What You Should Do if You Get Injured on Someone's Property?

Opinion

By Allen Brown

Nobody wants to be in an accident because, aside from being inconvenient, it can also take awhile for you to heal from your injuries too. In addition, you can lose a substantial amount of income because of failing to go to work or having your injury treated properly until it heals.

But what if the accident happens on the property of someone else? Would the property owner be held liable for your injuries?

Should You Get in Touch with a Lawyer?

Yes, but not immediately. Before you seek the advice of a legal professional, or better yet, a premises liability lawyer, you need to evaluate your case first and establish if you have a basis for a lawsuit against the property owners. However, it will be better if you first perform the steps outlined below on what to do if you get injured on someone’s property.

Seek Medical Attention

One of the primary things that you need to do should you sustain injuries on someone’s property is to seek medical attention immediately. This is true regardless of whether your injuries are apparent or not. The reason behind this is that there are instances wherein you won’t feel anything wrong right after the accident.

Sometimes your body’s aches and pains become obvious only a couple of days after you have been injured. There are even cases wherein the symptoms manifest months after the accident happens. Make sure to keep a copy of your medical bills, as well as all the medications that have been prescribed for your treatment.

Take Pictures

If you can manage to do so, make sure to take pictures of the scene at the time of your accident. The purpose of this is to document the hazardous condition of the property, if applicable, that most likely led you, and potentially others in the future, to accidents such as what you have experienced. Later on, your photographs will prove to be a valuable piece of evidence for your case.

File an Incident Report

In the case that the property is a business establishment, make sure to inform the property manager or the security officer of your accident so they will be able to file an incident report accordingly. In the same manner, if medical personnel attend to you, make sure that you secure a copy of their medical report too. If you can, secure the copies of the reports before you leave the premises where your accident happened. These are also key pieces of evidence that will make your case stronger later on.

When you get injured on someone’s property, make sure to focus on the healing of your injuries first. Alongside this, gather as much evidence as you can to make your case strong because, in this way, you will be assured that you will obtain appropriate compensation as applicable or needed. As soon as you are committed to filing the case, make sure that you work with seasoned lawyers who specialize in handling the case such as yours to ensure that you are able to maximize your claim later on as appropriate.