Slip and Fall Accident Attorneys in Orlando, FL

You suffered a slip and fall accident. Now what? The steps you take immediately after your accident can go a long way toward protecting you: both your health and your finances.

Step one: Prioritize medical care. When you slip and fall, make medical care your top priority, especially if you hit your head, lose consciousness, or have any pain. Many slip and fall accident victims will try to hurry away from the scene of the accident. You may feel embarrassed or want to conceal your fall from others around you. Failing to seek medical care, however, could worsen your injuries. Not only can this make your recovery more difficult, it could interfere with your ability to file an Orlando slip and fall claim. Instead, make medical care a priority. If you can follow no other steps after your accident, you should still recognize the importance of seeking quality medical care.

Step two: Collect evidence, if possible. If you or someone with you can collect evidence at the scene of the accident, that evidence can make it easier to prove what led to your accident and, therefore, who may share liability for any injuries you suffered. Sometimes, the premises owner may later try to disguise evidence. For example, the owner might nail down an uneven stair. Most of the time, spills get cleaned up quickly once the staff notices them. Unfortunately, this may already have come too late to protect you. Take photos of the accident scene if you can. These photos can help provide vital evidence that may help you file an Orlando slip and fall claim.

Step three: Report the accident. If you suffer a slip and fall in a business, you should report your accident and your injuries to store personnel as soon as possible. Your decision to report the accident not only provides a vital record that will establish when your accident took place, it may help protect others and prevent future visitors to that location from suffering injuries like yours.

Step four: Get in touch with an Orlando slip and fall attorney as soon as possible. Do not wait to contact an Orlando slip and fall attorney after your slip and fall accident. An attorney can help you understand all the parties that contributed to your accident, the compensation you deserve, and any other factors that may influence your Orlando slip and fall claim. An attorney can also help fight for you.

Many accident victims, including slip and fall accident victims, find that working with an experienced Orlando slip and fall attorney can maximize the compensation they receive for their injuries. An attorney can:

Provide you with a better idea of the compensation you deserve. How much compensation do you really deserve for your injuries? Knowing the answer to this simple question can go a long way toward helping you plan for your medical care and other spending after your accident.

Support you throughout the claim process. An experienced Orlando slip and fall attorney will provide support and advice throughout the claim process, freeing you to focus on your recovery.

Fight for you, if needed. While most slip and fall accident claims settle out of court, you may have to go to court to prove your claim and seek the compensation you deserve for your injuries. An attorney can prepare you to take your claim to court and fight for you if needed.

You have the option to take a settlement issued by the premises owner or their insurance company. In many cases, however, that offer may not reflect the compensation you really deserve for your injuries. In many cases, insurance companies will provide a low settlement offer to an accident victim in the effort to decrease their financial liability for that accident. They may try to pressure you, insisting that you need to accept the offer fast before it disappears or that you do not really need an attorney. Instead, consult an experienced attorney to get a better idea of the compensation you should expect for injuries related to your slip and fall accident.

Your compensation will depend on the injuries you suffered and the party that caused your accident. Most premises owners carry insurance policies to protect individuals who suffer injuries as a result of their negligence. Those insurance policies may have set limits that determine how much compensation you can expect from serious injuries, even if your costs exceed that amount. Most slip and fall accident victims, however, claim compensation for:

Medical expenses. What medical costs did you have related to the accident? You should include emergency medical expenses as well as the cost of ongoing medical treatments related to your injuries.

Lost income. How much time did you have to miss at work as a result of your injuries?

Pain and suffering. How much suffering did you experience due to your accident? How much did it impact various areas of your life? An attorney can help give you a better understanding of how pain and suffering could affect your claim.

Sometimes, you may choose not to seek medical attention immediately after your accident. You may want to avoid embarrassment, or you may have plans for the day that you do not want a trip to the hospital to ruin. Some slip and fall victims do not even notice the pain immediately after the accident. If you suffer serious injuries, adrenaline can flood your system, masking the pain. You may even write minor pain the next day off to "soreness" following the accident, only to later discover that you suffered more serious injury than you thought.

Ideally, you should seek medical care as soon after the accident as you can. Medical care not only identifies any injuries you suffered and allows you to receive appropriate treatment, it can make it easier for you to prove exactly when your injuries took place. Even if you did not seek medical care immediately, however, you can still pursue an Orlando slip and fall claim against the party that caused your accident. If you wait to seek medical care, you may need to provide evidence concerning when your accident took place. The insurance company or the premises owner may attempt to prove that your injuries occurred at another time, which could limit your Orlando slip and fall claim. Consult an attorney to learn more about how to file a claim after an Orlando slip and fall and what evidence you can present if you did not seek medical care immediately after the accident.

