If you’ve ever had the misfortune of slipping and falling in a place of business, you know that it could be months recovering from the injuries sustained. While seniors are most at risk for broken bones, especially the hip bones, when falling, anyone can sustain a broken bone or worse. Some people hit their head when falling and others may even get cut in the process. If the business offers to settle out of court, should you? Probably not, and here’s why.
They Are Usually Only Willing to Settle for a Lesser Amount
Actually, you are dealing with an insurance company most of the time when filing a slip and fall claim against a business. They, by law, carry liability insurance and so it would be their insurance provider that you will be dealing with. Bear in mind that insurance underwriters are in business to make money, so they really don’t like to pay high dollar claims. The more they pay, the lower their profits are and that’s really the bottom line. If they are willing to settle out of court, they will almost always offer a lesser amount, but the fact is, they are willing to settle. That’s a key takeaway here!
They Know You Can Win in Claims Court
Take, for example, a slip and fall claim handled by Romanucci & Blandin against a retailer in the Chicago area. They settlement in court was for half a million dollars, which means the claimant was probably offered much less to settle out of court. You can ask any attorney that handles this kind of claim, and they will tell you that the amount you are offered to settle out of court would most likely be far less than what you are entitled to, especially if negligence was the cause of your fall and subsequent injury. The reason for hiring an attorney in the first place is to get the just compensation you deserve, so don’t settle for anything less than your attorney advises you to accept.
Haste Makes Waste
As the old proverb goes, “Haste makes waste.”. In this situation, you may have been severely injured, keeping you out of work for an extended period of time. You are anxious to catch up on all those bills you’ve become delinquent in, so you are willing to take the first amount they are willing to offer. If there is any way at all possible that you can hold out a bit longer, it would be in your best interest to do so. Sometimes you can win twice what they are willing to settle for, if not more!
The best advice you can be given is to find expert representation by an experienced and winning attorney. They will tell you what you should be doing and if it is at all feasible to hold out until you bring your case to claims court. There may be times that you will be advised to settle out of court but, for the most part, your attorney would like to bring your claim to litigation in court. If they feel they can win substantially more for you, don’t be too hasty if at all possible. This is a classic example of haste makes waste, so be patient if that’s what you are advised to do.