Few people who go shopping or browsing for things to buy in a department store think they could end up that day in a hospital, but accidents do happen every day. Typical accidents in big department stores are slip and fall or trip and fall accidents as well as elevator accidents.
The most common scenario involves tripping over things that have been left on the ground and cause anything from a minor bump and scrape to more severe injuries like hip dislocations and broken bones. You may be able to claim compensation from them if you can prove that your accident was preventable. A personal injury attorney can help you prepare a valid claim and negotiate with their insurers to ensure a suitable settlement.
How Soon You Should Settle
The main pre-requisites for a valid claim are:
- convincing evidence that they were at fault, i.e. their negligence caused your injury;
- adequate documentation to justify the amounts of compensation you are asking for;
- filing the claim before the statute of limitations prevents any claim from being submitted.
The question of evidence proving the store's negligence is the main factor in filing the claim as soon as you can. This is because you may need to depend on eye witness statements to help substantiate your claim that the store could have prevented the accident.
The best eye witnesses are likely to be fellow customers at the store who saw you fall over or helped you when you were injured. If you are physically able to do so, taking snap photos with a cell phone at the scene of the accident would also have been useful.
Why You Should Take Your Time to Settle
Although it is generally advised that you submit your claim to the insurer as early as possible, there are good reasons for delaying it until you have a well prepared claim. If you rush your claim too much, you may forget to include details of expenses that should have been added.
These include costs such as transport costs to go and see medical professionals, future treatment or support needed, time taken off work in the future, pain and suffering calculations etc. The best way to ensure your claim is well prepared is to have your documentation checked over by an attorney before you file your claim.
How a Lawyer Can Help
Most personal injury attorneys do not charge for consultations and will defer any legal fees until a settlement is reached. This means that there is little financial justification for not using an attorney to provide legal advice about how to file a claim and when to settle.
Your attorney will have dealt with large corporations before and will know how to negotiate skillfully with their insurers on your behalf. Complete the Free case Evaluation on this page to go over your claim with an attorney.
*Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Kohl’s, or any other party, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
