I am not trying to seek any "pain and suffering" damages. Only medical bills. There was a sugar spill in the grocery store. I slipped, sprained my ankle, cut on my knee, and left sciattica nerve damage to the left side of my back. The grocery store has denied any liability or negligence. What should I do? Small claims may get my medical bills paid but I am afraid of even taking it there. They are a big company and I have called around 18 lawyers. None of them want the case. Hard to prove they say. Can anyone give me any advice?
Chandra H
You need to get the report from the grocery store where you fell stating what happened than go to the hospital and get all the information that you can there, Take it to small claims court yourself. If you have insurance call them and some of the time they have lawyers on staff to help in these situations so they don't have to pay your claim. Contact department of human services and find out if there is any free legal help where you live. IF you make enough noise than the store will pay just to keep from having bad publicity.
Faye H
No lawyer wants to take the case because slip and fall cases are very hard to prove fault in.
First of all, slipping and falling is not necessarily someone else's fault. You would have to prove that the sugar got spilled, the store left it there and didn't clean it up in a timely manner, or it was their fault it got spilled in the first place and they didn't clean it up, etc.
Second of all, if they had camera's in the store, and most stores do nowadays, they may have already reviewed the tape and determined that they weren't negligent.
In order for the store to be liable, one of the following must be true.
* The owner of the premises or an employee must have caused the spill, worn, or torn spot, or other slippery or dangerous surface or item, to be underfoot.
* The owner of the premises or an employee must have known of the dangerous surface but done nothing about it.
* The owner of the premises or an employee should have known of the dangerous surface because a "reasonable" person taking care of the property would have discovered and removed or repaired it.
The third situation is the most common, but is also less clear-cut than the first two because of those pesky words "should have known." Liability in these cases is often decided by common sense. Judges and juries determine whether the owner or occupier of property was careful by deciding if the steps the owner or occupier took to keep the property safe were reasonable.
If you still think you have a case, go for it. But your chances are slim. Store owners got so many claims for people that slipped on a banana peel in years past, they've gotten a lot more aggressive at denying the claims and sometimes, even going after the person that fell if they feel the claim is fraudulent.
Additional info since several people have told you to sue in small claims court and they will likely settle: Large corporations like chains of grocery stores, have gotten aggressive in defending claims like this if they feel they are not liable. Years ago, they would settle just to get rid of the case. That is not true anymore because of the increase if frivolous lawsuits and fraudulent claims. I'm not saying you can't sue. I'm just telling you, don't expect them to roll over and hand you money especially if they do not feel they were negligent. You will have to PROVE that they were in order to win.
mbrcatz17
It's not uncommon for grocery store chains to NOT carry "medical payments" coverage, a no-fault coverage that would pay a small amount of medical bills.
It looks like they reported the incident to their insurer, and are responding. I would assume from their response, and from you saying "they are a big company", that they don't have a no-fault, medical payment, and aren't willing to assume fault.
Your ONLY chance here, is to either hire a lawyer and sue them, or sue them in small claims court for just the medical payments part. In any case, you'll have to prove that they knew the sugar was on the floor, and didn't clean it up in a timely manner. As you can tell from the fact that none of 18 lawyers want to take this on contingency, you have a very weak case. If you don't want to pay a lawyer up front, file for your medical bills with small claims.
If you don't sue, you can't collect. Period. Even if you do sue, it's up to YOU to prove them negligent. But if you sue in small claims court, for a small amount, they'll likely settle.
Shadow
You only want medical bills pay???? After talking to 18 lawyers?? You know you are looking to get rich the faster way but it never happens so give up.
mamatohaley
Why should they pay for your medical bills? You are the one that fell on the sugar. I would argue that you should watch where you are walking. I think this is a good case of assumed risk. When you go into a grocery store there is a good chance that there is something spilled on the floor somewhere in the store. 18 lawyers agree because you don't have a case. I am sorry.
Orignal From: Tips: I have a slip and fall injury with a grocery store. Please read?
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