Slip and Fall Injury FAQ

Premises liability cases are personal injury claims regarding the negligence of a property owner. Under state and federal law, property owners have a responsibility to ensure that individuals on the property are safe. If they are unreasonably careless or fail to keep the premises safe, they may be obligated to pay for any damages or losses experienced by those injured on their property.

In order to prove a PA premises liability case, you and your attorney must prove the following: that there was a hazard on the property, that the property owner knew (or should have known) about the hazard, and that the property owner did not take reasonable care of the issue in a timely manner.

Although the legal world often refers to premises liability cases as “slip and fall” accidents, premises liability claims encompass any accident that takes place on private property due to the negligence of the property owner. While slips and falls are the most common type of premises liability, many other types of cases exist, including:

• Stairway and balcony falls
• Slip and falls on snow, water, and ice
• Falling object accidents
• Elevator and escalator accidents
• Dog bites and animal attacks
• Injuries due to inadequate maintenance of the property
• Swimming pool and drowning accidents
• Injuries due to inadequate security
• Injuries due to lack of warning signs 

Whether or not you need professional legal representation for your slip and fall claim depends on the details of your case. If you suffered serious injuries in your accident and believe that someone else was at fault for these injuries, you should certainly speak with a personal injury attorney who can listen to your story and review the evidence related to your case. Having an experienced Pennsylvania slip and fall lawyer at your side during the claim process can ensure that you receive a fair amount of compensation and that the insurance company does not take advantage of you during this difficult time.

Under Pennsylvania’s comparative negligence laws, if the accident was only partially your fault, you may be able to collect a portion of your losses from other negligent parties. For example, if you were 40% at fault for your slip and fall accident because you were drinking, but the hotel where you were staying was 60% at fault for your accident because of poor maintenance, you may be able to collect 60% of your medical bills, lost wages, and other damages.

How much your slip and fall case is worth depends on how the accident happened, how badly you were hurt, and how extensive other damages were (such as medical expenses). The worth of your slip and fall case may also depend upon how much supporting evidence there is in the case, how negligent the at-fault party was, and whether you suffered permanent injuries. The best way to get an estimate of how much compensation you could collect from your slip and fall claim is to speak with a knowledgeable Pennsylvania slip and fall lawyer about the specific details of your accident. 

Although Pennsylvania, like other states, enjoys limited immunity from civil lawsuits, it is still possible to sue for a slip and fall accident under most circumstances. Filing a claim against SEPTA involves certain complexities and limitations, however, because SEPTA is a government entity.

If you signed an arbitration clause, you may be stuck with the arbitration. Nevertheless, arbitration proceedings are relatively quick and simple, and there is no particular reason to suppose that your chances would be any worse in arbitration than in court.

Yes, you can.  This type of injury is called an “aggravation of a pre-existing condition,” and can be very valuable depending on the circumstances. Although under certain circumstances a pre-existing injury can affect the size of your compensation award, you are still entitled to compensation. It is the insurance company that bears the burden of proving that your pre-existing injury should affect the size of your compensation award.

Pennsylvania applies a “comparative negligence with a 50 percent bar” rule to accidents in which more than one party was at fault. This means that if you were more than 50 percent at fault, you can recover nothing; otherwise, you can recover your damages discounted by your percentage of fault. FOr example, if your case is worth $100,000.00 and it is determined that you are 40% at fault, you will recover $60,000.00.

The IRS does not typically tax personal injury damages. It will tax judgment interest, however, as well as punitive damages.  A settlement agreement that includes these amounts must be very specific in order to prevent the IRS from over-taxing your compensation.

Although a settlement is obviously preferable, you might end up having to do both. Filing a lawsuit is the only way to convince some defendants that you mean business so that they will offer an adequate settlement. Filing a lawsuit does not necessarily mean you will go to trial.

When negotiating an insurance claim, the insurance company is not your friend, since your interests are directly opposed to each other. You will be facing a professional negotiator across the bargaining table, and it helps to have someone experienced on your side.

As long as your neighbor was properly insured, you will essentially be suing the insurance company, not him or her. Homeowner’s insurance policies often cover slip and fall accidents that occur in private homes, and their claim limitations are usually plenty enough to cover a dog bite claim. I often make a claim against the neighbor’s insurance company, without EVER having to sue your neighbor.

In Pennsylvania the deadlines are:

• two years after the accident;  or
• two years after you discover the injury (if the injury was latent); or
• two years after your 18th birthday, if you were a minor at the time of the accident; or
• two years after the victim’s date of death, if you are filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
  
  

If you miss the deadline, your claim will probably be forever barred.