If you have experienced a slip and fall accident in Virginia, you are entitled to seek compensation for your damages through a personal injury claim. If you cannot reach an agreement with the insurance company, you can file a lawsuit to get paid after your accident. For any slip and fall claim, it’s important to have a reputable lawyer with experience in these cases.
Proof of Negligence
The first step to recovering damages in your slip and fall accident is proving that the property owner was negligent. Negligent means that someone failed to exercise ordinary care toward other people. Property owners have a duty of care to maintain safe premises.
Evidence
If the owner fails to maintain that duty and someone gets injured as a result, the owner or occupier is liable for damages. To prove this, you must show that:
- The owner or business failed to recognize or remove the hazardous condition that caused your accident or,
- The owner or business caused the hazardous condition that led to your accident.
Essentially, you need to be able to show that a reasonable person would have seen the hazard and had enough time to fix it before your slip and fall accident occurred.
How Much Money Can I Get for a Slip and Fall Accident in Virginia?
There are two types of damages that you can suffer after a slip and fall accident. The first is economic damages. This includes damages with a fixed monetary value like lost wages, reduced earning capability, medical expenses, and property damage.
Second, we have non-economic damages. These are things that don’t have a fixed monetary value. It usually consists of things like pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional trauma, disability, wrongful death and more.
The amount of these damages depends on the severity of your slip and fall accident and how much it negatively impacts your life.
Consult a Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer
Over 1 million slip and fall accidents are reported to the emergency room each year. You are not alone. Whether it’s just negotiating with the insurance company, or taking your case to trial, you should have a Virginia personal injury attorney on your case.
If you are in need of an attorney’s advice, please contact John Cook at Cook, Craig, and Francuzenko today. Our firm has attorneys who specialize in a variety of practice areas. With over 100 years of combined experience, we are seasoned professionals ready to help you.