Learn all the types of damages to include in your slip and fall injury claim. Pursue the full compensation you deserve for your losses.

Injuries from slip and fall accidents can be costly.

When the slip and fall was caused by someone else’s negligence, the victim is entitled to compensatory damages. These are monetary amounts meant to reimburse injured parties for their losses.

There are two categories of compensatory damages:

1. Special Damages: These are economic losses, including measurable expenses like medical bills and lost wages.
2. General Damages: These are non-economic losses, commonly called pain and suffering.

Insurance claims and personal injury lawsuits are the ways injured people can pursue financial payment for their slip and fall injuries. To get the full payout you deserve, you must claim all types of damages.

Here’s a checklist of damages in a slip and fall accident.

Special Damages: Economic Losses

Also known as economic damages, special damages have a pre-set monetary value, so there’s no debating the amount. Almost all slip and fall claims ask for special damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, and more. Here are the types of special damages you can pursue.

1. Medical Care Expenses

Medical costs unnecessarily burden slip and fall victims, regardless of whether or not the injured person has health care coverage.

Common types of slip and fall injuries include:

• Broken bones, especially arms, wrists, or collarbones
• Fractured hips
• Sprained ankles or wrists
• Knee damage
• Shoulder injuries
• Spinal cord and nerve damage
• Head injuries

All of these injuries require medical treatment, which can include both short and long-term care. Regardless of the treatment required, medical care costs money and results in other legitimate expenses.

When calculating medical expenses, be sure to consider all the medical care you’ve received due to your slip and fall injury. Start from immediately after your injury going through to the present.

Qualifying medical expenses include:

• Ambulance services
• Emergency room care
• Hospital stays
• Surgery
• Physical or occupational therapy
• Chiropractic care
• Lab work and other diagnostic tests

2. Lost Income and Wages

Some slip and fall injuries keep people from returning to work right away or keep them from going to work in the future. If this applies to you, you’re entitled to seek damages for lost wages and other lost earnings.

When calculating your lost wages, start with the first day that you missed work because of the accident and continue counting each day you had to miss because of your injuries. Ask your employer for a wage verification letter.

If you’re still off work or temporarily unable to earn wages in the way you did before the fall, estimate values for these losses as well. Be sure to account for any bonuses, tips, or commissions that you lost by not working.

If your ability to work is permanently impaired, you need an experienced attorney to handle your case.

3. Out-of-Pocket Expenses

Consider all other injury-related expenses you incurred when calculating the value of your slip and fall compensation.

Out-of-pocket expenses might include:

• Fuel, parking, and hotel expenses for traveling to and from medical appointments
• Prescription medications
• Over-the-counter medications
• Medical equipment such as crutches, walkers, slings, wheelchairs, or respirators
• Replacement household services, including housekeeping, grocery shopping, childcare, and yard work while you were physically unable to accomplish them
• Any other costs you incurred due to your injury

If you anticipate future out-of-pocket expenses, estimate and include values for these in your injury claim as well.

4. Property Damage

Special damages can also include the repair and replacement of damaged property. For instance, if you broke your wedding ring in a slip and fall incident, your damages should cover the cost of repairing or replacing your ring.

Other examples of damaged property:

• Clothing
• Shoes
• Cell phone
• Smart watch
• Eyeglasses

General Damages: Non-Economic Losses

General damages are non-measurable losses. These damages don’t come with a corresponding bill or receipt (like special damages), so they are more difficult to calculate. Nevertheless, they are normally included in a slip and fall injury claim.

As a rule of thumb, general damages have two to four times the value of special damages. How much you demand will depend on the specifics of your slip and fall case. Here are the types of general damages you can claim.

1. Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering refers to the real pain and discomfort you experienced at the time of the accident and the suffering you experienced as a result of the injury and its treatments

2. Permanent Disfigurement

Disfigurement or scarring is compensation intended to cover the embarrassment or humiliation you might endure because of severe scarring or an amputation.

3. Permanent Impairment

Physical impairment or disability is a permanent restriction to your abilities. For example, not having the ability to care for yourself after a brain injury or not being able to walk independently due to a spinal injury.

4. Mental Anguish

Mental anguish or emotional distress, which includes compensation for feelings of distress, fear, anxiety, depression, trauma, or grief. This may include loss of enjoyment of life, when your injury keeps you from enjoying everyday activities like exercise, recreational pursuits, hobbies, traveling, and family traditions, among many other things.

