People can fall while they are in businesses for many different reasons. For example, perhaps you got into an argument with another customer and they shoved you. You could also have fallen due to intoxication after having a few drinks or distraction if you spent more time looking down at your phone than you did at the area around you. In any of these scenarios, the business wouldn’t really be at fault.
Most of the time, however, a slip-and-fall occurs not because of anything you did but because a business didn’t bother to maintain safe facilities. How do you know whether you have the right to bring a claim against the business owner or manager for your slip-and-fall injuries?
To have a claim, you will typically need to show negligence
Not all slip-and-fall injuries result in financial losses, but some of them could cost people tens of thousands of dollars or more in medical bills and wages they don’t earn because of their injuries. You can potentially either file an insurance claim or bring a premises liability lawsuit against a business if your fall is the result of their negligence.
Establishing negligence requires that you show that a reasonable person would have done something different in the same situation. Ignoring spilled fluids on the floor, understaffing so that facilities aren’t clean or ignoring crucial repairs to equipment or the building itself are all examples of negligence.
Both your own testimony and evidence from witnesses or security cameras can help show that the business’s failure directly contributed to your injury. When you understand your rights after a slip-and-fall incident, you will have a better chance of getting the compensation you deserve.