The value of slip and fall settlements can vary greatly. It depends on the severity of your injuries and whether or not the property owner accepts responsibility for your injury.
Economic damages and noneconomic losses are the two types of damages. Medical costs, missed income, and diminished future earning ability are all examples of economic harms that may be quantified in money. Noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, are more challenging to calculate.
Severity of Injuries
One of the main variables affecting the amount of a slip and fall settlement is the seriousness of your injuries. Significant monetary damages that the settlement will cover include costs for operations, rehabilitation sessions, continuous prescription medications, and past and future medical expenditures.
Non-monetary losses like pain and suffering significantly influence the value of your claim. Serious injuries could have long-term effects that keep affecting your quality of life. For instance, a serious head injury may leave behind long-term neurological deficits, recurrent concussion symptoms, or a persistent headache. These circumstances will greatly impact your life, thus you should receive more compensation.
The revenue you lost by missing work due to your injury is another big loss you can recoup. This might cover lost pay and other perks your company may have offered, such as retirement and health insurance.
In addition to these economic losses, you can also pursue compensation for other significant financial impacts of your accident, such as emotional distress and physical pain. These are often measured using a multiplier formula similar to monetary damages. For example, a sprained knee might receive a 1X multiplier, while a traumatic brain injury could be assigned a 5X multiplier.
Liability
When calculating the value of slip and fall settlements, there is no one-size-fits-all equation. The value of a claim depends on several factors, including the severity of the injuries, long-term consequences, and pain and suffering. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help determine how much your claim is worth.
The first factor to consider is the number of medical bills incurred due to the accident. These costs can include the cost of an ambulance ride, a week in the hospital, surgery, visits to a neurologist, prescription medication, and physical therapy sessions.
You will also need to take into account the loss of future earnings. Injuries resulting from a slip and fall can range from a sprained ankle to a broken back, so the specifics of your injury will need to be carefully considered. Your lawyer will also likely want to investigate circumstances that led to the incident, if for example something such as a wet floor was not signposted clearly, then your accident may have been a slip or fall caused by negligence. An experienced lawyer will recognise this as part of the evidence and argue that your injuries were entirely avoidable, however they can only do this if you work quickly to gather all the possible evidence you can for your lawyer.
It’s important to gather evidence, such as security camera footage, photos from the scene, and eyewitness testimony, as soon as possible after your accident. Delays in gathering this information could mean that it’s lost or destroyed forever. This evidence proves that the property owner was negligent and should be held accountable for your injury. Sometimes, the owner may be liable for punitive damages due to extreme negligence or intentional misconduct.
Pain and Suffering
Depending on the severity of your injury and its impact on your life moving forward, you may be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering. These non-monetary damages are a component of the overall value of your settlement and can include mental distress, emotional anguish, and other factors contributing to your quality of life.
Several things can lead to the need for compensation for pain and suffering, including a medical diagnosis like a TBI or spinal cord injury, lost wages from missed work due to your injuries, and more. Your attorney will help you account for all of these financial costs that directly result from your accident.
You may also recover compensation for incidental expenses, such as gas money to get to and from doctor’s appointments or parking fees you had to pay while out of work, if applicable. You can also receive a portion of the wages you would have earned had you not been forced to miss work due to your injury, which your attorney will verify using a paycheck stub or other verifiable source.
You can also seek compensation for future financial losses, such as more operations or continuing medical care required to stop problems from your injury. Your lawyer will consult with medical professionals to estimate the cost of these required expenditures.
Long-Term Consequences of Injuries
Non-monetary losses like pain and suffering significantly influence the value of your claim. Serious injuries could have long-term effects that keep affecting your quality of life. For instance, a serious head injury may leave behind long-term neurological deficits, recurrent concussion symptoms, or a persistent headache. These circumstances will greatly impact your life, thus you should receive more money in compensation.
These medical costs are part of your damages and can be a major factor in determining the value of your slip and fall settlement. Having actual monetary documentation of your losses, such as medical bills, pay stubs, and receipts for transportation and lodging when you receive out-of-town care, can help build a solid case for your compensation.
The severity of your injuries also impacts the value of your claim. Severe injuries are more likely to cause future loss of income. For instance, if you have a permanent spinal cord injury, you won’t be able to return to your previous occupations and will likely require around-the-clock care.
Additionally, you may need to switch jobs to accommodate your injury or learn new skills to find a job that can pay the bills. These future losses are also a part of your damages.
