How Much Is the Average Slip-and-Fall Settlement?

If you’ve been hurt in a slip-and-fall accident, such as falling in a store, and are wondering what the average slip-and-fall settlement is, the personal injury attorneys at Bernstein & Maryanoff Injury Attorneys can help answer your question.

While your case may or may not be average, there are still important things to learn by knowing the average slip-and-fall settlement amount. Your Miami slip-and-fall attorney can give you a better idea of the exact value of your case depending on the circumstances of the situation.

Average Slip and Fall Settlement

The average slip-and-fall settlement is between $15,000 and $45,000. Whether your case falls within the average range depends on several factors. If your injuries are relatively minor, your case may be below average.

If you have serious injuries and your case is legally strong, your settlement may be higher than average. However, in most cases, the average slip-and-fall settlement falls somewhere in the middle.

How Much Is a Slip and Fall Worth?

You get compensation for a fall equal to your monetary losses plus pain and suffering compensation. Your financial losses are all of the direct, out-of-pocket expenses that occur because of the fall. This may include costs related to:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering

The amount of your pain and suffering is proportional to the severity of your injuries. While damages play a role in how much compensation you get for a fall, the strength of your case and comparative fault questions also play a role.

Slip and Fall out of Court Settlement Amounts

Slip-and-fall out-of-court settlement amounts vary based on the strength of your case and the severity of your injuries, which may require you to seek medical attention. Your settlement should include all of your financial losses, such as:

• Medical expenses
• Travel to medical appointments
• Rehabilitative services
• Prescriptions or medications
• Medical devices such as a wheelchair
• Costs of hiring help at home
• Lost income

The other part of your slip-and-fall out-of-court settlement is your pain and suffering compensation. When your injuries are severe, your compensation for pain and suffering may be up to several times the amount of your payment for economic losses. 

Pain and suffering may include: 

Physical Pain

• Broken bones
• Cuts and bruises
• Sprains
• Traumatic brain injury
• Bone dislocation
• Muscle sprains
• Spine or nerve damage

Emotional Pain

• Grief
• Stress
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Loss of quality of life
• Shock
• Loss of companionship
• Embarrassment

Ultimately, resolving your slip-and-fall case with an out-of-court settlement is a matter of careful negotiations with the other side. You need to make a strong case while strategically negotiating with the responsible party. 

The compensation you get from a court slip-and-fall settlement is what the other side agrees to pay to resolve the claim. You may resolve the case through formal mediation or informal discussions.

What Should I Do if I Slip and Fall in a Store?

If you slip and fall in a store, it’s essential to take notes and document the details of the fall. After attending to your injury, here are some steps you should take:

1. Take pictures and talk to people who witnessed the fall
2. Tell the store manager and have them file a report
3. Write down everything you remember about the incident
4. Collect evidence such as medical bills, accident reports, and photos
5. Get a lawyer to help navigate your settlement

Do Slip-and-Fall Cases Typically Settle or Go to Court?

In addition to wondering how much the average slip-and-fall settlement is, you may wonder whether it’s more likely to go to court. Fortunately, only 5% of civil lawsuits go to trial, so there’s a high probability that you’ll resolve your case with a settlement. 

Whether your case goes to trial or not is significant because it takes longer to resolve cases that go to trial. First, you go through the discovery process while attorneys investigate and prepare their cases. During this time, your attorney will lead settlement negotiations with the defendant’s legal team.

If your attorney secures a settlement, you won’t have to go to court for compensation. However, suppose the defendant’s insurance company refuses to offer a reasonable sum to cover your injury expenses. In such an instance, your case will go to trial. Your legal team will continue investigating your accident, interviewing witnesses, and reviewing existing court rulings to strengthen your case. Once you reach your court date, your attorney will present evidence at trial. The defendant’s attorney attempts to refute that evidence. The trial will result in a verdict. If the defendant is found liable, the court will determine how much compensation they must pay.

Winning a trial doesn’t necessarily mean your case is over. The defendant can appeal the verdict and compensation amount. If they appeal, you may have to return to court, which could take years to resolve your claim.

What Factors Affect Slip-and-Fall Settlements?

