Slip-and-fall accident victims hurt at Target can file claims against the retail chain to demand help with their medical bills and their lost income while out of work. Unfortunately, Target and its lawyers look for ways to avoid blame. Their insurers may reject an initial injury claim, but victims can take another pass at earning support.
If an insurer for Target denies an accident claim, victims don’t have to give up their hope for getting help. They can file an appeal, file a lawsuit, or report the insurer to the California Department of Insurance.
However, submitting the same case with the same evidence can result in another rejection. When your injuries are serious, it’s a good idea to turn your appeal over to a California Target slip-and-fall lawyer. A skilled attorney can re-investigate your case and find additional evidence to make sure the outcome is favorable for victims in need of recovery help.
Suffering an Injury at Target and a Denied Claim
It may just be a normal day of shopping at a California Target when you suddenly take a fall on a hazard that should have been cleaned up. You might slip on a broken jar of pasta sauce left on an aisle, fall backward, and suffer a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). You could step in a pothole in the Target Parking lot, trip forward to land on your kneecap, and suffer a bone fracture.
Target may attempt to paint you as a clumsy person or say you weren’t paying attention. However, every business owner or corporate chain is responsible for the safety of customers. Store employees must monitor for accident hazards and remove them or clean them up.
Even with this legal responsibility, you may fall and file an injury claim only to be denied financial assistance to pay for recovery. Target’s corporate lawyers may argue that you were to blame for your own fall or say you didn’t present enough evidence to prove the store’s liability. They can send you a rejection letter and hope you simply give up.
Fortunately, California requires commercial liability insurers to provide an appeals process to any claim decision.
How to Appeal a Target Slip-And-Fall Accident Claim Rejection
Insurers are required to provide accident victims with a way to appeal an insurance claim denial of benefits.
Victims would get another chance to present their cases, hopefully this time with better evidence and documentation and a more forceful argument. A skilled Maison Law attorney can definitely help on both counts.
These are a few of the important steps in a personal injury insurance appeal:
Determine Why the First Claim Was Denied – California requires insurers to make it clear in a rejection letter why the claim is being denied. This is instructive for victims and their lawyers and can show the way to presenting a stronger case on a second opportunity. It spotlights where a case can be improved.
A weak excuse or reason might also make a complaint with the California Department of Insurance CDI necessary. There are guidelines that insurers must follow when handling a slip-and-fall victim’s claim. They must not make them wait too long for a response. They must also only reject claims with proper justification. When they are found to have broken the rules, the CDI can investigate and fine the company. The CDI has plenty of cases to sift through, but if they fully investigate your claim and find unfair behavior, they may order the insurer to pay you full compensation.
Write a Formal Letter of Appeal – To secure a redo on your claim, you would send a formal letter to the insurer describing why you felt the denial was the incorrect decision. If you have a lawyer, your attorney would write this letter for you and submit it to the best person to get results. Insurance companies would usually assign the claim to a new adjuster and reinvestigate it.
Submit a New Claim – You’ll want to make sure your claim is backed with additional evidence this time to force Target to accept full responsibility. This is where a lawyer’s experience can come in very handy. Your lawyer will be reinvestigating the accident and Target’s negligence in causing it. Your lawyer can include witness testimony and request security footage if available to show what happened. Your lawyer is also ready to put pressure on insurers who needlessly delay claims and use false narratives to poke holes in your case.
Negotiate a Settlement – With a lawyer’s help backing your case with facts, Target and its insurer should have no choice but to accept blame and financial accountability. Your Maison Law attorney would not back down from a giant insurer or a major retailer until they admitted they put you at risk. Then your attorney’s negotiation experience comes into play in demanding every benefit available. Your attorney would examine every settlement offer sent to you to make sure it covered everything you required to rebuild your health and your finances. If it were a “lowball” offer, your legal representative would reject it for you and demand more.
Filing a Lawsuit Against Target
If Target rejects your claim or appeal, a lawsuit would be the next step. Your attorney would have a lawsuit already prepared and backed with evidence. Target and its insurer would have to defend their failure to keep you safe and help you with recovery before a judge.
This step can scare insurers into coming back to the negotiating table and reaching a fair settlement agreement. Sometimes a trial isn’t necessary. Target wants to avoid an expensive trial and the hit to its image in these situations. An experienced lawyer also represents the threat of a lawsuit, often encouraging Target to be even more generous in the settlements it presents to victims.
What Kinds of Damages Can Earn Support When Filing an Appeal with Target?
An insurance claim appeal means insurers will need to fully review the circumstances of your case and any new evidence your lawyer uncovers. This can lead to a full reversal of their original decision.
At this point, victims can receive the support they should have gotten with their first filing.
A skilled lawyer would demand immediate compensation for these and other damages.
Economic Damages
- Current and Future Hospital Bills
- Transportation costs while traveling to see doctors and specialists
- Lost job benefits and paychecks
- Replacement of any damaged property
Non-economic Damages
- Pain endured and pain expected to stick around in the years ahead
- Emotional trauma caused by the fall and a difficult injury recovery
- Depression and Anxiety experienced in rehabilitation
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Do I Need a California Target Accident Lawyer?
If your injuries in a slip-and-fall are very minor, perhaps only bumps and bruises, you may not need a lawyer’s help with your case.
However, if you are seriously injured in a fall and the Target’s negligence was at fault, you should speak to a Maison Law attorney as soon as possible. Target will try to limit the amount of support it must pay out. If they can get away with it, the corporate giant will just dismiss the claim entirely, leaving victims to pay their own medical bills.
If you’ve already been through the claims process once, don’t give up hope! Maison Law offers a free case consultation. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out what your case is worth and how you can build a strong case for an appeal with unhelpful insurers.
There’s no obligation, but if you need our help to hold a store and an insurance company liable, you won’t need any money. There are no up-front costs to hire our lawyers. We also don’t get paid if we don’t win your case or appeal. If we win, our fee comes out of the settlement check that Target must write for you.
