Being injured on a stairway is a more common accident type than you may think. If you’ve been injured, reach out to the Massachusetts personal injury lawyers at Lovenberg & Associates, P.C. for the guidance you can trust.
If you’re an able-bodied person, then using the stairs is probably something that you do on a regular basis. Whether within your own home, at a retail shop, in your place of work, or on another type of public or private property, stairs are something that most of us are very accustomed to. But if stairs are defective, aren’t maintained, or are hazardous in another way, serious stairway accidents can occur. If you’ve been injured in a stairway in our state, here’s an overview of what you need to do to protect your right to financial recovery–
Steps to Take Following a Stairway Injury
If you’ve slipped, tripped, or fallen in a stairway, or if you have fallen through stairs or experienced another stairway accident type, you may have a claim to damages against the responsible party. In order to preserve your right to damages, we recommend that you:
- Seek medical care. Following any type of injury, one of the most important things that you need to do is immediately seek medical care. Getting medical treatment is not only important for your own health and wellbeing, but it also helps to establish a connection between the incident and your injuries.
- Document everything. The next step is to document as much as you can about the accident and your injuries, including where and how it occurred, the time and date it occurred, who saw the accident, what conditions existed at the time of the accident (i.e. poor lighting, wet stairs, etc.), what injuries you have suffered, what steps you took after the accident (i.e. seeking medical care), and how your injuries are healing. You should also take pictures of the accident scene and your injuries, talk to any eyewitnesses and get their names and contact information, and learn whether or not the accident may have been recorded (some stairwells may have security cameras in place).
- Report the accident. After the accident occurs, you should report the accident to the owner or manager of the property responsible for the stairwell. You should also report the accident to your insurer, and ask the property owner/manager for their property insurance information for your claim purposes.
- Hire an attorney. It can be intimidating to do, and may even feel like overkill in some cases, but hiring an attorney is one of the most important ways that you can preserve your right to damages. An attorney will investigate your accident to determine its cause and who’s at fault, calculate your damages, file all of the claim paperwork on your behalf, negotiate your settlement, and more.
Call Lovenberg & Associates, P.C. Today
If you have been involved in a stairway accident in our state, you need a skilled attorney on your side who’s experienced in cases like yours. At the office of Lovenberg & Associates, P.C., we can help. Reach out to our team for your free consultation today by sending us a message online or calling our office at (617) 973-9950.
