Things to Do If You Experience a Personal Injury While Out Shopping

You just never know when a disaster will strike. We like to believe that if we are careful and calm, we can avoid the kind of horrific accidents that all sensible people dread. However, the fact is that you can easily be injured through no fault of your own. All it takes is one negligent or incompetent person making the wrong mistake when you just happen to be nearby. Sometimes, it doesn't even take that much, as accidents can sometimes happen seemingly at random through the direct action of no one at all.

When this sort of thing happens in a public place, it is very important that you take action immediately. This is especially true if your accident happened as a result of someone else's negligence or incompetence. For instance, let's say you're in the grocery store. You're pushing your cart along, minding your own business, and one of the store's employees accidentally knocks over a whole box full of canned dog food. It lands on your foot and breaks a bone. While this is just an accident, you have every right to be compensated, and it is important that you take steps to make sure that you will not have to pay a bunch of exorbitantly high medical bills or watch your health insurance go up just because that guy in the grocery store was clumsy.

The first thing you definitely need to do is get witnesses. Without witnesses, it becomes your word against that of the company, and they probably have more money than you do. Let's not be naive here, we all know that the justice system in all its forms can be influenced by money, whether we like to admit it or not. You should not automatically assume that the company will be sympathetic to your injury or that they will take responsibility in any way. They may do this, but you should not count on it. As a side note, be sure to note the location of any cameras so that you can request the footage later on, if necessary.

So, when your accident occurs, you or someone who is with you (preferably) should try and talk to everyone who saw the incident. Get their names and phone numbers for now, and that should be all you need. It is important to be polite when asking a person to be your witness. Look at it this way; you are basically asking them to help you out, even if they do (kind of) have a moral obligation to do so. Regardless of anything, you won't get anywhere by being rude or making demands.

This next one is a no-brainer, but you also need to seek medical attention. If you do not seek medical attention immediately, it will not look good on your claim. You want to make sure that the level of injury you have sustained is clear and well-understood. If you simply try to "tough it out," the incident may be interpreted as a minor injury or a non-injury. You know that you are telling the truth, but the courts don't necessarily know that. Know your rights and use them accordingly.

When receiving medical treatment, make sure you inform the hospital or clinic staff of how the injury occurred and where it occurred. Make sure you receive written documentation of the incident and the injuries that you have sustained. Failure to do this will certainly compromise your injury claim.

One thing to be prepared for is the possibility that the store will refuse to hand over surveillance tapes or that they may even destroy them. While most businesses are not this crooked, you should always cover your bases regardless. It shouldn't surprise anyone that companies occasionally engage in this kind of deception. After all, a crooked company isn't going to hand over incriminating evidence on themselves if they can avoid it.

However, they cannot avoid it as long as you push for it. Consider this case, in which a supermarket failed to retain surveillance camera footage of a slip-and-fall incident. Simply put, the company tried to pull a fast one. Their system was made to record video data to an external hard drive. The system was programmed to overwrite the drive whenever it was full. Because of this, the system would automatically delete anything that was not manually copied. The court found that, although the store manager had retained the footage of the fall itself, he had failed to retain footage of the events before and after her fall. This resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff.

Finally, you will need to employ the services of a good attorney. For a personal injury attorney Tampa FL has many options. However, when you are looking for a personal injury attorney Tampa FL can be overwhelming. It is important to find an attorney or law office that puts a high emphasis on integrity and guidance, as these are the ones that are more likely to get you the kind of help that you need.

Author Bio: This article is brought to you by Adrian Rubin who is a freelance writer and Philly photographer.