After suffering a slip and fall injury in Halifax, Nova Scotia, you may wonder what the average settlement for slip and fall cases is. Unfortunately, it’s hard to provide an average payout amount for slip and fall injuries because they can vary vastly depending on factors specific to each incident.
Your payout could range from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand dollars, depending on the severity and extent of your injuries and how much they impact your ability to work and perform daily tasks. For a more precise estimate, you need to speak to a slip and fall injury lawyer who can review your case.
Common Types of Compensation in Slip and Fall Cases
The two most common categories of slip and fall injury compensation sought through legal claims are pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.
Pecuniary damages are the compensation you seek for your monetary losses. Your lawyer will review medical bills and other financial documents to calculate your pecuniary damages. Examples of pecuniary damages include:
- Medical Expenses – You can seek compensation for your hospital stays, surgeries, medical treatments, medical devices, and prescription medications. Your lawyer will use your medical bills to calculate these damages.
- Lost Wages – You can seek compensation for the income you lost while recovering from your injuries. Your Lawyer will use your pay stubs and other financial documents to calculate these damages.
- Rehabilitation Costs – You can seek compensation for the ongoing and future physical and cognitive rehabilitation costs associated with your injuries. Your lawyer will use your rehab bills to estimate their cost in the future.
- Loss of Future Earning Capacity – You can seek compensation for your loss of future earning capacity if your injuries prevent you from returning to the workforce or impact your ability to work long-term. Your lawyer will use your pre-injury income to estimate the impact of your injuries on your future income.
Non-pecuniary damages can be more challenging to calculate as there aren’t bills or documents your lawyer can base them on. Examples of non-pecuniary damages include:
- Pain and Suffering – You can seek compensation for the physical pain and suffering you experience due to your injuries. These damages can be highly subjective, causing the total payout to vary significantly between individual cases.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life – You can seek compensation for loss of enjoyment of life if your injuries prevent you from engaging in activities you once enjoyed, such as hiking or travelling.
- Mental Anguish – You can seek compensation for the mental anguish you experience due to your injuries, such as any self-consciousness or lack of confidence you might feel if your injuries left you disabled or disfigured and that prevents you from engaging in activities.
Understanding the Legal Process for Slip and Fall Claims
Understanding the legal process for slip and fall claims is crucial for protecting your right to seek compensation for your injuries. There are five major steps in the personal injury claims process, which are:
- Consulting a Lawyer – The first thing you must do is speak with a personal injury lawyer about your slip and fall case. During your initial consultation, the lawyer will ask questions about the circumstances of your injury and answer any questions you have for them about the legal process or how they intend to handle your case. If you choose to hire the lawyer, you’ll likely sign a contingency fee agreement stating that the lawyer only gets paid if they secure a payout for you.
- Investigating the Incident – After you hire a lawyer, they’ll begin investigating your case by collecting your medical records and financial documents. Other evidence relating to your case that they may collect are police reports, incident reports, surveillance camera footage, and eyewitness statements. During this period, they may also consult with medical or financial professionals to determine the impact your injuries will have on your life.
- Filing Your Claim – After their investigation, your lawyer will file your claim with the insurance company and the court.
- Negotiating for a Settlement – Once the responsible party receives notice of your claim, their insurance company will likely engage in settlement negotiations with your lawyer. If they don’t offer a fair settlement that covers all of your past and future expenses associated with your injury, your case will proceed to trial.
- Going to Trial – In court, your lawyer will present the evidence they collected and the case they’ve built over the past few months and will seek the maximum compensation you deserve.
Factors Influencing Slip and Fall Settlements
Several factors contribute to the value of your slip and fall injury settlement or award. The most important of these factors are:
- Severity of Injuries – The more severe your injuries are, the more your case is typically worth. This is because more severe injuries tend to result in larger medical bills and have a greater impact on your ability to work. The severity of your injuries will also play into your non-pecuniary damages, like pain and suffering.
- Financial Losses – The more significant your financial losses are, the higher your pecuniary damages will be.
- Insurance Policy Limits – The responsible party’s insurance policy limits could cap your settlement. If possible, your lawyer will identify multiple liable parties so you can recover damages from each of them, thus reducing the impact of their policy limits.
- Contributory Negligence – Nova Scotia’s Contributory Negligence Act could impact your settlement. The act states that parties are only financially liable for the portion of losses for which they’re at fault. If you were partially at fault for the accident that caused your injuries, the insurance company is unlikely to offer a full settlement.
Slip and Fall Injury Lawyers Serving Halifax, Nova Scotia
If you suffered a slip and fall injury in Halifax, Nova Scotia, contact the personal injury lawyers of Wagners for a free consultation. Our lawyers will review your case, explain your legal options, and provide an initial estimate of your case’s worth.
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