Most often, either the premises owner or a company operating on the premises will bear liability for a slip and fall. If you suffered injuries due to damage to the building or surrounding area, including poorly-maintained stairs, railings, or flooring, the premises owner may bear liability. A slip and fall that occurs due to a spill or debris in the walkway may leave the company operating on that premises, if separate from the owner, liable for any injuries you suffered. Consult an experienced Orlando slip and fall attorney at Michael T. Gibson, P.A., to learn more about how liability gets calculated after a slip and fall accident and how it may impact your claim.

Most homeowners, like business owners, carry insurance. Florida homeowners typically homeowners' insurance, which can protect you if you suffer a serious injury on their property. You may have the right to file an Orlando slip and fall an Orlando slip and fall claim after an injury on private property if:

The homeowner failed to properly maintain the property. You had the legal right to visit the property. The homeowner did not issue a proper warning concerning dangers on the property, leading to your accident.

Consult an attorney to learn more about how to handle an Orlando slip and fall claim associated with an injury on private property.

You should expect it to take time—in many cases, several months—to receive compensation for an Orlando slip and fall claim after a slip and fall accident. An attorney can give you a better idea of the timeline you must work with and how long you should expect your specific claim to take. Factors to consider may include:

The extent of your injuries. If you suffered serious injuries in your slip and fall accident, you may need time for your doctors to make a better estimate of your eventual prognosis. For example, if you suffered spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury, you may need up to six months for your doctors to get a better idea of what your eventual recovery will look like, how long it will take, and what limitations you will face related to your injuries. Severe injuries, which may require more compensation than relatively minor injuries, can take longer for the insurance company to approve. Many insurance companies will prove more reluctant to make large settlements, which can interfere with the time it takes for you to receive compensation.

The negotiation process. Sometimes, you and the insurance company can arrive at a settlement agreement within a few rounds of negotiation. Other times, it may take multiple rounds of negotiation to arrive at an agreement. Each round of negotiation can add to the time it takes for you to receive compensation.

Whether you need to go to court. If you cannot reach an agreement with the insurance company, you may need to take your slip and fall accident claim to court. Most often, slip and fall accident claims settle out of court. Sometimes, however, you may need a judge or jury to decide how much compensation you really deserve for your injuries. Once you arrive at an agreement, the insurance company or liable party usually has 30 days to provide you with a check to cover your an Orlando slip and fall claim.

After a slip and fall accident, you may have considerable medical bills, especially if you suffer a broken hip, spinal cord injury, or traumatic brain injury. As the injured party, you must take responsibility for paying those bills. You may, however, have options that can help you cover those expenses.

Start with your health insurance, which can provide vital assistance in covering your medical bills after a serious injury. You should contact your medical insurance provider to notify them about the accident and ask any questions you might have about your coverage, including your copays and deductibles, what providers you can see for in-network coverage, or what coverage you have for specific aspects of your care. You may also want to ask how an Orlando slip and fall claim will influence your insurance coverage.

Next, an Orlando slip and fall claim can help you seek compensation for your injuries and your medical expenses. The liable party will issue a settlement to you, which you can then use to cover your medical bills and other expenses. If you cannot pay your medical expenses until you receive an Orlando slip and fall settlement, your attorney can issue a letter of protection letting your care providers know about your intent to pay.

There are three things you have to prove to recover compensation after a slip and fall accident:

• You were on the property legally
• A hazard on the property caused the accident.
• The property owner's negligence led to the accident.

A slip and fall accident lawyer can help you find the proof to hold a negligent property owner liable for your injuries.

State law says you have four years from the date of a slip and fall accident to file a lawsuit. If you miss the deadline, you will likely lose your right to compensation. We recommend you speak with an attorney immediately to avoid issues with Florida's statute of limitations.

If your case does not go to trial, you could expect it to take a few weeks or months before you see any compensation. But if your case goes to trial, it could be a year or longer before you recover any money.

Slip and fall cases can be hard to win in Florida because you must prove the property owner knew or should have known about the hazard and failed to fix it. Florida law also considers your role in the accident, so if you're partly at fault, your compensation could be reduced.