Slip and Fall Accidents Without Surgery

Whether it’s a misstep on a slick sidewalk or an unexpected tumble down the stairs, slip and fall accidents can result in a variety of injuries. Minor injuries such as sprains, strains, and bruises are very common in these types of accidents. Even if you believe your injury is only minor, you may still be able to pursue legal action.

If you experienced a slip and fall but your injuries did not require surgery, you may be wondering whether you can still pursue legal action, and how much your claim is worth. In this article, we will answer these questions and offer practical advice for victims of slip and fall accidents without surgery. Call our team of slip and fall accident attorneys at The Barnes Firm today for a free consultation.

The Most Common Slip and Fall Injuries

Slip and fall accidents can result in various injuries, each with specific implications for the victim. While some injuries may not require surgery, they can still significantly impact a person’s daily life. Here are some of the most prevalent non-surgical slip and fall injuries:

• Sprains and Strains: Sprains and strains are extremely common in slip and falls. A sprain occurs when a ligament, the tissue that connects bones at a joint, is stretched or torn, while a strain involves the stretching or tearing of a muscle or tendon. While these injuries may not require surgery, both can cause immense pain, discomfort, and a long recovery period.
• Concussions and Other Head Injuries: Traumatic brain injuries can be serious, but many head injuries, like concussions, usually do not require surgery. However, they can still carry significant implications, potentially impacting cognitive function, sensory perception, memory, and balance.
• Contusions and Hematomas: Contusions refer to deep tissue bruising, while hematomas involve blood collection outside blood vessels. These injuries often occur on the arms, legs, hips, and buttocks and can cause visible discoloration, tenderness, pain, and even mobility issues.
• Minor Fractures: While some bone fractures require surgery, hairline fractures and other minor breaks can be treated with minimal intervention, such as casts or splints. Common areas for fractures resulting from a slip and fall include wrists, fingers, ankles, and hips.
• Dislocations: Dislocations occur when the bones in a joint are forced out of their normal positions. This can lead to severe pain, swelling, and a noticeable deformity in the affected joint. Dislocations frequently occur in shoulders, elbows, and knees in slip and falls.
• Back and Neck Injuries: Back and neck injuries are common in slip and falls, ranging from strains and sprains to herniated discs. Additionally, whiplash is frequently associated with sudden, forceful movements, such as those experienced in a fall.

How Non-Surgical Injuries Impact a Case

Those who have suffered non-surgical injuries in a slip and fall accident may wonder whether they still have grounds to pursue legal action. Generally, when negligence leads to a slip and fall, victims are entitled to compensation for their losses regardless of the severity of the injury. This means that you may have grounds to pursue a claim against the at-fault party if you suffered any financial or emotional damages due to a fall, whether you had surgery or not.

However, the extent and severity of these damages will likely impact the settlement amount. When injuries resulting from slip and falls require invasive procedures, the medical bills are often higher, translating to greater financial loss to the victim. This means they may be entitled to more compensation than someone whose injuries did not require surgery. Non-surgical injuries can still be severe, necessitating other kinds of medical treatments, doctor’s visits, and prescription medication, all of which present financial burdens.

Proving Negligence in a Slip and Fall Case

Victims of slip and fall accidents are within their rights to pursue compensation for minor and severe injuries. However, when it comes to filing a slip and fall claim, it falls on the claimant and their legal representation to prove that the negligence of another party led to the accident.

Establishing negligence is one of the most important aspects of any slip and fall case, and involves demonstrating that the property owner or responsible party failed to uphold their duty of care to provide a safe environment. A thorough investigation, proper documentation, and legal expertise are key to establishing negligence and building a compelling argument for your claim.

Grounds for Slip-and-Fall Claims in New York

You can sue for a slip and fall accident if there are hazards on another person’s property that lead to the injury. Slip and fall claims fall under personal injury laws in New York when victims sustain physical harm and incur financial losses. When you fall on someone’s property due to a hazardous condition, it becomes a slip-and-fall accident. 

Here’s how you can tell if you have a slip-and-fall claim:

Presence of Unsafe Conditions

Slip-and-fall’s foundation revolves around a property hazard that contributed to the accident. Examples of hazardous conditions that warrant a slip and fall claim include:

• Slippery floors
• Debris on public walkways
• Poorly maintained handrails
• Wet walking areas

Property Owner Knew About the Hazard

When a property owner is aware of a hazardous condition, it allows the debate for reasonable safety measures. Even so, proving that the property owner knew about the hazard presents a challenge. A trusted slip-and-fall accident attorney can provide legal insights for solving your case. 

