10 Tips for Negotiating a Higher Slip and Fall Settlement

Here are tips to get the insurance company to cover all your expenses after a slip and fall accident.

Premises liability claims are among the most common types of insurance claims. Slip and fall accidents happen every day, caused by wet floors, icy sidewalks, and other hazards.

If you’ve been hurt by a property owner’s carelessness, you expect a fair settlement for your damages. Most of the time that means dealing with the owner’s insurance company.

Settling a personal injury claim without a lawyer can be tricky, but you can do it successfully with a little negotiating know-how.

The first phase of negotiations is for the measurable economic losses you suffered as a result of your injuries. The second phase involves negotiating compensation for the pain and suffering you endured because of your injuries.

Here are some tips you can use to successfully negotiate a fair settlement amount for your medical bills and other economic losses.

Tip 1: Don’t Leave Before Reporting the Slip and Fall

Accidents happen fast. One minute you’re heading over to a display of summer fruits, and the next minute you’re flat on the floor in a puddle of water.

It’s embarrassing to fall down in public. Looking up from the floor to see strangers staring at you can be mortifying. Resist the temptation to struggle to your feet and limp straight out the door.

Leaving the scene of the accident without a word will make it difficult to link your injury claim to a dangerous condition at the property. The insurance company may outright deny a later claim.

Immediately report the accident to management. Get the names of the manager and staff, and ask the manager for the store’s insurance information. Also ask to file an official incident report, which creates a written record of what happened.

Tip 2: Watch What You Say at the Scene

After a sudden violent fall, especially in a public place like a convenience store or sidewalk, the shock and embarrassment can mask symptoms of injuries.

It’s easy to say the wrong thing when you’re embarrassed and shaken up from a fall, and you might even feel sorry for the manager who rushed over to help you up.

Don’t make statements that could compromise your injury claim, such as:

  • “I’m okay, just my pride was hurt.”
  • “I should have watched where I was going.”
  • “That’s what I get for wearing new shoes.”

The insurance company will question the building personnel and other witnesses to see if you made any “admissions against interest,” meaning statements you made that they can use against you.

If the property owner or manager asks if you’re injured, it’s okay to say, “I landed hard,” or “I’m not sure if I’m okay.” If they persist, you can say, “Please stop asking me if I’m all right.”

Tip 3: Seek Immediate Medical Attention

Never refuse or delay medical treatment after a slip and fall injury. If too much time passes between the injury and treatment, the insurance company may deny your claim, arguing your injuries were not caused by their insured.

If someone called 911 when you fell, let the paramedics evaluate you at the scene. If paramedics want to transport you to the emergency room, don’t argue. If circumstances don’t warrant an ambulance, see your primary care provider or go to an urgent care center, preferably the same day as the fall.

Tell any treatment providers exactly when, where, and how you were injured. Your medical records must link your injuries to the slip and fall accident.

Tip 4: Ask for Surveillance Video Footage

Most buildings open to the public have security cameras. If there is video footage of your injury event, it will be key evidence in your slip and fall case.

The sooner you ask for surveillance footage, the better. Some security camera systems only retain images for a few days. Tell the building owner or manager that you want copies of all footage from the day of your injury, and you expect them to preserve the footage from that day.

Follow up with a written notice of your injury claim and demand for preservation of evidence related to your injury claim, including security camera footage for the day of your fall.

You likely won’t be able to get your hands on the footage without a subpoena, but your written notice should keep them from destroying it. If you end up filing a personal injury lawsuit, your attorney will file a subpoena for the footage.

Tip 5: Gather Medical Bills and Records

You’ll need to request copies of medical records and bills from every provider who diagnosed and treated your slip and fall injuries.

Your providers might include:

  • Ambulance services
  • Hospital emergency room charges
  • Emergency room physician bills
  • Imaging facility bills for X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs
  • Radiologists
  • Primary care doctor bills
  • Specialists, like an orthopedist
  • Chiropractic services
  • Physical therapy bills

Also gather receipts for all out-of-pocket expenses, such as:

  • Medications
  • Bandages
  • Medical equipment like crutches, neck braces, canes, and wheelchairs
  • Parking fees and mileage for travel to medical appointments

Get the full bill for every medical expense, even if your private health insurance paid some of it. You’ll seek compensation for the total cost of your expenses, not just what you paid out-of-pocket.

