Kissimmee Slip & Fall Lawyer
Serving Osceola County
Slip and fall accidents are common, often embarrassing, incidents that happen every day. They can also cause severe injuries, including broken bones, back and neck injuries, head injuries, facial lacerations, strains, sprains and muscle tears. Slip and fall accidents send one million people to the emergency room every year. Falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries and are responsible for deaths in the tens of thousands annually. For those over 65, falls are the leading cause of accidental injury and death.
Slip and fall accidents happen everywhere: supermarkets, shopping centers, restaurants, hotels, theme parks, apartment complexes and private homes. Property owners everywhere have a duty to keep their premises reasonably safe for their customers, guests and other members of the public who might lawfully come on to their property. When preventable slip and fall accidents happen because of the property owner’s negligence, the injury victim can recover compensation for the resulting damage. Getting this compensation, however, requires proving certain facts about the property owner’s negligence while fending off attacks from the owner’s insurance company that the accident victim is somehow to blame.
At Draper Law Office, our Kissimmee slip & fall lawyers have decades of experience helping injury victims in Osceola County recover money damages to compensate them for harm caused by another’s negligence. We can help you by building a strong case that proves the property owner’s liability and responsibility to you. We’ll represent you in dealing with the insurance company and getting you an adequate settlement or take your case to court if necessary to get a good result on your behalf. Call our office if you or a loved one have been injured on someone else’s dangerous property.
What Types of Slip and Fall Cases Do You Take?
Our personal injury law firm takes on all types of slip and fall accidents in communities in and around Osceola County, including Kissimmee, Davenport, and Celebration. A slip and fall most often occurs due to the presence of water or other liquid creating a slippery surface. Our attorneys also handle trip and fall cases involving holes in parking lot surfaces, unmarked elevation changes, uneven surfaces, cracks and broken steps. Some of the most common causes for a slip and fall or trip and fall include:
- Spilled liquids
- Puddling or condensation around refrigerators, ice machines or frozen food aisles
- Tracked-in rain or lakewater
- Broken steps
- Broken or missing handrails
- Malfunctioning or mis-leveled elevators and escalators
- Holes in parking lots, sidewalks
- Objects in aisles
- Objects falling from shelves
- Torn carpets
- Missing or mislaid floor mats
- Unmarked steps, ramps or inclines
How Do Slip and Fall Claims in Florida Work?
Property owners have a duty to keep their premises reasonably safe. This means fixing broken areas or cleaning up spills within a reasonable amount of time. If a danger can’t be fixed right away, the owner (or manager, employee, etc.) should put up a sign or other warning to help people stay safe. This duty applies to any dangerous condition the owner actually knew about or should have known about. In other words, the owner is expected to stay informed about the condition of the property and be aware of hazards that may come about and pose a danger to the public.
If successful on a claim, the slip and fall victim will be able to recover compensation for all of the harm inflicted, including medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, impairment, scarring or disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment in life. In the case of a fatal slip and fall, the surviving family members can pursue a wrongful death claim and recover compensation for medical and funeral expenses, mental pain and suffering, the value of lost support and services, and loss of companionship.
To recover this compensation, the injury victim will have to be able the property owner knew or should have known about the condition, yet failed to fix it or warn about it in time. Proving these facts can be challenging. When the hazard is a temporary one, such as a liquid spill, store owners claim they didn’t have time to learn about the condition before the accident happened. If the danger is more lasting, such as a broken step, owners often claim the danger was obvious and should have been avoided by an attentive customer. In other words, they’ll say the victim’s own negligence was at least partly to blame. This defense can be used to lessen the amount of money they have to pay or even avoid any liability at all.
The slip and fall attorneys at Draper Law Office know how to investigate a slip and fall accident and gather the evidence needed to prove the property owner’s liability while defending the victim from unfounded allegations that their own negligence is to blame. With the best information in hand, we’ll negotiate a full and fair settlement or take your case into court if necessary.
Florida Slip & Fall FAQs
I slipped, fell and injured myself while shopping in a grocery store. What should I do?
A) Try to determine what the substance was that caused you to slip and fall, the size of the area affected by the substance, how the substance got onto the floor, and whether there were any signs or warnings in the immediate area;
B) Get the names/addresses of any witnesses, including store clerks;
C) Report the incident to the Store Manager before leaving the store;
D) Seek medical attention if your injured;
E) Try to get a copy of the store’s Incident Report;
F) Take photographs of the area where you fell and of your injuries, including abrasions, lacerations and bruises.
Will the grocery store pay for my lost wages and injuries?
Not necessarily. Just because you are injured on someone else’s premises does not mean that they are automatically liable. In order to recover, you must be able to prove fault on the part of the grocery store, i.e., that the dangerous condition was created by a store employee or faulty store equipment, or that the dangerous condition existed for a sufficient period of time within which it should have been discovered and cleaned/corrected or at least required warnings to alert store customers. Photographs and eyewitnesses can be helpful in proving fault on the part of the store.
Will the grocery store pay for my medical bills?
Not necessarily. Just because you are injured on someone else’s premises does not mean that they are automatically liable. Some businesses do carry medical payments coverage, which provides limited coverage for the payment of medical bills without regard to fault; however, most businesses do not carry such insurance coverage. In those cases, you will have to rely upon your own health insurance coverage or pay such expenses out of your pocket. If it is ultimately determined that the store was at fault, then it will be responsible to reimburse you for your medical expenses.
Call Draper Law Office After a Slip and Fall in Kissimmee or Osceola County
For help after a slip and fall accident in Osceola County, call the experienced, dedicated, and aggressive Kissimmee slip & fall lawyers at Draper Law Office for a free consultation at 407-846-0075.