Property Owner Did Not Warn People About the Hazard

Property owners should warn guests, customers, and visitors that a hazard exists and do their best to keep them from the area. Poorly placed hazards or warnings may constitute negligence on the property owner’s part.

Grounds for Slip-and-Fall Claims in California

A slip and fall claim falls under premises liability law. Some slip-and-fall accidents do not automatically qualify for claims. The accident should have occurred due to someone else’s negligence, providing a basis for an injured victim to recover damages.

A property owner is negligent for a slip and falls if they:

• Knew or should have known about a hazard through reasonable care
• Failed to fix, protect against, or provide adequate protection about the warning

You can initiate a slip and fall claim due to the following causes:

• Leaks or spills
• Failure to cordon off construction sites or post hazard or warning signs
• Broken Furniture
• Loose cables or cords
• Uneven floors or loose carpets

Settlement Amounts for Slip and Fall Accidents Without Surgery

As mentioned earlier, the severity of injuries sustained can potentially impact the settlement amount of a slip-and-fall case. However, while the absence of surgical intervention may suggest less severe injuries, non-surgical injuries can still significantly impact a person’s life and finances. For instance, sprains, strains, or minor fractures may put you out of work for weeks, translating to lost wages and possibly reduced future working capacity.

Contusions and hematomas can make it difficult to sit down or sleep without significant pain, requiring expensive prescription medications. Furthermore, pain and suffering are often included in personal injury claims, compensating victims for the physical and emotional hardships they face and financial losses.

Factors that Impact the Value of Your Claim

Injured victims of slip and fall accidents who do not require surgery often incur fewer losses compared to those who need surgery. Several factors influence the value of a slip and fall accident case, including:

Severity of the Injury

Understandably, the value of a slip-and-fall accident claim correlates with the severity of your injury. The value of an ankle sprain injury is likely to be lower than a spinal cord injury, which may involve surgery, specialist care, rehabilitation, and long-term care.

If you sustain a spinal cord injury, the physical harm may also cause your mental health to deteriorate. For instance, you may suffer depression or anxiety if you have paralysis or other disabilities from your injury.

An injury that takes a toll on your mental health might result in a higher settlement amount to cover therapy, emotional anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Long-Term Impact on Your Life

In addition to the past losses, the settlement value of a slip-and-fall accident considers the future impact of the injury. Suppose you break a hip and it affects your ability to walk, necessitating a wheelchair. In that case, the settlement value may include permanent disability benefits to help you cope with the long-term impact of the injury.

Pre-existing Injuries

If you had a pre-existing injury that worsened after a slip-and-fall accident, the value of your case may be affected. Consider providing your attorney with documentation and a medical history of the injury. The insurance company or court will consider how the slip-and-fall accident worsened the injury and the resulting loss.

Contribution to the Accident

If you were partially at fault for the accident, your contribution percentage may impact the value of the slip-and-fall settlement. Some states use the comparative negligence doctrine. This means the damages of an injured victim are reduced proportionally to the contribution.

Calculating Economic Damages

Economic damages represent the victim’s financial losses related to the accident. These damages make up a large percentage of a slip-and-fall settlement. More importantly, there is a direct dollar amount for each economic damage. Some economic damages you can obtain in a slip-and-fall settlement include medical expenses, lost wages, and out-of-pocket expenses.

Calculating medical expenses can be as easy as adding up the following costs:

• Surgical costs
• Ambulance service fee
• Emergency room costs
• Medications
• Physician bill
• Charges related to diagnostic and lab tests
• Medical equipment

Calculating Non-economic Damages

Non-economic damages refer to the intangible losses an injured victim suffers due to the accident. These damages mostly compensate injured victims for the emotional anguish and suffering that victims endure.

Examples of non-economic losses include:

• Emotional distress
• Loss of quality of life
• Depression and anxiety
• Permanent Disability
• Loss of companionship

Putting a direct dollar amount on the non-economic damages you sustained can be challenging. However, developing an estimated value is necessary to pursue compensation from the at-fault party.

Insurers and attorneys apply the following methods to estimate non-economic damages.

The Per Diem Formula

Under the per diem formula, an insurer can allocate damages based on daily earnings at your current job. You’ll receive the daily rate every day that the injury causes you pain and suffering, preventing you from returning to work.

