What should my mother ask for if she slipped and fell on an unattended puddle of some liquid in a big grocery store?
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What should my mother ask for if she slipped and fell on an unattended puddle of some liquid in a big grocery store?
She had to go to the ER because she sprained her wrist. She was told to stay home until she could see a specialist to sign off on her return back to work as a precaution to make sure the injury wasn’t more serious. She missed a total of 6 days of work. When she returned her hours were cut from 8 hours to 5. We speculate it was due to the injury and maybe because they felt as if she was a little unreliable and needed someone who could cover her shift guaranteed. She has spoken to the grocery stores management team as well as their insurance company and they pretty much asked her what she was looking for? How much is enough or too much?
Asked on October 1, 2015 under Personal Injury, Illinois
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Your mother should obtain her medical bills, medical reports and documentation of wage loss. Her personal injury claim filed with the grocery store's insurance carrier should include these items.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of her injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering, which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
For pain and suffering, I would ask for quadruple the medical bills, but NOT EXPECTING TO GET THAT. This would be for negotiating purposes only. The insurance company will respond with a much lower offer and your mother can continue negotiating to increase the offer from the insurance company.
If the case is settled with the grocery store's insurance company, NO lawsuit is filed.
If your mother is dissatisfied with settlement offers from the insurance company, she should reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the grocery store. If the case is NOT settled with the grocery store's insurance carrier, your mother must file her lawsuit for negligence against the grocery store prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or she will lose her rights forever in the matter.
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