How Much is my Slip and Fall Claim Worth in Colorado?
A slip and fall accident can change your life in seconds. If it happens because of someone else’s negligence, you should be entitled to compensation. But you may be wondering How much is my slip and fall claim worth in Colorado? Keep reading – we’re going to discuss everything you’ll need to take into account.
In Colorado, the value of a slip and fall claim depends on many factors. Some of these (the extent of your injuries, for example) are obvious, but there are others you may not have considered.
Categories of Damages in Slip and Fall Cases
When it comes to slip and fall cases, damages are categorized as economic, noneconomic, and punitive. While economic and noneconomic damages are commonly awarded in these cases, punitive damages are rare and apply only under very specific circumstances.
Economic Damages
Economic damages cover the direct financial costs of your injury. These are easy to calculate using receipts, invoices, and pay stubs (which is one reason why it’s important to keep records during the personal injury lawsuit process).
Common types of economic damages in a slip and fall case include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Out-of-pocket costs.
Economic damages are designed to make you “whole” again by covering the full extent of your financial losses. They should also account for anticipated future costs if your injury requires long-term care or treatment. If your accident is likely to cause long-term symptoms, it’s crucial that your attorney takes care to forecast these properly and negotiate for an adequate settlement on your behalf.
Noneconomic Damages
Noneconomic damages cover those losses that affect your quality of life, but do not have a directly measurable financial cost. Examples include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life.
Punitive Damages
Colorado courts reserve punitive damages for situations in which defendants’ actions go beyond ordinary negligence and enter the realm of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
In slip and fall cases, most injuries result from ordinary negligence—such as a store owner’s failure to clean up a spill or a landlord’s neglecting to fix a broken stair. These situations justify economic and noneconomic damages, but not punitive damages.
Exceptions to this general rule do occur. Say, for example, a property owner knows about a broken railing on a staircase and has been warned repeatedly about it, but takes no action to repair it. This could be seen as reckless disregard for the safety of others. In such cases, a court might award punitive damages to deter the property owner—and others like them—from behaving similarly in the future.
Factors That May Affect Your Slip and Fall Claim’s Value
A wide range of factors will influence the value of your slip and fall claim in Colorado. If you want a settlement that fairly reflects all the losses your accident has caused you, you’ll need to understand all of these factors.
Severity of the Injury
The severity of your injuries is the most significant factor affecting the size of your settlement or verdict. More serious injuries require more extensive medical treatment and longer absences from work, and they impact daily life more severely. Traumatic head injuries and spinal injuries are generally the most serious consequences of slip and fall accidents; we’ve helped clients walk away with six- and seven-figure settlements after sustaining injuries like these in slip and fall cases.
Cost of Medical Treatment
Injuries that require extensive surgery, physical therapy, or ongoing medical care will naturally increase the value of a claim. Again, serious head injuries and back injuries tend to cause the most significant costs here.
Lost Earnings
You should be able to recover any earnings you’ve missed because of time spent out of work. Additionally, if your injury will prevent you from working at your previous capacity or force you into a lower-paying job, you can also claim for the money you would have earned throughout your career had it not been for your fall.
Impact on Your Daily Life
The extent of the noneconomic damages you receive will depend largely on how severely your injuries affect your day-to-day life and for how long. If you can no longer partake in sport, play with your kids, or be intimate with your partner, you deserve specific compensation for this.
These damages are much more subjective than medical costs or lost wages. To maximize them, you’ll need a lawyer who knows how to present evidence intelligently and negotiate productively with opposing counsel.
Degree of Negligence and Comparative Fault
Colorado follows a modified comparative negligence rule. This means that if you’re found to have been partially at fault for your accident, your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of your fault. For instance, if you’re deemed 20% at fault and the overall value of your case is $100,000, your compensation entitlements will be capped at $80,000. However, if you’re more than 50% at fault, you won’t be eligible to recover damages at all.
The Role of Insurance in Slip and Fall Claims
Insurance companies often cover slip and fall claims, so it’s important to understand how their practices can impact the payout you receive.
Insurers are profit-seeking businesses that will do what they can to lower their liabilities related to successful claims. In other words, they’re going to try to lower your settlement or throw your claim out altogether, even if your case is entirely valid.
The insurance company in your case might offer a quick settlement that doesn’t reflect the full value of your damages. Or, it might send you a huge amount of paperwork to complete in hopes you’ll get frustrated with the process and decide to settle your claim for less than it’s worth. These are just two examples; there are dozens more.
Our principal attorney, Ed Smith, worked as an in-house counsel for insurance companies before setting up this practice. He knows all the tricks these firms use to defeat and devalue claims, and he knows how to counteract them. If you’d like to learn more about how Ed could help you, contact us today to schedule a free initial consultation.
A Colorado Slip and Fall Lawyer You Can Trust
If you want a fair deal following your slip and fall accident, you’ll need to know how much you should be entitled to. As you can now see, this requires a lot of careful consideration. To make sure you don’t make any costly mistakes during this process, you’ll need to hire a lawyer who understands these cases and knows how to fight for the best possible client outcomes.
Get in contact today to schedule a free consultation with Ed Smith and learn about potential winning strategies in your case. You can reach us via the contact form on our website or by calling (303) 682-2944.