For instance, you sustained a broken hip following a slip and fall accident and were unable to resume work for 100 days. If you make an annual salary of $40,000 in your current job, your daily rate will be $160 for the 250 working days per year. Since you could not work for 100 days, your pain and suffering award would be $16,000.

The Multiplier Method

Under the multiplier method, an insurer multiplies the economic damages by a specific number to determine non-economic damages. The multiplier is based on the severity and permanence of the injury.

Usually, the multiplier factor ranges from 1.5 to 5, with those who sustained severe and long-term injuries qualifying for a higher multiplier.

Determining the value of a multiplier depends on the strength of your case. If there are questions on the at-fault party’s liability or your injury not lasting long, you may be closer to a multiplier of 1.5.

If your answer to most of these questions is yes, the applicable multiplier will likely be higher.

• Is the at-fault party 100% at-fault for the accident and the injuries?
• Did you sustain a disfigurement?
• Do you have solid evidence for your injuries?
• Does your physical harm disrupt your daily life?
• Can a healthcare provider verify your injuries?
• Are there doubts about the cause of your injuries?
• Is your family suffering because of your injuries?
• Does your injury cause weakness, limited movement, or discomfort?

How To Protect Your Rights After a Slip-and-Fall Accident Without Surgery

A slip-and-fall accident attorney can help the injured victim obtain compensation for their financial losses. Many believe hiring an attorney is only if their case goes to trial. On the contrary, the input of an attorney is central to your efforts to protect your rights. 

A few ways an attorney can help your case include:

• Establish Liability: An attorney can investigate your case and establish liability on the property owner’s part. They can investigate the cause of your slip and fall accident and determine if the owner or manager contributed to the incident.
• Evaluate the Merits of Settlement Offers: Insurance companies quickly make settlement offers immediately after receiving a claim. An attorney will evaluate the merits of your case and ensure it covers your injury-related losses. If necessary, an attorney can demonstrate the extent of your losses and negotiate for a better value that matches your losses.
• Represent You If the Case Goes to Trial: If negotiations with insurance companies fail, an attorney can litigate slip-and-fall claims in court. An attorney can comply with statute of limitations guidelines and submit required paperwork.

How To Maximize Your Slip and Fall Settlements Without Surgery

Once you’ve decided to file a slip-and-fall lawsuit or insurance claim, pursuing a maximum settlement value will enhance your chances of recovering from the injury.  Many injured victims obtain compensation from the insurer of the at-fault party. However, working with an experienced slip-and-fall accident attorney is crucial in building a case that maximizes your settlement amount.

Additionally, the following tips can help maximize your settlement amount:

• Preserve accident-related injury
• Get prompt medical attention and adhere to the treatment plan
• Carefully evaluate the value of your claim with the help of an attorney
• Don’t be too eager to accept a settlement offer. Wait until you are fully healed to settle
• Consider future losses with your attorney

Are Slip and Fall Settlements Without Surgery Taxable?

According to IRC Section 104(a)(2), damages from personal injuries, including slip-and-fall accidents, are tax-exempt, except for punitive damages. This means that the federal government doesn’t tax the settlement; the funds compensate you for injury-related losses.

Similarly, states do not tax recipients for slip-and-fall settlements. However, certain damages may be taxable, including:

• Punitive damages
• Awards for lost income
• Interest on personal injury settlement
• Previously deducted medical costs

According to the IRS, the above elements of your settlement amount count as income. This makes them subject to applicable tax rates.

Speak to the Personal Injury Attorneys at The Barnes Firm

At The Barnes Firm, our dedicated personal injury attorneys believe that non-surgical injuries resulting from a slip and fall accident should be taken just as seriously as surgical ones. If you or a loved one experienced a slip and fall accident due to negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Even if your injuries are seemingly minor. Contact our knowledgeable legal team today to find out if your case is actionable. We can answer your questions and provide invaluable insights into your legal options. Schedule your no-risk consultation by calling us today.

Richard Barnes – President of The Barnes Firm

Richard Barnes: “As President of The Barnes Firm, I have dedicated my career to achieving justice in hundreds of cases for the victims of injuries caused through the fault of others. Additionally, I have been honored to have been elected Best Lawyer and a Super Lawyer”

Years of Experience: 30+ years
LinkedIn Profile: Richard Barnes