Did you slip on an icy sidewalk in front of a business, or fall when walking over a loose piece of carpet in a store? These incidents may have caused you to become injured, which will have caused you to lose paid hours at work and paying large medical bills. In order to receive compensation for your losses, you'll have to prove that your slip and fall wasn't your fault. Here are some tips for proving liability and determining negligence.

Liability

There are two things that must be proved in order to hold a business owner liable for a slip and fall. The first is that the business owner must have been responsible for causing the circumstance that caused the slip and fall. This could be from an employee mopping a floor that left it wet and slippery, or a tear in carpeting that caused it to create a spot where a shoe could become stuck.

In addition, the business owner must have known about the problem, but did not take any steps to try to correct it. This can often be proved by how long the problem had existed because it caused your slip and fall. It is assumed that business owners will take basic steps to maintain their business and make sure that it is safe for customers.

For instance, if it's snowing outside, the business owners should take steps to ensure that the sidewalks leading to the entrance are safe to walk on. This can be done by shoveling snow and putting salt on the ground to melt patches of ice.

Negligence

Part of a personal injury case will be proving that you were not responsible for causing the slip and fall. This means that your actions must have been reasonable when compared to how a normal customer behaves in the situation.

Ask yourself if you should have been in the place where the slip and fall occurred, if someone else would have seen the problem that caused your accident, if there were signs that indicate the area wasn't safe to be in, and if you were distracted and somehow caused your injury.

The key is not proving that you were acting carefully, but that you were not careless in your actions. For example, you could have been running to get inside the building when you slipped on a patch of ice, or on your smartphone while you walked through a recently mopped area of the store. If it can be determined that you were negligent, you may not receive any compensation for your injury. Contact a personal injury lawyer for help.