5. Loss of Consortium

Loss of consortium is the loss of marital, parental, or other benefits of important relationships:

• Spousal loss of consortium may include loss of sexual intimacy, as well as loss of companionship.
• Children suffer loss of consortium when they lose the affection, mentoring, and emotional support of a parent.
• Parents may suffer loss of consortium when they lose the affection and companionship of a child.

Punitive Damages

Sometimes called exemplary damages, punitive damages are awarded by juries to punish wrongdoers above and beyond liability for the victim’s losses.

If the party who caused your injuries acted deliberately or with extreme disregard for your safety and well-being, your personal injury attorney might ask the court for punitive damages.

Punitive damages typically only apply in personal injury lawsuits involving big businesses and are not given to help reimburse an injury victim. Rather, they’re awarded to help deter the at-fault party and others from behaving in similar ways in the future.

You won’t get punitive damages outside of a courtroom. Insurance companies won’t pay these in a typical injury settlement. Courts normally reserve punitive damages for cases involving the willful, malicious, oppressive, fraudulent, or reckless behavior of the at-fault party.

Some states, including Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, and Utah, have a split-recovery statute. Under these laws, a portion of punitive damage awards goes to the state instead of 100 percent going to the injured party.

Liability for Slip and Fall Damages

Slip and falls are typically a type of premises liability claim against the property or business owner. The owner had a legal duty of care to prove a safe environment for visitors and customers. The owner is negligent when they breach of their duty of care, resulting in a slip and fall.

If someone only gets minor bruising or scrapes from a fall and doesn’t need medical attention, they won’t have a valid claim. In such a minor case, the victim did not incur any real losses.

However, if someone needs emergency medical care and eventually physical therapy, the cost of these services, and the pain of going through them, represent real financial and personal damages that a liable party is responsible for.

Proving Compensatory Damages

Slip and fall injury victims can’t just say they suffered damages and expect the insurance company to hand over money. The claimant must prove not only that they were injured, but that the insured property owner caused their injuries and should pay.

Slip and fall victims must prove:

1. There was a hazard that caused their injury
2. The property owner was negligent by failing to remedy the hazard
3. They suffered real, verifiable damages

Verifying Special Damages

Special damages are usually simple to prove with bills for your medical treatment and related expenses. Copies of your medical records demonstrate the medical necessity of your treatment and justify the amount of time you had to miss work.

Employment pay stubs and tax records can prove your lost wages. You can also establish how much the at-fault party owes for your lost income with a wage verification letter from your employer.

Even if you’re self-employed, you still have a claim for lost income. To demonstrate your financial losses, you might need tax returns, profit and loss statements, and evidence of lost assignments after your injury. Any documentation showing lost income after your slip and fall can support your claim.

If you have damaged property, save receipts for out-of-pocket expenses for repairs or replacements.

The Challenge of Proving General Damages

General damages are harder to prove as there might not be concrete evidence for their existence. Insurance adjusters are naturally suspicious of these damages since there is no way to precisely measure someone’s distress or suffering.

However, emotional damages are just as real as physical injuries. The impacts of pain and suffering can be permanent and even more difficult for victims to deal with than physical damages.

Proof of general damages often comes from testimony or statements from yourself or applicable third parties.

Evidence to support general damages can include statements from:

• Yourself
• Your treating physician
• A mental healthcare provider
• Friends or family who knew you before the accident

Depending on the types of general damages you need to prove, your medical records might also serve as evidence.

Maximizing Your Slip and Fall Compensation

If you’ve recovered from a minor slip and fall injury, you might decide you don’t need a lawyer to handle your claim.

If you have serious injuries, a complicated case, or don’t know what your slip and fall claim is worth, you owe it to yourself to take advantage of a free case evaluation. If you are handling an insurance claim for a loved one, such as a parent who slipped and fell in a nursing home, you’ll need an attorney to help with the case.

In severe or complicated slip and fall claims, attorneys can often get a higher payout than you could get on your own.

Issues that complicate personal injury cases include:

• Allegations of shared blame
• Pre-existing conditions
• More than one at-fault party
• Slip and fall claims against a government entity
• Wrongful death

Most law firms provide a free consultation to accident victims. If you decide to hire them, most work on contingency fees. Personal injury lawyers are paid a pre-arranged percentage of a settlement or court award once it’s received. It costs nothing to explore your options.