There is no such thing as a “typical” slip and fall settlement because the circumstances surrounding every injury are different. However, many non-fatal slip and falls tend to settle for between $10,000 and $50,000. Fatal accidents frequently settle for over $200,000.
The extent of your injuries and your share of fault will drive the settlement amount.
What is an average slip and fall settlement amount for non-fatal injuries?
While there is no “average” slip and fall case, there are ways to estimate a fair settlement amount based on your economic losses. One way is to use the multiplier method. While this is often used for car accidents, it can also be used for slip and falls. Under this method, the average settlement for a slip and fall case can range between $10,000 and $50,000 after accounting for shared fault rules.
The multiplier method uses the following formula: Economic damages + (economic damages x multiplier).
The multiplier is a number between 1 and 5. It estimates how badly the accident has affected your life. Severe injuries that leave you incapacitated may receive a multiplier of 5. Minor injuries that did not change your life in the long-term are often given a 1.
Your economic damages in a slip and fall are your:
- medical expenses, including your current medical bills and the costs of reasonably anticipated future medical care,
- lost income, including your lost wages and any reduction in earning capacity you will suffer from your slip and fall injuries,
- costs of altering your home to make it accessible for your disability and, where applicable,
- property damage.
In 2012, the average cost of medical expenses for all falls was $9,463.1
Starting with this number as a baseline for your economic damages, it is then multiplied by the multiplier to estimate your non-economic damages. Your non-economic damages are those that cannot be easily stated in a dollar amount, such as your pain and suffering. Your economic damages are then added to this estimate of your non-economic damages.
For example: Betty slips and falls in a grocery store and breaks her wrist. Her medical treatment costs $10,000. She is retired, so she does not lose any income and suffers no other economic losses. Her slip and fall attorney and the adjuster for the grocery store’s insurance company agree that her multiplier is 1.5. This estimates Betty’s non-economic damages at $15,000. A fair settlement for her slip and fall claim would then be $25,000.
If you were partially to blame for the fall, your state’s shared fault rules would reduce the amount you are entitled to receive. This reduction is reflected in settlement offers made to accident victims.
If you slip or trip on a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, an experienced slip and fall lawyer from a reputable law firm can help. They can file an insurance claim on your behalf. If no adequate settlement is offered, they can file a personal injury case before the statute of limitations has expired and fight for the payout that you need to make a full recovery.
What about fatal slip and fall accidents?
Fatal slip and fall accidents generally lead to higher settlements. Some of these cases settle for over $200,000 and some for over $1,000,000.00. This is because these are not filed as slip and fall lawsuits. Instead, they are filed as wrongful death claims. Wrongful death lawsuits recover different types of compensation than other personal injury claims.
Depending on the state, wrongful death lawsuits can recover compensation for the victim’s loved ones to cover:
- burial expenses,
- benefits from the income that the victim would have received, but for the fatal accident,
- any pain and suffering that the victim went through, and
- loss of consortium.
These damages focus on the victim’s loved ones and family members, rather than the victim him- or herself.
What are 2 big factors in a slip and fall lawsuit?
The 2 big factors that will influence a typical slip and fall settlement are:
- the extent of your injuries, and
- whether you were partially to blame for the fall, and
- the extent to which the defendant has the resources to compensate you for your damages.
A personal injury lawyer can advocate on your behalf and recover what you deserve.
Extent of your injuries
The main factor that will drive your slip and fall settlement amount will be the severity of your injuries. When compared to minor injuries, serious injuries:
- cost more to treat,
- take longer to heal,
- create more serious professional setbacks,
- cause longer-lasting professional problems,
- are more painful, both in duration and in severity,
- are more likely to leave permanent disfigurements, and
- can be more disabling in the long-term.
Each of these issues inflate all of your damages. Severe injuries do not just increase your medical expenses. They also increase the pain and suffering you feel and the professional consequences of your injuries. When the extent of your injuries was high, it increases your legal damages exponentially. For example, the average settlement amount for a fall victim who has suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is far higher than someone who suffered less debilitating injuries, like a broken rib.
Shared fault rules
If you were partially to blame for the slip and fall, it can reduce your legal damages. How much they will decrease will depend on your state’s shared fault rules. In some cases, you may be barred from recovering anything for your accident.
There are 2 general types of shared fault rules:
- contributory negligence, and
- comparative negligence.
Contributory negligence is used in only a couple of states.2 Under this rule, if you contributed at all to your accident, you will be barred from recovering anything. Few states use contributory negligence because it requires you to be absolutely blameless in order to recover any compensation, at all. If you were even 1 percent at fault in these states you will not recover any compensation. This is especially harsh in slip and fall cases. Victims in slip and falls often could have noticed the hazard and avoided it with due diligence and by paying full attention to their surroundings.
Most states use comparative negligence. Comparative negligence requires the jury, in its verdict, to assign a percentage of fault to each party in the accident, including to the victim. The victim’s compensation is then reduced based on their percentage of fault.
There are 2 different ways of applying comparative negligence rules:
- reduce the victim’s compensation by their percentage of fault, no matter how high, also known as pure comparative negligence,3 and
- reduce the compensation based on percentage of fault, but bar all recovery if the victim was more than half at-fault, also known as modified comparative negligence.4
For example: James is in a store and fails to notice a warning sign that says “wet floor.” He slips and falls, breaks his arm, and suffers $100,000 in damages. If a jury finds him to be 60 percent responsible, he will recover $40,000 in states that use pure comparative negligence, but nothing anywhere else. If a jury finds him 30 percent responsible, he will recover $70,000 in states that use pure or modified comparative negligence, but still nothing in states that use contributory negligence.
What compensation can a slip and fall case recover?
Slip and fall cases can recover compensation for all of your setbacks related to the accident. This includes economic damages, like the costs of your medical care, which can be easily stated in a dollar amount. It also includes your non-economic damages, like your physical pain and mental suffering, which cannot be easily stated in a dollar amount.
If the defendant behaved egregiously badly, you may also recover punitive damages. These damages are meant to punish the defendant for bad behavior. However, personal injury lawsuits that are based on negligence rarely lead to this form of recovery.
How does premises liability work?
Premises liability is a field of personal injury law. It holds property owners or managers liable for injuries caused by their negligent upkeep of the premises. Premises liability law puts a legal duty of care on property owners to take reasonable steps to:
- maintain their property,
- discover potential hazards, and
- warn foreseeable visitors of any hazards that are not open and obvious.5
By establishing an attorney-client relationship with an experienced personal injury attorney, you can get the legal advice you need to succeed in a premises liability case.
Also see our article on how long does a slip and fall case take to settle?
Legal References:
- Elizabeth R. Burns, Judy A. Stevens, and Robin Lee, “The Direct Costs of Fatal and Non-Fatal Falls Among Older Adults – United States,” Journal of Safety Research 58:99-103 (Sept. 2016).
- See, e.g., Coutlakis v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 796 S.E.2d 556 (2017) (Virginia).
- See, e.g., Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 13 Cal.3d 804 (1975) (California) and Florida Statutes 768.81.
- See, e.g., Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 33.001.
- See California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI) No. 1001.
