How Do You Get Compensation After a Slip and Fall with No Witnesses?

You slipped, tripped, or fell on someone else’s property, and now you’re in serious pain. You need to file a personal injury lawsuit against the property owner to get money for your medical bills, but there’s one problem: no one saw you fall!

It’s a common scenario, especially in places like supermarket aisles, hotel lobbies, hallways, and other areas where people don’t typically congregate. Does everyone who finds themselves in this dilemma have to simply give up on their rights to compensation? No!

Thankfully, there are still options for proving your fall wasn’t your fault, and those options depend on where you fell and the steps you took immediately afterward.

No Witnesses, No Problem—Here’s How to Handle It

Getting compensation after a slip and fall injury with no witnesses requires a tag-team approach by you and your lawyer. First, here are the steps you need to take to protect your rights:

• Report the incident immediately—If you’re able to get up off the floor without worsening your injury, locate a manager or the owner to report the accident. Don’t leave the premises without ensuring that the incident is documented. If you leave, your claim will become extremely difficult to win without either witness statements or an incident report.
• Get immediate medical attention—Even if you don’t feel like you were seriously injured, you need to be evaluated by a doctor or healthcare provider right away. If you ARE seriously hurt, call 911 and wait for emergency responders to arrive.
• Call a lawyer—Calling a lawyer means getting a legal advocate, and the earlier you do this, the better. We can collect evidence that may counteract the lack of eyewitness accounts of your slip, trip, or fall in the eyes of the insurance company or jury.

Here’s How We’ll Build Your Claim

After you’ve called the Indiana premises liability lawyers at Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin, we’ll begin working hard to maximize your chances of compensation by:

• Requesting security camera footage—If you fell in a store, restaurant, bar, hotel, or another public venue, there’s a good chance your fall was captured on camera. So even though no one saw it happen with their own eyes, the “eyes in the sky” may have picked it up.
• Reviewing your medical records—Although receiving treatment for an injury that’s consistent with a slip, trip, or fall on the day you claim to have been hurt isn’t hard evidence, it’s also hard to deny. That’s why getting immediate medical attention is so important, as your treatment records can bolster your claim.
• Interviewing emergency responders, employees, and medical providers—If you were seriously injured and needed assistance at the scene, you were probably helped or at least seen by emergency responders and employees. And when you got medical treatment, you were evaluated by a doctor. All of these people can help corroborate your claim of falling.

Don’t Let a Lack of Witnesses Discourage You

Many injuries caused by slips and falls lack witnesses. Even in relatively crowded areas, it’s possible to fall and for either no one to see, or for none of the witnesses to be identified or reachable when it’s time to build your personal injury claim.

Our Indiana slip and fall attorneys aren’t discouraged or dissuaded from helping slip and fall victims who need help, and you shouldn’t be discouraged or dissuaded from reaching out to us for the legal representation you need. We have decades of experience building claims and winning settlements for victims like you, and we know what it takes to succeed. Contact us today for a free consultation.