Tip 6: Account for Lost Income

The insurance company won’t compensate you for lost income unless you have a doctor’s order to excuse you from work and a lost wage statement from your employer.

Your employer’s wage verification statement should detail the days you missed, your rate of pay, and any overtime opportunities or earning capacity you lost while restricted from working. You’re also entitled to recover the value of any personal leave or sick days you had to use because of your injury.

Tip 7: Be Ready to Prove Negligence

Getting hurt on someone else’s property does not automatically entitle you to compensation. You will have to prove the at-fault party was negligent.

If you prove negligence, and a business or individual is found liable for your injuries, they must compensate you for the costs you incurred and the pain and suffering you endured.

Property owners are only responsible for your injuries if you can show:

  1. They knew or should have known of a hazard
  2. They neglected to remove the hazard or warn others
  3. You were injured because of their negligence

You have to prove the property owner’s negligence was the direct and proximate cause of your injuries. In other words, you must show that if not for the owner’s negligence, you would not have been hurt.

Prove your case with evidence such as:

  • Witness statements, like another store patron’s testimony that they had complained about the hazard hours before you were injured
  • Photographs and videos, such as surveillance video that shows store employees stretching an electrical cord across an aisle without any warning signs
  • Building code violations, such as tattered carpeting, missing handrails, or broken stairs

The insurance adjuster will try their best to limit their insured’s liability for your injuries, often by trying to pin some of the blame on you.

For example, if you fell at a bar or nightclub, the adjuster might say you fell because you were intoxicated, or that you would not have been injured as badly if you weren’t already unsteady on your feet.

A signed statement from friends that you were the designated driver, lab work from the hospital with no evidence of drugs or alcohol, or your tab for the night showing you only had a glass of wine with dinner, are all examples of evidence showing you did not contribute to causing your injury.

Tip 8: Justify Your Medical Bills

The insurance company will only agree to pay the bills for reasonable medical care. Adjusters are always skeptical of soft-tissue injury claims, especially when chiropractors are involved.

When you’ve seen a respected physician, who ordered a few x-rays or scans to rule out more serious injuries, followed by conservative treatment, the adjuster is likely to sign off on those bills without question. On the other hand, if you were diagnosed with a few bruises and a sprained ankle, the adjuster will not pay for six months’ worth of massage and whirlpool therapy.

Insurance companies have the latest information on the “standard medical practice” for diagnosis and treatment of common injuries. Extensive therapies that feel good may not be medically necessary from an insurance standpoint, and you might be on the hook for those bills.

Study your medical records and learn what the terms in your doctor’s notes mean. You should be able to tell the adjuster how you were injured, the scope of your injuries, and why the tests and treatments ordered by your provider were medically necessary.

It helps to create a medical care summary of your records. Your summary will be like a timeline of what happened at each medical appointment that justified further testing or treatment. Your timeline should include the date of each event and the name of the medical provider who made each decision about your care.

Tip 9: Don’t Take it Personally

Your slip and fall claim is just another day in the office for the insurance adjuster. Their job is to resolve your claim quickly, for as little money as possible.

They won’t hesitate to offer you a ridiculously low slip and fall settlement just to test the waters. Don’t take it personally. If you lose your cool, you might give the adjuster the kind of information they can leverage against you.

Adjusters love to know if:

  • You are struggling financially
  • You aren’t sure of your claim’s value
  • You’re in a hurry to settle

A low initial settlement offer is a common step in the negotiation process. Because you’ve done your homework, you’re prepared to move forward without getting rattled.

By continuing to negotiate with patience and persistence, you should be able to get the adjuster to agree to pay your reasonable medical bills and other hard costs.

Tip 10: Consult with a Personal Injury Attorney

Lots of slip and fall victims consult an experienced personal injury lawyer from the start, but it’s okay to wait. You can talk to an attorney at any time throughout the settlement negotiation process.

Sometimes negotiations break down, or the adjuster throws a curveball you weren’t expecting. If this happens, don’t hesitate to get the help you need.

Watch out for your state’s statute of limitations. If you fail to file a lawsuit before the deadline runs out, you forfeit your right to injury compensation.

Serious injury cases and injuries that occur on public or government property are best handled by an experienced attorney. These cases can get complicated, and claim filing deadlines for government agencies can be as little as a few months.

Most law firms offer a free consultation to injury victims. There’s no obligation on your part, so you can interview more than one attorney to find the right fit for your personal injury case.