It seems incredulous to you. Mall security arranged for an ambulance to take you to a nearby hospital. Subsequently, your cellphone started lighting up with all kinds of missed calls from an unknown number. When you check the messages, you discover it’s a risk management company. They want to know the circumstances of your fall.
At this point, you sense you should be on alert. You have huge deductibles on your health insurance. Admittedly, you live paycheck to paycheck and have no idea where you’re coming up with the money to pay for your medical bills.
You remember someone telling you that you should never speak with an insurance company without consulting with an attorney first. Frankly, you’ve never been in this situation before and don’t understand the harm in simply telling the truth.
Before you do anything, think back to the advice that popped into your head. Why forego experienced legal advice concerning your fall-down accident? After all, it is complimentary. Frankly, you might be surprised. Inevitably, you’ll be asked if you slipped and fell or tripped and fell. Candidly, most people use the terms interchangeably.
The Differences in Fall-Down Accidents
Fall-down accidents are generally divided into two types of categories. Many people think of a slip and fall as something that occurs on a wet, shiny, or icy surface. For example, there’s always the chance of slipping and falling on a banana peel. You could also slip and fall on a small round object left in your path.
However, here’s what you might not know. The dynamics of your fall are related to physics. When you slip and fall, your feet go forward. In the meantime, your body is propelled backward. You may have tried to break your fall and landed on your arm, fracturing it in the process. Here are some other types of injuries that are often a result of slip and fall accidents:
- Head trauma
- Back and neck problems
- Bone fractures
- Spinal cord injuries
- Fatality
Be that as it may, a trip and fall accident involves a different set of circumstances. You could trip and fall because of uneven sidewalk pavement. Meanwhile, you could trip and fall over a garden hose or some other obstruction. You could trip and fall down steps. The idea is that something in front of you is impeding your walkway. In almost all cases, when you trip, you fall forward.
That’s not to say that you cannot encounter some of the same injuries from both a trip and fall or a slip and fall. However, you should know that the insurance company may try to discredit your claim. In doing so, they may suggest that your injuries do not match your description of the accident. This insurance claims article may give you some insight into determining cause and effect of your accident.
Notwithstanding, an experienced premises liability attorney will conduct an extensive investigation to prove how the incident occurred. Many times, an engineer will be called to evaluate the scene and provide an expert report and testimony.
We Can Help
If you or a loved one was injured in a fall-down accident, our office can help. Contact the Law Offices of Anthony Carbone to schedule an appointment.