Accidents are a part of life, and they happen every day all around the world. Nearly every person knows what it's like to experience a slip or a fall of some kind, but some less fortunate people become injured during these normal occurrences. What's even more concerning, though, is that the person who slips and falls could be a guest, family friend, or any other visitor to the home. Here are some of the first things to do if someone falls in your home.

Contact Your Insurance Provider

When dealing with an insurance claim, it's always a good idea to report the incident as soon as you possibly can. Accidents that go unreported for a period of time are seen to be a likely case of fraud. This is because people who intend to commit fraud are either seeking money as an afterthought, or they have waited with the specific purpose to obfuscate or even manufacture facts about their case. Plus, many insurance companies have strict rules about when you must file the claim.

Making a Claim

Once you have made your claim against the homeowner's insurance, the claims adjuster will contact the homeowner to establish their version of the story. After that, the adjuster is likely to contact the person who was injured. Sometimes, the adjuster will ask for a recorded statement from the injured person, but many lawyers have been vocal about avoiding making a recorded statement, as it usually doesn't work out in favor of the claim. After that, the adjuster will be collecting information about the medical bills, and any other documents related to losses resulting from the accident. This will be used to make a settlement, and if a settlement can't be reached, a lawsuit will be required to collect funds.

Liability and Negligence

In most cases, the accident will have to be established as negligence for the homeowner to be found liable, which is how you receive your payout. This specifically means that you aren't likely to receive anything if you were at fault, because liability means that the cause of your fall was due to some sort of unsafe feature of the homeowner's property. Commonly, areas that need to be observed and protected from becoming a source of injury include stairs and walkways. A staircase that is in a state of disrepair can cause a severe injury to the leg, ankle or foot by trapping a person or allowing them to fall through. This would be a case of clear negligence.

If someone falls in your home, contact a lawyer as well. A good personal injury lawyer can help see you through every step of the claims process.

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