Victims hurt in a slip-and-fall accident at Walmart can ask for help with their medical bills and their lost time at work. If Walmart and its insurers deny an accident claim, victims can then file an appeal, file a lawsuit, or report the insurer to the California Department of Insurance.
Those hurt and in need of compensation may have more success on a second try by relying on the help of a skilled California lawyer who can back their cases with additional evidence and documentation. An experienced lawyer can also call out an insurer and Walmart when they use weak excuses to deny help to an injured victims.
Taking Action After a Walmart Trip-And-Fall Injury Claim Denial
According to California Civil Code CCC 1714, Walmart must take responsibility for the safety of every customer. That means managers and other employees must monitor for and remove trip-and-fall hazards in parking lots, across their floorspace, and in bathrooms. When they are negligent in this duty, and someone is hurt, victims can file claims with Walmart’s liability insurance provider to receive help with recovery costs.
Unfortunately, insurance adjusters are paid to try to limit the number of incidents they have to accept fault for. They can limit the support that victims facing weeks or months of recovery can get. They can also outright reject a perfectly legal claim and leave victims with nothing.
Upon receiving a rejection letter, victims aren’t left powerless. They have several options before them to make another attempt to hold Walmart liable for an accident:
- File an Appeal. Commercial liability insurance providers must present victims with an appeals process for victims who want their cases reconsidered. It starts with a formal letter that goes out to the insurance company. The victim’s attorney can help draft this letter and get it into the right hands. Then the claim would likely be sent to a different adjuster, and the claims process would start anew. Of course, filing the same claim with the same evidence backing it up won’t usually gain an improved result. It’s why slip-and-fall victims often do much better when they have a skilled California Walmart slip-and-fall attorney handle their appeal.
- File a Lawsuit. If Walmart still won’t admit fault and an insurer still refuses to cover a victim’s damages, it may be time to take the insurer and the retail corporation to court. Walmart will take notice of this and do everything possible to avoid an expensive trial and the damage to its reputation that a lawsuit can cause. A trial date can often scare Walmart enough for them to reconsider making the victim whole and paying up. If you do consider a lawsuit, it’s a good idea to have a lawyer for such a complex undertaking, especially when filing against Walmart, which will have teams of corporate lawyers of its own.
- Report the Insurer to the Department of Insurance. The California Department of Insurance (CDI) provides Walmart accident victims with another path to getting assistance. If insurers broke state codes when denying the victim’s claim, they might have to pay a penalty. The CDI might also force Walmart and its insurer to cover 100% of your recovery expenses. This can be a slow process, and the department administrators may not deem the victim’s case worth investigating. However, it’s one way accident victims can fight back.
How Can a Lawyer Change the Outcome of My Denied Personal Injury Claim?
A lawyer can help with any path you choose to get your case a second look.
With an appeal, a lawyer can draft your appeal letter and make sure it reaches the right people. Maison Law presents evidence that may not have been included in the first accident claim. This can include witness testimony, testimony from doctors about your injuries, and even surveillance video from the store. This can make a massive difference in the outcome of your next claim attempt.
Your attorney also backs you up when Walmart tries to blame your accident on your actions. Maison Law presents strong evidence that shows Walmart was to blame and created an unsafe store.
No matter where a case stands, a skilled lawyer will always be preparing for a lawsuit just in case. Your attorney represents the threat of a lawsuit. If you don’t have a lawyer, Walmart won’t really be worried. But when a trial is a real possibility, they often decide to accept blame for cases they wouldn’t usually compensate.
When you report an insurance company to the California Department of Insurance, a lawyer goes further to make sure administrators get the full story. This is important to get them to mount a full investigation and to take your case seriously.
Maison Law has experience taking on giant corporations and refuses to back down. We call out adjusters and Walmart and force them to admit fault and to pay up for the delays they’ve purposely caused.
Bottomline: A skilled attorney can often win injured victims much more in compensation than they could win by taking on Walmart themselves.
How Do I Know If I Need a California Walmart Slip-And-Fall Lawyer?
A case involving very minor injuries, like bumps and bruises, may not leave you in need of legal representation. But if you are seriously injured in an accident caused by Walmart’s negligence, such as leaving a puddle to sit on an aisle or delaying in fixing a pothole, you should speak to a Walmart trip-and-fall accident lawyer about your options.
If your injury case was originally thrown out, don’t give up hope! These benefits can still be won. Maison Law offers a free case consultation to go over every available avenue after getting a rejection letter.
No worries about the cost of hiring a lawyer. If you need our help to hold an insurance company liable, you won’t need any money. There are no up-front costs to hire our lawyers. We only get paid if we win your case for you, and then our fee comes out of the settlement check that an insurance company must write for you.
