If your slip and fall in Florida results in injuries, and you are considering making a personal injury claim, you need to begin your investigation immediately. Some people believe that if you fall on someone’s property, the owner is automatically responsible.
This is not true. Florida Statute 768.0755 states that “if a person slip and falls on a transitory foreign substance in a business establishment, the injured person must prove that the business establishment had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have taken action to remedy it.
These are 5 important ways to help your slip and fall case are to understand and do the following:
1. Cause
After reporting the cause of your fall to the owner/manager of the area where you fell, you should write a short story about your fall.
What caused you to fall? You should write down every reason why you think the owner or operator of the area where you fell knew or should have known that there was liquid or a substance on the floor and failed to clean it up.
2. Take pictures
Take pictures as soon as possible following the accident. If you slipped and fell on a liquid or solid substance, it may have footprints, tracks, greasy, grimy, dirty, rotting, smudges, streaks, skid marks or other characteristics that may help you prove constructive notice.
This evidence may make or break your case. The area where you fell may change over time. Your memory will fade. Having pictures will help refresh your memory.
3. Witness Statements: Witnesses testimony may ultimately determine whether you win (or are successful) with your Florida slip and fall accident case. Make sure to ask witnesses (if there are any) about what they saw.
You should ask the witness(es) whether they think the owner or operator of the property was at fault. Maybe you can prove constructive notice through a witness who says that the condition occurred with regularity and was therefore foreseeable.
After you have spoken with a witness or you have his or her statement, you should prepare an affidavit stating the facts (that support your claim) for the witness to sign. This affidavit may help you overcome the insurance adjuster (or defense attorney’s) arguments and get your case in front of a jury.
4. Request that the landowner Preserve video/pictures
Make sure you send a written request to the property owner (and manager, if one exists) requesting them to preserve all witness statements, photos and video of the incident.
Send it by fax, certified mail, email (if possible) and possible via a process server.
5. Review your medical records
Don’t assume that everything that you tell the doctor or nurse will be added to your medical records. After each visit, request a copy of your medical records so that you can make sure that the doctor accurately documented the facts regarding your slip and fall, as well as your complaints in regards to your injuries.
If the medical record does not document the complaints (specific body part injured, level of pain, etc.) that you described, you have the right to ask your doctor to make changes to the record.
Florida slip and fall cases may not be easy, but you can increase your odds of success by making sure you have done everything possible to document your claim. Do you know 25 important questions to ask in a slip and fall case?
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