If I stepped in a pothole and broke my leg on the playground of my daughter’s school, do I have any legal basis to pursue compensation?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If I stepped in a pothole and broke my leg on the playground of my daughter’s school, do I have any legal basis to pursue compensation?
I was attending the students’ presentations of the volcanoes they made for a school project and was carrying my daughters project when this occurred. This incident was witnessed by other parents and it has come to my attention that there are many potholes on the premises, in which the school was aware of, as other people have been hurt by them in the past, yet nothing was done about it.
Asked on November 22, 2011 under Personal Injury, California
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You should file a personal injury claim with the school district's insurance carrier. Before incurring huge medical bills, verify that the insurance carrier is accepting liability.
When you complete your medical treatment and are released by the doctor or are declared by the doctor to be permanent and stationary which means you have reached a point where no further improvement is anticipated, obtain your medical bills, medical reports and documentation of any wage loss. Your personal injury claim filed with the school district's insurance carrier will consist of these items. Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering. Compensation for pain and suffering is an amount in addition to the medical bills. If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the insurance company, reject the settlement offers and file your lawsuit for negligence against the school and school district. If the case is settled with the insurance company, NO lawsuit is filed. If the case is NOT settled with the school district's insurance carrier, you will need to file your lawsuit for negligence against the school and school district prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.