Average Slip and Fall Settlement in New York

Even the most sure-footed among us can suffer a fall from time to time. Sometimes, it is just a matter of bad luck. In other situations, you might have fallen because of a dangerous condition on someone else’s property – like an icy sidewalk or a missing railing on a stairway. 

If you were hurt in a fall on someone else’s property, you may be able to file a premises liability lawsuit. You can recover financial compensation for all of your losses, including medical bills, lost wages, and diminished quality of life. The value of your slip and fall accident claim will be based on multiple factors, such as whether you suffered severe injuries, the amount of the homeowner’s insurance policy, and whether liability is clear.

At The Odierno Law Firm, we represent clients who have been hurt in all types of accidents, from car accidents to workplace injuries to slip and fall accidents. We offer free initial consultations and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. To learn more or to schedule an appointment with a Long Island personal injury attorney, reach out to our law offices today.

Compensation for Slip and Fall Accident Claims

In any personal injury case, you may recover financial compensation for your injuries. This falls into two broad categories: compensatory damages and punitive damages. Compensatory damages include two types of damages – economic and non-economic losses.  

Economic damages pay for your direct financial losses from a slip-and-fall accident. You can think of it as things that you might get a bill or other documentation for, like your medical expenses or lost earnings. Common economic damages include property damage, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, medical bills, and future medical treatment.

Non-economic damages pay for your indirect losses. While you won’t get a bill in the mail for these losses, they are just as important as economic damages. Examples of non-economic damages include emotional distress, pain and suffering, scarring, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Insurance companies often use a formula to come up with the amount of non-economic damages. They will assign a number to your case based on what they believe is the severity of your injuries. They will then multiply this number against your economic damages to determine your non-economic damages.

Of course, it is often to the insurance company’s advantage to downplay the seriousness of your injuries – because it means that they will pay out less overall. Our experienced Long Island slip and fall accident attorneys will advocate for your right to full compensation, which includes a fair settlement that doesn’t just include money for your medical bills – but also for the emotional trauma that you suffered in the fall.

In some cases, punitive damages may be awarded. These damages are meant to punish someone who acted intentionally or recklessly. While this isn’t common in slip and fall accidents, it is still possible – such as a case where a person thought that they were playing a prank by putting something slippery on a walkway, only to have someone suffer a serious injury in a fall.

Each slip and fall accident case is different, which is why there is no such thing as an average settlement. However, through a personal injury lawsuit, you may be able to hold the at-fault property owner and their insurance company responsible for your injuries. Our law firm will help you get fair compensation if you were hurt due to a dangerous condition on someone else’s property.

What Is the Average Settlement for a Slip and Fall Accident on Long Island?

Each slip and fall case is different, which is why it is difficult to say that there is an average settlement. One person might recover $10,000 in a settlement, while the next person might win a $500,000 verdict at trial. 

Our personal injury attorneys have recovered compensation for clients injured in falls due to dangerous conditions. Our track record of success includes the following:

• $1,600,000 settlement for a worker who fell due to improper construction of a brick patio
• $395,0000 settlement for a woman who slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk
• $1,100,000 settlement for a man who fell on stairs that were not built to code
• $385,000 settlement for a woman who fell on a loose rug at a bar/restaurant

There are many factors that impact the value of a settlement. This includes:

• If the property owner’s liability was clear;
• Whether you were a trespasser on the property, as New York premises liability law may not allow people not lawfully on the property to recover;
• If you were partially at fault for the fall (such as if you were on your phone and not paying attention);
• If you suffered a permanent disability;
• Your medical costs;
• Whether you will require future medical treatment;
• How long you are out of work; and
• The coverage limits of the property owners’ insurance policy.

For example, consider a situation where a visitor to a store slipped and fell on a wet floor – a dangerous condition that the store should have either fixed or warned patrons about with a sign. He hit his head and suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the fall. He is permanently affected by this injury and has a great deal of emotional distress as a result.

Compare this slip and fall to a situation where a woman trips on an uneven stair as she is coming up the steps to a friend’s house. She broke her wrist as she put her hands out to stop the fall, but recovered quickly and had few medical costs. She took a few days off of work but otherwise fully recovered from her fall.

When looking at these two accidents, it is clear that the person with a traumatic brain injury – who likely will have significant ongoing medical expenses and reduced earning capacity – will have a higher settlement than the person with a broken bone. While the woman with a broken wrist required medical care and experienced physical pain, she will not be permanently disabled from her fall. Her settlement amount will likely be far lower than the person with a TBI.

It can be hard to understand the value of your case without talking to a Long Island personal injury attorney. During a free initial consultation, our law firm will listen to your story and offer you legal advice on your rights and options for pursuing a claim. We will also give you a ballpark estimate of the value of your case based on the severity of injuries, medical expenses, lost wages, and other factors.

How a Long Island Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help

After a slip-and-fall accident, you might not be sure of your rights or what you should do. You might not even realize that you could potentially file a claim against the property owner’s insurance policy. Our law firm will advocate for you and help you get fair compensation for your injuries.

In each case, our goal is to get you the highest possible accident settlement as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, insurance companies typically have the opposite goal. They would like to resolve the case for as little money as possible – and ideally to be able to deny your claim outright.

Our law firm will get to work right away to build the strongest possible case for settlement. We will interview witnesses, request an accident report or incident report, review your medical records, analyze insurance policies, take photos and videos of the accident scene, and research New York case law. All of this information will be used to draft a demand letter to the insurance company.

A demand letter includes three categories:

1. An explanation of what happened to cause the slip and fall (i.e., what the dangerous condition was and how it caused your fall);
2. The legal reason why their insured is responsible is based on New York personal injury law (they failed to either fix or warn people about the hazardous condition); and
3. A demand for compensation (which will include your full scope of losses, including lost wages, medical bills, future medical care, physical pain and suffering, and mental anguish).

Insurance companies will perform their own investigation. They will then typically respond with a counteroffer.

Almost all personal injury claims are resolved outside of the courtroom. However, it may be necessary to file a lawsuit to preserve your legal rights. Negotiations may continue up until the eve of trial. Our Long Island personal injury attorneys won’t stop fighting until they get a fair settlement for you – which may include taking your case to trial to ask a jury to return a verdict in your favor.

Whether you have suffered relatively minor injuries or more serious injuries that result in a lifetime of chronic pain and disability, you deserve financial compensation for your losses. Our experienced attorneys will put together the strongest possible case for damages – and will fight to get you the compensation that you deserve for your injuries.

If you have been hurt in a slip-and-fall accident, you don’t simply have to accept the first settlement offered by the premises owner’s insurance adjuster. Through the legal process, you can fight for justice – and get a top-dollar settlement for your losses. In Suffolk and Nassau Counties, reach out to our law office to schedule a free consultation.

Hurt in a Slip and Fall? Give Us a Call Today.

While accidental falls are pretty common, they can still be dangerous. Many people suffer permanent injuries in slips and falls. If you have been hurt in a fall because of a dangerous condition, we can help you get a fair settlement.

The Odierno Law Firm represents accident victims throughout Long Island. We offer free initial consultations and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. To learn more or to schedule an appointment with an experienced slip and fall accident attorney, give our law offices a call at 631-752-8580 or fill out our online contact form.