In Florida, property owners and businesses owe their visitors — customers, contractors, guests, employees, etc. — a certain level of care when it comes to protecting them from any potentially hazardous conditions on their premises. When they fail to do so, accidents can happen. When slip and fall accidents occur, the victim can suffer serious injuries and other damages.
Florida’s premises liability laws allow the victims of slip and fall accidents to seek compensation for the losses caused by their injuries by filing a personal injury claim against the party or parties responsible for their accident. How much your slip and fall case is worth depends on many factors.
How Do I Determine How Much My Slip And Fall Accident Claim is Worth?
One of the more difficult tasks after your accident will be assigning a dollar value to the losses you’ve suffered as a result of your injuries. A Lakeland personal injury attorney with extensive experience in litigating slip and fall accidents in Florida can be a big help in determining how much your case is worth. They will be able to calculate a dollar amount that adequately compensates you for the current costs, as well as any ongoing or future costs, related to your injuries.
Here are a few of the factors to consider when appraising how much your slip and fall accident case is worth:
Medical Expenses
You need to take into consideration not only your current medical expenses but also any anticipated ongoing expenses, such as medication or physical therapy, related to your injuries. Current medical expenses are easy to calculate — just add up your medical bills — but coming up with a figure for ongoing expenses may be a little more difficult.
Lost Income
Again, you need to consider the wages you’re going to lose as a result of your injuries as well as the income you’ve already lost because of the accident. Your injuries may prevent you from ever returning to your current job, or only permit you to take a job that pays far less than your present one.
Pain and Suffering
Coming up with an exact dollar amount for the pain and suffering resulting from your injuries can be difficult. Pain and suffering can encompass a lot of different damages, including PTSD, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium, to name a few. Your attorney can help you identify all the kinds of pain and suffering you’ve endured after your accident and help assign a dollar value based on what others with similar injuries have been awarded.
You may have other losses as well, including expenses for traveling to see a doctor or specialist.
How Do I Prove a Slip and Fall Case?
In order to prevail in a personal injury claim, you’ll have to be able to show the following:
- You had a legal right to be on the other party’s property when the accident occurred;
- The owner or manager of the premises was negligent in the level of care they provided to you as a visitor;
- Their negligence was responsible for the accident that caused your injuries;
- The damages stemming from these injuries have resulted in financial and emotional losses for you and your family.
An attorney’s advice can be invaluable in helping file a premises liability claim that addresses all these points.
Get Everything You Deserve For Your Injuries After a Slip and Fall Accident in Florida
Florida property and business owners have an obligation to protect their guests and visitors from any hazardous conditions that may arise on their premises. These can include standing puddles of liquids, uneven floors, cluttered floors, and broken steps that can cause serious slip, trip, and fall injuries.
Tania Rivas and Rivas Law Group are dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals who have been injured in slip and fall accidents that resulted from somebody else’s carelessness. With Tania’s assistance, you’ll be able to obtain the compensation you need to help restore your life as much as possible to the way it was before your accident.
Rivas Law Group has successfully represented clients injured in accidents all over Central Florida, including Tampa, Lutz, Winter Haven, Plant City, New Port Richey, and Lakeland. Contact Rivas Law Group online or call us at (877) 299-5539 to schedule a free no-obligation initial consultation with Lakeland slip and fall injury attorney Tania Rivas to discuss your case.
