If you have been injured in a store, on someone else’s property, or even your own property, it can be a frightening experience. However, it is important that you stop, gather yourself, and make sure that you collect the proper evidence to help support your claim and, if necessary, a lawsuit.
When you have been injured by an object in a store, or from a slip or fall, there is no dedicated line to call for someone to come out and investigate the situation. Therefore, the evidence collection often falls on you, or a friend or family member you call upon to help you. In these types of incidents, early evidence collection can be the difference between a successful or unsuccessful injury claim or lawsuit. To avoid that situation, our office recommends that you take the following steps to protect yourself:
- If it is safe to do so, take photographs or video of the area around where the incident took place, specifically what caused the incident (i.e., what you fell on, what cut or injured you, etc.). In these types of incidents, the surrounding area is incredibly important and should be completely documented to the best of your ability.
- If you have been injured in a business, once you have documented what caused the incident, move to a safe location, and ask to speak with manager or safety personnel to complete an incident report. If you have been injured on someone else’s property, then, after documenting what caused the incident, step away from the situation, and take the time to write down what has happened. When creating an incident report be sure to include the following information:
- Date, time, and location of the incident
- Names of everyone involved, including witnesses
- Events that led up to the incident
- Environmental conditions (sun, rain, snow, etc.)
- Circumstances of the slip or fall
- Specific injuries
- Damage to equipment or area
- Request that all video footage be collected and saved in anticipation for a possible claim
- While at the scene, take pictures of any visible bruising or other injuries as well as any marks or rips to your clothing. If you have fallen, you should also make sure to photograph the entire outfit you were wearing that day.
- Take the time to look around the general area of the incident and determine if any businesses or homes in the area may have cameras that could have captured the slip or fall. Business or residential cameras usually only retain recordings for 24-72 hours, so if you have been injured in a business, it is important to speak with manager or safety personnel to gather those tapes before the footage is destroyed. If you are having issues gathering the video documentation, it may be in your best interest to involve an attorney quickly because video documentation can be the deciding factor if there is a dispute as to the cause of the fall.
- If there are witnesses to the incident, attempt to get their contact information, including their name and phone number, as well as a brief account of what they saw. Independent witnesses can provide additional credibility to your claim and can be used to help your case if necessary.
If you are transported from the scene via ambulance, you will have to rely on the business or property owner accurately documenting all the information and then potentially creating an incident report that may reflect their best interests rather than yours. However, to protect yourself, you may want to return to the scene after you are released or send a friend or family member to safely document the above information if possible.
Although collecting the information discussed may seem exhausting, having as much information about the incident as possible will allow insurance companies or attorneys to evaluate your claim and/or lawsuit more accurately. Once you have collected the evidence, your next step should be contacting a personal injury attorney that will use that information to protect your interests and provide you with the compensation that you deserve. If you have been injured in a slip or fall and would like to work with the attorneys at Plymale & Dingus, please fill out the contact form on this page or call us at 614-542-0220.
If you have been injured in a store, on someone else’s property, or even your own property, it can be a frightening experience. However, it is important that you stop, gather yourself, and make sure that you collect the proper evidence to help support your claim and, if necessary, a lawsuit.
When you have been injured by an object in a store, or from a slip or fall, there is no dedicated line to call for someone to come out and investigate the situation. Therefore, the evidence collection often falls on you, or a friend or family member you call upon to help you. In these types of incidents, early evidence collection can be the difference between a successful or unsuccessful injury claim or lawsuit. To avoid that situation, our office recommends that you take the following steps to protect yourself:
- If it is safe to do so, take photographs or video of the area around where the incident took place, specifically what caused the incident (i.e., what you fell on, what cut or injured you, etc.). In these types of incidents, the surrounding area is incredibly important and should be completely documented to the best of your ability.
- If you have been injured in a business, once you have documented what caused the incident, move to a safe location, and ask to speak with manager or safety personnel to complete an incident report. If you have been injured on someone else’s property, then, after documenting what caused the incident, step away from the situation, and take the time to write down what has happened. When creating an incident report be sure to include the following information:
- Date, time, and location of the incident
- Names of everyone involved, including witnesses
- Events that led up to the incident
- Environmental conditions (sun, rain, snow, etc.)
- Circumstances of the slip or fall
- Specific injuries
- Damage to equipment or area
- Request that all video footage be collected and saved in anticipation for a possible claim
- While at the scene, take pictures of any visible bruising or other injuries as well as any marks or rips to your clothing. If you have fallen, you should also make sure to photograph the entire outfit you were wearing that day.
- Take the time to look around the general area of the incident and determine if any businesses or homes in the area may have cameras that could have captured the slip or fall. Business or residential cameras usually only retain recordings for 24-72 hours, so if you have been injured in a business, it is important to speak with manager or safety personnel to gather those tapes before the footage is destroyed. If you are having issues gathering the video documentation, it may be in your best interest to involve an attorney quickly because video documentation can be the deciding factor if there is a dispute as to the cause of the fall.
- If there are witnesses to the incident, attempt to get their contact information, including their name and phone number, as well as a brief account of what they saw. Independent witnesses can provide additional credibility to your claim and can be used to help your case if necessary.
If you are transported from the scene via ambulance, you will have to rely on the business or property owner accurately documenting all the information and then potentially creating an incident report that may reflect their best interests rather than yours. However, to protect yourself, you may want to return to the scene after you are released or send a friend or family member to safely document the above information if possible.
Although collecting the information discussed may seem exhausting, having as much information about the incident as possible will allow insurance companies or attorneys to evaluate your claim and/or lawsuit more accurately. Once you have collected the evidence, your next step should be contacting a personal injury attorney that will use that information to protect your interests and provide you with the compensation that you deserve. If you have been injured in a slip or fall and would like to work with the attorneys at Plymale & Dingus, please fill out the contact form on this page or call us at 614-542-0220.
