It’s possible not to laugh when America’s Funniest Videos runs a montage of people falling down. But when someone is hurt in a slip-and-fall accident on your property, the humor fades quickly.
Nearly 9 million people seek emergency services from slips and falls each year, millions more see a doctor within a few days, and thousands more die.
Unfortunately, there’s also a pervasive belief that you’re automatically liable if someone slips on your property, which makes slip-and-fall scams the second most common type of insurance fraud.
Winter is slip-and-fall season
Not all injuries are visible in a slip and fall. If someone reports an accident on your property, treat him or her with kindness, respect and empathy, and collect the following information for your incident report:
- Name, birth date, primary and secondary contact information
- Detailed description of the incident, including date and time
- Any physical or visual impairment
- What the person was carrying, if anything
- The type of shoes he or she was wearing
- List of witnesses
- If able, ask him or her to show you exactly where and how the accident happened
- Take pictures of the area and document the conditions
- Rain, snow, ice, tracks
- Weather conditions for the current day and several days leading up to it
- Lighting
- Any other observations
