be aware of the risks of falls, understand potential fall hazards, and exercise every possible measure to minimize the risk that someone will slip and fall on their property.
The potential consequences of falls are too dire for any homeowner to slack in their prevention techniques. If a homeowner negligently exposed you to harm and you suffered an injury (or lost a loved one) as a result, a lawyer will work to secure the justice you are entitled to.
Should I Hire a Slip and Fall Lawyer to Deal with the Insurance Company?
Yes, you should hire a slip and fall attorney to pursue compensation after your accident and injuries because:
- Homeowner’s insurance providers don’t always play fair: You can’t assume the insurance company will honor its financial obligations. The insurance provider may fight tooth and nail to avoid paying you. The less the insurer pays you, the more money the company retains in profits, so minimizing settlements is the priority. On the other hand, your slip and fall attorney’s priority will be maximizing your settlement.
- You may need to sue the homeowner: There is a chance you will need to sue the homeowner. Not only may this be a process you don’t want to lead personally, but you may not have the relevant legal knowledge or experience to handle a lawsuit.
- Your health and case depend on you focusing on recovery: You can face allegations that you are exaggerating injuries or symptoms. You can play into such baseless allegations if you do not put your all into the recovery process. Your health and case both benefit from putting your recovery first, which usually means entrusting your case to a slip and fall lawyer.
- There is no financial risk in hiring an attorney: Attorneys generally use contingency fees when handling slip-and-fall cases. These fee types require the law firm to pay the case cost; the lawyer only receives a fee if the client receives payment. Therefore, you don’t face any risk of paying out-of-pocket for legal services.
- You cannot afford to lose: Your financial circumstances are not relevant. Nobody should have to pay out of pocket for medical expenses and other damages caused by a negligent homeowner. It would be unjust, so hire a slip and fall lawyer to secure fair compensation from the negligent homeowner or their insurance company.
Even if you are the type not to ask for help, now is not the time to go it alone. Allow a trusted slip and fall attorney to fight for all the compensation you deserve.
How the Homeowners’ Insurance Process Unfolds After a Slip and Fall
Your slip and fall lawyer will handle a potentially complex claims process from start to finish. They will work to secure fair compensation by:
Establishing Fault for Your Fall
Remember that it will be crucial to prove whose negligence caused your fall. Presumably, the homeowner will be at fault for the conditions that led you to slip, but your lawyer will establish this using the following:
- Your account of how the slip and fall occurred
- Any witness accounts of the slip and fall (or accounts from those who saw the hazard prior to you falling)
- Video footage of the incident (which may be a longshot but could be caught on Ring cameras or other security cameras)
- An expert’s testimony about how the homeowner’s negligence caused you to slip and fall
Insurance companies generally don’t pay unless they absolutely have to. Convincing evidence of negligence may convince the insurance company that, if it does not pay fairly, you can win a significant recovery in court based on the evidence.
Reviewing Applicable Insurance Policies
Your attorney will secure a copy of the homeowner’s insurance policy if possible. They will identify all relevant details, including coverage conditions and coverage limits.
Calculating the Cost of Your Fall-Related Damages
You likely have economic and non-economic damages, each with a precise monetary cost. Your lawyer will calculate that cost and determine how much compensation the insurance company or homeowner owes you.
Negotiating with the Homeowners Insurance Provider
Settling is a common way to get compensation for victims of homeowners’ negligence. Your attorney will present evidence of negligence and documentation of your losses. The insurance company may respond with a fair settlement offer, though it may take multiple negotiations to coax a fair offer from the insurer.
Filing Any Necessary Lawsuit
If settlement negotiations are not producing the settlement you deserve, your lawyer may:
- Explain why the settlement offers you have received are inadequate
- Explain the potential benefits of filing a lawsuit
- Get your feedback
- Draft and file a lawsuit if you choose to
Lawsuits are a critical feature of lawyers’ daily activities. If you decide to sue, you will already be prepared with a lawyer leading your case.
Taking Your Case to Trial, If You Decide To
Filing a lawsuit against a negligent homeowner does not always mean your case will go to trial. Liable parties may determine that they are willing to extend a fair settlement offer after you file the suit.
If your case goes to trial, your lawyer will make the case for a jury to award you the money you deserve.
Why Might I Need to Sue the Homeowner?
Most falls could have been prevented if someone had exercised common sense and a desire to protect others from harm.
- They don’t have homeowners insurance: If the homeowner responsible for your fall-related injuries does not have insurance, suing them may be your only path to compensation.
- The insurance company does not recognize your claim: If the provider of the homeowner’s insurance does not recognize its responsibility to pay for your losses, this can also lead you to sue the homeowner directly.
- The insurance company offers less compensation than you deserve: The insurance company may recognize its liability for your losses but not agree on the value of those losses. The cost of your losses can also exceed coverage limits.
It is difficult for fall victims to project the cost of their losses, let alone how an insurance company will respond to their request for fair compensation. Hiring a lawyer will prepare you for any challenges or outcomes that arise during the claims process.
Fall-Related Damages Your Attorney Will Demand Compensation For
Your attorney will consider every type of harm you’ve suffered due to your fall, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Medical expenses
- Professional damages, including lost income and diminished earning power
- The cost of any mental health treatment related to the fall
- Property expenses, such as the cost of replacing a damaged phone
You may also need medical equipment, rehabilitation, and long-term caregiver services if you suffer a severe injury.
Hire Your Homeowners Insurance Claim Lawyer Today
Your personal injury attorney may face a statute of limitations, which requires you to file a lawsuit within a certain period of time after the slip and fall. Please don’t wait to find your lawyer so they can pursue all of the compensation you deserve.