If you suffer injuries in a slip and fall at a store, you may be able to prove that it was caused by negligence and recover compensation for your damages through a personal injury case against the retailer.
You will need to gather supporting evidence and documentation that shows where and how you were injured, why the accident took place, and the extent of your damages. You will then need to provide a dollar value for your claim.
There may be surveillance cameras located throughout grocery stores like Aldi. Odds are that your slip and fall was caught on a camera in the store. If that is the case, your attorney can petition that video to be used as evidence in your accident injury case.
If you are physically able to do so, you should get photos of the accident scene. If you aren’t able to get photos yourself, if there is someone who is with you, ask them to do so. These can be very beneficial to your case.
Ask any eyewitnesses to provide written statements regarding what they saw. They should be detailed, explaining what happened and how it happened. Be sure to get the names of any witnesses and their contact details so they can be contacted later for additional information.
Also, get photos of the visible injuries. Get the names of any employees that you talk with or tell about the incident or any of them who offer assistance after the accident.
Any accident reports can help serve as the foundation of your personal injury claim against Aldi, or any grocery store. Always keep all supporting evidence and documentation.
What You Should Know After an In-Store Accident
When you need groceries for the week, run out of an ingredient last minute or want a quick weeknight meal, you probably head out to your local supermarket. At grocery stores, like Aldi, you can fill your cart with everything from groceries to household supplies like cleaners and detergents.
While it’s convenient to have all these items located in one store, it can also potentially lead to a number of in-store hazards.
These common grocery store hazards have the potential to cause you to slip and fall. Slip and fall accidents can often cause serious injuries with long-lasting pain that can affect your quality of life.
You may experience financial hardship if your injuries require costly medical care to treat. However, compensation from a personal injury claim could alleviate some of this hardship. An attorney can help you get the compensation you deserve and ultimately start to get your life back on track.
Potential Hazards in Grocery Stores
Aldi, like other established businesses, have a responsibility to maintain a safe store. Some common grocery store safety issues that might present themselves include:
- Pallets of products partially blocking narrow aisles
- Faulty refrigeration and freezer cases leaking water
- Food debris in produce areas
- Discarded boxes near the self-bagging counter
- Wet floors near the store’s entrance and exit from rain or snow
- Slick aisles if products leak from packages
When these kinds of safety concerns are present in a grocery store, they have the potential to cause slip and fall accidents if they are not identified and corrected.
The Duty That The Established Business Has
Aldi, like all established businesses has a duty or responsibility for its customers. This means that they have the responsibility or duty to maintain safe and clean premises so customers will not be injured when they come onto their property.
The store employees have a responsibility to keep the premises as safe as possible. This means that any spills or messes should be cleaned up in a timely manner, or there should be signs posted to warn visitors. Any damaged areas should be repaired quickly and properly.
Hazards do happen, and that is to be expected. However, Aldi, like all established businesses have the responsibility to make sure the problems are addressed in a timely manner. The court will want to see if the employees reacted in a reasonable amount of time.
As an example, if a spill occurred five minutes before the fall and no employees were in the vicinity, then it could be difficult to prove that Aldi, or any business breached its duty and failed you as a customer by not maintaining safe premises.
The main question that will be brought up is – Did the grocery store know about the spill or danger and did they have a reasonable time to address the problem? You and your personal injury lawyer will have to successfully argue that Aldi, or any grocery store should have correct the problem and they failed to do so, so they are responsible for the damages that you suffered because of the fall in their retail store.
Damages That You May Recover
There are many damages that you can suffer in a slip and fall at a grocery store like Aldi. First off, you will have mounting medical bills. Your medical expenses can add up quickly. These expenses may include physician visits, hospital bills, physical therapy, medical devices, prescriptions, and physical therapy.
Anything that is related to your medical care will add up quickly. You should maintain supporting documentation for your claim.
You will need to keep copies of all your medical bills as well as your medical records. These will show the severity of your injury, help your injury be tied in with the slip and fall and then show the cost of your medical care associated with the injuries suffered in your slip and fall.
You will also need to maintain documentation that shows your missed work and lost wages.
Other losses that you can claim include pain and suffering. You will need to show your medical expenses and provide documentation that shows the long-term effects of your injuries so you can come up with a fair value for the pain and suffering aspect of your slip and fall personal injury case.
Your slip and fall lawyer will help you come up with a fair value for your claim, so be sure to schedule a consultation with a personal injury lawyer who handles cases in your area.
How an Attorney Can Help You Settle Your Claim
If you wish to file a lawsuit against Aldi or any large store, you could receive a settlement that can help cover the damages related to your slip and fall case. Those damages can be used to pay attorney fees, medical bills related to the fall, basic day to day needs and any future medical expenses. Your personal injury lawyer will be able to let you know what you can spend that money on.
There are three factors that go into determining a settlement from a slip and fall claim. The first is being able to prove that the plaintiff, aka the person who fell did not in fact cause the slip and fall and that large store did did. The second thing that goes into determining a settlement is proving if Aldi or any large store has responsibility for the property and any incidents.
That last thing that factors into a slip and fall settlement is that negligence from the grocery store like Aldi was the cause of your slip and fall injury.
Consult with a Personal Injury Attorney
If you were involved in an slip and fall accident, you may decide to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you want to file suit, you should get the help from a personal injury attorney. By filing suit, you might be able to recover compensation for any accident-related expenses.
Common damages in a personal injury case include medical bills, missed pay, and pain and suffering.
If you suffered injuries in a slip and fall at grocery store like Aldi, you have a limited time to pursue a personal injury claim. Every state sets a statute of limitations, or a time limit, in which you can file a claim to recover damages. If you wait too long, you will not be able to recover compensation for your losses.
You should enlist the help of a personal injury lawyer who handles slip and fall cases in your area.
When you retain the services of a personal injury lawyer, you will not have to pay anything upfront. Instead, slip and fall lawyers will take cases on a contingency basis. That means that your lawyer will not be paid until you win your case.
Additional Resources
How To File A Personal Injury Claim Against Aldi
Determining Negligence for Slip and Fall
*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 Aldi, or any other party, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
