You Are Entitled to Compensation If You Experienced an Injury
There are two elements to a personal injury case. The defendant must have been negligent, and that negligence must have led to basic economic loss. As a result, you generally cannot sue for slip and fall without physical injuries.
We will explore these elements below. In the meantime, if you suffered an injury from a slip and fall accident, contact us today for a free consultation. The Case Handler® powered by Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, LLP is a premier New York City personal injury law firm. Run by Attorney Adam Handler, our accident and injury practice is focused on helping people who have been injured as a result of negligence or medical malpractice.
What is Negligence?
All of the following must be true for a negligence claim to be filed.
- The premises owner owed a duty to the victim.
- The premises owner breached that duty.
- The breach caused an injury.
- The victim suffered damages.
A store or other property owner has a duty of care to have a hazard-free environment. A slip and fall could be the result of a breach of that duty. However, you must have suffered an injury and basic economic loss to file a claim.
What is Basic Economic Loss?
Section 51102 of New York Civil Code defines basic economic loss.
Basic economic loss includes:
- All necessary medical expenses
- Loss of earnings from work
- All other reasonable and necessary expenses incurred, up to the amount of $25 per day for not more than one year from the date of the accident causing injury.
This law makes clear that you must have sustained an injury to file a personal injury action. A personal injury action is the only way to sue for a slip and fall accident.
Examples of Slip and Fall Accidents
Let’s say there is a water leak that causes a puddle on the floor of a store. If the store could not reasonably have been aware of the leak, such as if it had just occurred, they may not be found to be negligent, even if you sustained injuries. However, if the store knew that there was a problem, or reasonably should have known, then they can be found negligent.
If you sustained injuries in a slip and fall accident, you can sue for all of the basic economic damages listed above, perhaps as well as non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. If you did not sustain injuries but reported the incident to store management making them aware of the hazard, they do not correct it, and the hazard leads to another slip and fall causing injury, negligence is easy to prove.
Contact Us If You Were Injured in a Slip and Fall Accident
As you can see, you must have been injured and that injury must have caused you to sustain basic economic loss to file a personal injury claim. However, if both of those are true, you may be entitled to compensation.
If you were injured in a slip and fall accident, contact The Case Handler today for a free consultation. We have been serving New Yorkers for almost 20 years, with many favorable outcomes for our clients. No matter what type of injury you may have sustained, our goal is the same – to make sure you receive full compensation for your damages, which includes pain and suffering, coverage for all related medical expenses as well as any loss of income resulting from your injury.
