Slip and fall accidents can be quite serious. What can at first seem like no big deal can slowly get worse over time until you can’t walk without pain. Slips and falls can lead to all kinds of long-term injuries as well, which might even force you to find a new job or change the way that you live your life.
There are some steps to take after a slip and fall accident that can help you secure the compensation that you need to recover from your accident. You will almost certainly need to secure a lawyer to help you with your case as well, and the more information that you have collected right after your accident, the better off you will be when it comes time to file a claim or seek a settlement.
What Steps Should I Take After a Slip and Fall in New Mexico?
These steps are essential in any slip and fall scenario. Even if you think you are not hurt that badly, you need to be sure to follow all of these steps to support your ability to seek a settlement for your accident.
1. Seek Medical Care
The first thing that you need to do is make sure that you get to the doctor. You might not even realize just how serious your injuries are at first due to shock. You will need medical care to document your injuries and their severity, and to ensure that you don’t need surgery or other more specialized care. Being able to get in to be seen right away can help prove your case later, and it can also provide essential information that is necessary when it comes time to seek a settlement for your accident.
2. Report the Incident Officially
You will need to request an official incident report from the property owner where your slip and fall happened. This might be a store owner, the hotel manager, or even the owner of a property that you were just passing by on your way to somewhere else. The report will include details about your accident that are needed to deliver a payout or settlement. You probably don’t remember all of the details about the accident itself clearly since you were the one who was hurt. The official report can fill in gaps in the information that you do remember, which is often very important to your case.
3. Document the Scene
If you are not too severely injured, you need to take pictures of the place where you fell and of your injuries as well. Documenting the scene and the events that happened is very helpful to your attorney and to the insurance company. This is one of the things that often gets forgotten during a slip and fall, and the property owner has time to cover up what was wrong, so they can deny your claim once it has been opened up. You don’t want fraud to become part of your claim if at all possible, so documentation is key.
If you cannot document the scene, ask someone who was with you or even a bystander to take some pictures and send them to you. Anyone who was a witness should also provide you with their contact information so that they can make a statement if it’s necessary during your case.
4. Keep Physical Evidence
Be sure that you keep any evidence related to the accident until your claim has been completely closed. If your clothing was damaged in your fall, if your shoe broke, if you have items that were broken during the fall, save all of them until you are told by your lawyer that you can dispose of them. This evidence can provide the proof that is needed to verify that your injury really took place.
5. Document Medical Care
Any and all medical care that you receive related to the incident needs to be documented carefully. This is required by law, but you might need to ask for your medical records to be released to you in order to get access to all of the notes associated with your injury. If you are seeing specialists to help you heal or if you went to a surgeon after your first visit to the ER, the records from these providers also need to be collected and submitted to the insurance company and handed over to your lawyer.
What Will my Lawyer Do During the Case?
Your lawyer will take all of the evidence and make sure that it is clear that the property owner was negligent and caused you to slip and fall. They will collect witness testimony and information, and they will also make sure that your medical diagnosis and records are clearly documented as part of the case. You should not have to struggle to collect all of the documents associated with your claim yourself. Having a legal professional on your side can have a big impact on the success of your claim.
Secure Skilled Legal Guidance if You Have Suffered a Slip and Fall
A slip and fall can change your life in an instant. If you have been hurt due to someone else’s negligence, you need to seek the help of a skilled and experienced lawyer right away. Your lawyer will help you collect information and document your claim correctly so that you can seek a fair settlement for your injuries. You should never have to settle for less than the award amount that you are owed to be able to get back on your feet.
Working with an experienced lawyer can be easier than you might think. You will just need to schedule a consultation with the attorney you have chosen to work with and provide them with the facts of your case. Be honest and clear about what happened and what you know. Your lawyer will work hard to defend you and help you secure the settlement that you need to get back to living your life after your accident.
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