Several factors affect slip-and-fall settlement amounts, including the following:

• Your legal team: Hiring a lawyer is one of the most important steps you’ll take when pursuing a slip-and-fall claim. Experienced attorneys conduct thorough investigations, ensuring they have crucial evidence supporting your claim. When your attorney prepares a compelling case, it’s harder for the defendant’s lawyer and insurance company to refute the claim, making them more likely to offer a fair settlement without going to trial. Your attorney will also help you calculate the maximum compensation you deserve, ensuring you include all relevant expenses.
• Your injuries: Severe injuries, including head injuries, back injuries, and broken bones, are common slip-and-fall injuries. Head trauma can cause a traumatic brain injury (TBI), resulting in short- or long-term brain damage. In severe cases, victims may need assistance performing routine tasks. A severe back injury could have the same impact if the victim suffers a permanent spinal cord injury (SCI). If a person’s injury affects their mobility, they may be unable to work or need to change careers. They may also need multiple surgeries to treat their condition. The more medical care required, the more compensation victims can seek. 
• Type of negligence: You must demonstrate that the at-fault party was negligent in order to secure a personal injury claim. Negligence means that they failed to act in a way that the majority of people would act under the same circumstances. However, when defendants are guilty of gross negligence or an intentional action resulting in harm, victims can seek punitive damages. Gross negligence occurs when a person knows there is a risk of harm and takes no steps to reduce the risk or if they take actions that increase the risk. 
• Incident location: Suppose Person A suffered a slip-and-fall accident at a friend’s home. Person B suffered a slip-and-fall accident in a public place like a grocery store, gas station, or restaurant. Person B is more likely to secure a higher settlement because the public venue will likely have higher insurance coverage, and, as a public venue, they’re expected to keep their premises safe for employees and customers. 

Punitive Damages 

Talking to an attorney and confirming your rights is the best way to determine whether you have grounds to seek punitive damages. Your lawyer can verify you have grounds for punitive damages and help determine the amount of punitive damages you can seek.
Florida allows victims with grounds for punitive damages to receive either triple their compensation amount or $500,000. If you qualify, you’ll receive whichever sum is higher. Therefore, if your attorney secures you compensatory damages of $200,000 and you’re awarded punitive damages, you’d receive $600,000. However, if you secured $150,000 in compensatory damages, you’d receive $500,000 in punitive damages because that amount is higher.

Who Pays the Settlement in a Slip-and-Fall Case?

Insurance companies typically pay the compensatory damages owed in slip-and-fall claims. One factor that could complicate the settlement process involves the defendant’s insurance plan. They may not have enough coverage to pay the compensation you deserve.

The defendant’s lack of coverage does not mitigate their liability. In these situations, you can receive partial compensation through their insurance company and then seek the balance from the at-fault party’s assets, such as vehicles, furniture, and other valuables. Seizing these assets and having them sold is possible to cover the balance of the compensatory damages owed. 

Why Shouldn’t I Wait Too Long To Hire an Attorney?

Whether you slip on a wet floor in a Miami restaurant or fall over a trip hazard in a city park, contacting a slip-and-fall lawyer as soon as possible is crucial. There are several reasons you must act quickly, including the following:

• Evidence: When you hire a slip-and-fall attorney promptly, they can begin their investigation immediately. Investigating your case immediately increases the likelihood that your lawyer will secure evidence before it’s destroyed or lost. 
• Witness recall: Memories fade over time. Your attorney will get a more precise and complete account from witnesses interviewed shortly after the incident. These interviews can also lead them to other witnesses or evidence.

Time limits: Courts apply a statute of limitations to most legal matters, giving plaintiffs a deadline for legal action. You must file a claim within 24 months. Otherwise, the courts will dismiss your case unless you have grounds for a deadline extension. Grounds for extensions apply if you’re a minor when injured, if the defendant leaves the jurisdiction and attempts to conceal their whereabouts, or if your injuries prevent you from taking action, such as being in a coma. 

How Long Does It Take To Settle a Slip-and-Fall Claim?

The time required to settle a slip-and-fall claim depends on the damages sought, the defendant’s insurance company, and other case factors. Settlement negotiations can lead to a resolution within months. However, cases that go to trial could take two years or longer to resolve. 

