When you’re out at a restaurant enjoying food and drinks with your loved ones, the last thing you expect is an accidental injury. Unfortunately, accidents can be had anywhere, even at established restaurants such as Applebee’s.
If you believe your injury was the result of a restaurant's wrongdoing, then you may be eligible to file a personal injury claim.
Doing so could result in financial compensation for all medical bills, lost wages, and suffering experienced due to your accident.
Potential Hazards at a Restaurant
Most people only go to Applebee’s or other restaurants for the dining experience. However, there are a variety of employees with various jobs necessary to keep a restaurant clean, safe, and running smoothly.
If mistakes are made, potential hazards arise that can cause injuries to customers, such as:
- burns from a server’s dropped food or drink
- sprains, breaks, or head trauma after slipping on a spill, tripping on an obstruction, or colliding with a worker
- food-borne illness from poorly cleaned, prepared, or handled food
While these instances are rather rare, it does not make them less dangerous when they do occur. If your accident was caused due to a restaurant or its employees’ mistakes, then it is likely you will qualify for compensation.
Filing Your Personal Injury Claim
Without legal experience, it can be confusing to figure out how to get started on your claim. For starters, it is best to focus on building a strong demand letter that you will send to the restaurant's insurance.
In this letter the three most import things you can include are:
- A detailed description of what happened during the accident. Why were you visiting the restaurant that day? What were you doing before the accident occurred? To the best of your knowledge, what happened and why? What was the response of workers after your accident? All of this should be included.
- Evidence of the accident. Include photographs of the scene, statements from any witnesses, photos of your injury or any damaged goods, and anything else to support your claim.
- Evidence supporting the amount requested for compensation. Provide any and all medical tests and bills that demonstrate how much you had to pay to recover from your injury. You can also include checks from work that demonstrate any wages lost during recovery.
After organizing your demand letter in proper legal format, you are ready file your personal injury claim.
If Your Claim Goes to Deposition
After sending your letter, it will be the restaurant's job to review your claim and perform their own analysis of the accident. Even though your claim should include as many details about the accident as possible, they may want to ask further questions during what’s known as a “deposition”.
By answering questions truthfully and thoroughly, the restaurant will better understand your side of the story, and hopefully resolve the case by providing you the compensation you deserve.
Personal Injury Attorneys
Winning a personal injury claim can take many months and more than a few tries in some cases. This can be a stressful process, especially after recovering from serious injury. For the best chance at getting full compensation as fast as possible, a personal injury attorney is the way to go.
Their legal expertise and negotiation ability is unmatched in PI cases, and especially useful should your case go to deposition or a full court date.
Even better, they only take payment if they win your case, ensuring the will fight as hard as possible on your behalf.
*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 Applebee's, or any other party, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
