Who’s Liable if You Slip and Fall in a Parking Lot?
Posted in Personal Injury on February 14, 2024
Slip and fall injuries often lead to significant setbacks for victims in Washington, and recovering compensation can be particularly challenging. Slip and fall accident victims may be able to recover compensation for their medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering damages, but determining who is liable for a parking lot slip and fall can be like putting a strange puzzle together. Parking lots can quickly become “gray” areas of liability, places where there are often multiple liable parties all trying to shift blame to one another for the incident. It is important to consult with a Seattle personal injury attorney to advocate for you.
Control of the Parking Lot – The Muddy Liability Mess
To recover compensation after an injury occurs, you have to know who to hold liable. That’s the challenging part about parking lot accidents.
There are often one, possibly two, and maybe even three potentially liable parties when a parking lot slip and fall incident occurs. Some of the potentially liable parties include:
- The owner of the parking lot
- The owner of a parking lot maintenance company (like an HOA, but for parking lots)
- The owner of the stores/buildings that use the parking lot
- Another party whose negligence caused the slip and fall injury
Parking lots typically become odd areas of liability, and these incidents have to be thoroughly investigated. Not only is it important to determine which party should be held liable through a personal injury lawsuit or insurance claim, but there may be more than one party to file a claim against.
An Attorney May Be Able to Help Determine Liability
Parking lot slip and fall accident claims in the Seattle area become complicated quickly. We strongly encourage any victims to reach out to a Seattle slip and fall accident attorney who can help examine the facts of their case and help determine the next steps moving forward.
Determining liability is challenging, but this is a crucial part of the process to get the claim filed appropriately and on time and to make sure all possible avenues of compensation are explored.
What is Needed to Determine Liability?
Determining liability for a slip and fall accident involves uncovering as much evidence as possible. This can include photographs taken at the scene of the incident, video surveillance footage from cameras on the premises, statements from eyewitnesses, and more.
However, physical evidence may not be enough. After a parking lot slip and fall incident occurs, an attorney will likely need to work to uncover all contracts and agreements between the parties involved with the parking lot usage. This may be contracts between a parking lot owner and the owner of a store using the parking lot or contracts between these other parties and maintenance companies.
Ultimately, it will come down to who was responsible for maintenance and who failed to take the steps needed to prevent the injury from occurring. Your slip and fall accident lawyer will work to help recover compensation for your medical bills, lost income if you are unable to work, and out-of-pocket expenses rising due to the injury, as well as pain and suffering damages.