Hotel Swimming Pool Slip and Fall Accidents

If you experienced a slip and fall near the pool at a hotel, you might be entitled to recover monetary compensation. An attorney can help you determine this, but understanding the rules and what you need to show to recover that compensation is important.

Types of Claims

In order to know if you are able to recover compensation, it’s important to know what types of claims can be filed for slip and fall injuries at a hotel pool.

Negligence Claims

One of the most common types of slip and fall claims is a negligence claim. To show negligence, you and your attorney will have to show that the hotel had a duty of care, that duty was breached, and that breach was the cause of your accident and injuries. For example, hotels are required to maintain safe premises for the guests. If they fail to do this and a person is injured in a slip and fall, the hotel may be held responsible.

Premises Liability Claim

If there were not adequate warnings about the dangers, poor safety equipment, a lack of safety fences or alarms, or a lack of supervision around the pool, it may be possible to file a premises liability claim.

Causation is Important

One of the most important pieces of a slip and fall accident is showing that the named defendant is liable for your injuries. This can be done by showing that their negligence and/or inaction was the cause of your slip and fall incident.

For example, if you were staying at a hotel and were injured because they didn’t have the slip resistant tile around the pool that they are required to have, the hotel will likely be liable for your injuries.

Compensation

If you were injured at a hotel due to a slip and fall accident by the pool, you may be entitled to recover compensation. The most common types of compensation that are recoverable in this circumstance include compensatory damages, which includes medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, damage to physical property, and sometimes punitive damages, which are awarded as a way to punish the named defendant and deter others from behaving in a similar manner in the future.

Comparative Fault

In California, personal injury cases are governed by comparative fault. Under this rule, a victim can recover compensation even if they are partially at fault – whether it’s 1 percent or 99 percent at fault. The monetary award will then be reduced by the percentage that the victim is deemed to be at fault. For example, you were awarded $20,000 and were found to be 50 percent at fault. You will be awarded $10,000.

File on Time

Another incredibly important piece of filing a slip and fall claim is making sure that you file it on time. The statute of limitations is the amount of time with which you are permitted to file a claim. If you fail to file it within that timeframe, you will be barred from filing the claim at all, therefore you will be unable to recover compensation that you deserve and would have otherwise been entitled to.

If you or a loved one experienced a slip and fall at a hotel pool, it’s important to hire an experienced Los Angeles slip and fall lawyer right away. Contact us today for a free consultation.