Cases involving higher sums may take longer to settle because the insurance company wants to reduce the amount they’ll pay the victim. Some insurance companies fight all claims by default, which can make it more challenging to secure a fair settlement through negotiations. 

Claims that could involve punitive damages may also be trickier to resolve. The defendant may feel they have a better chance of reducing the amount owed or avoiding responsibility if they go to trial. In that case, your attorney must convince them it’s in their best interest to resolve the case during settlement negotiations. 

Suppose your slip-and-fall accident caused severe injuries. The longer it takes to resolve your claim, the more medical data you’ll have to support it. You may have more test results and treatment outcomes affecting your claim. Or if you suffered an SCI but your doctors were optimistic that you’d make a full recovery after surgery. However, your settlement negotiations continued until after your surgery, and the surgery didn’t go as hoped. Your doctors now anticipate several additional surgeries. This change in your prognosis can increase the amount of compensation you seek because of higher medical bills, additional lost wages, and potential job retraining because you won’t fully recover from your injuries. 

Each case is unique, and a settlement negotiation timeline can vary depending on the particular circumstances.

Negotiating an Out-of-Court Settlement for a Slip-and-Fall

Typically, a case proceeds through some pre-trial preparation before settlement negotiations begin. While some cases are resolved through informal settlement negotiations before you even file a claim, you usually have to start by formally filing a legal claim. The other party usually wants to spend some time gathering and reviewing the evidence in your case. You should also carefully build your case at this time.

When both parties participate in an open discovery process, they become aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the case. You don’t have to share your personal impressions of the case with the other side. They don’t have to give you their honest opinion of the case, either. However, when both sides evaluate the evidence, they have a place to begin negotiations regarding the settlement.

Slip-and-Fall Settlement Discussions

Slip-and-fall settlement discussions happen in a variety of ways. The parties may exchange letters or emails that give their position and ask the other side for a particular agreement. These letters are often very detailed, including statements of the facts, laws, and other relevant issues. Informal negotiations can happen at any time. However, they usually begin once the parties have had some time to gather and review the case evidence.

In addition to informal negotiations, slip-and-fall settlement discussions also occur during formal mediation proceedings. You can agree to participate in mediation, but the court may order you to participate, too. In mediation, you work with people who have been trained in conflict resolution. They guide the parties to have a constructive conversation about resolving the claim. It’s essential to prepare for mediation to have the information that you need at your disposal to make your mediation session productive.

Should I Settle My Slip and Fall Claim?

Whether you should settle your slip-and-fall claim depends on all of the relevant circumstances present in your case. Where the parties agree on the approximate value of the case, it makes sense to settle your slip-and-fall claim. You save the expense, stress, and time delays of taking your case to trial. However, there are reasons that it might be in your best interests to take your case to trial. An experienced slip-and-fall attorney can help you make the best decision for your case.

How Can a Slip and Fall Lawyer Help Me?

There are several ways that a slip-and-fall lawyer can help you with your settlement. This includes:

• Building a strong case
• Establishing contact with the other party and negotiating skillfully
• Advising you on whether to accept a settlement or take your case to trial
• Drafting settlement paperwork
• Ensuring that you collect your judgment promptly

Your attorney assists you with every aspect of your case. They know how to help a slip-and-fall victim follow the necessary steps to maximize their compensation. If your goal is to win a fair settlement for your slip-and-fall case, working with a trained attorney is an excellent way to ensure that you do everything to get justice.

Contact Our Miami Slip and Fall Settlement Lawyers

Do you want to know the value of your slip-and-fall lawsuit? Is your case average? Is it above average? Our Miami slip-and-fall settlement lawyers can help. Pursuing a settlement is a good way to resolve many slip-and-fall cases. Our goal is to help you resolve your case quickly and fairly in the manner that’s best for you.

We invite you to meet with our team to talk about your case. Together, we can make a plan to help you get a settlement that is both fair and meets your needs.

Sources:

FLA. STAT. § 768.72. 

FLA. STAT. § 768.73. 

Johnson, J. (2022). Personal Injury Settlement Amounts Example (2024 Guide).