When you think about the condition of a hotel, the individual rooms are usually where you apply the most scrutiny. You may check for bed bugs and other signs of lax housekeeping practices. However, there are threats to you anywhere on hotel property caused by understaffing and other patrons.
A drunk guest leaving the bar might spill their bottle of water on the way to the elevator, or perhaps there could even be a leak from the ice machine that causes puddling in a hallway. You may not realize that there is an issue until you suddenly lose your balance and end up falling. You could end up with a brain injury or a broken bone.
How do you prove that the hotel was to blame for a slip and fall on the hotel’s property?
Report the fall when it occurs
One of the easiest ways to end up unable to prove your claim is to fail to report the incident to hotel management. If there are no internal records, you will have a harder time proving that anything even happened at the hotel.
Beyond that, management or security might unintentionally delete or record over footage that shows exactly what happened captured by security cameras. You may be able to connect with that evidence later if you need to bring a claim because of your injuries.
There could also be maintenance records at the hotel that either show there was a known issue with the ice machine or the roof where you fell or that the business had failed to address those complaints. Companies often track what cleaning and repair work their employees do in detail.
You can document things for yourself as well
Staff members might mop up the puddle that you slipped in, at which point the situation could become your word against theirs. Before you leave the location where you got hurt, it may be a smart move to use your phone to take some video or photographs of exactly what caused your injury. Taking a moment to narrate the situation could make a big difference in the future if the hotel tries to claim that there wasn’t a spill or a flooring issue that caused you to fall.
Provided that you can show negligence, such as a failure to maintain the facilities or keep spaces clean, you may have grounds for a premises liability claim. Proving the hotel is to blame for a slip-and-fall will make it easier for you to file an insurance claim or take the business to court to cover your medical costs and other expenses.
