Whether it’s wet surfaces, tripping over debris or just having a little too much fun, it’s easy to find yourself on the wrong end of an injury lawsuit from a customer. Slip and falls are the most common type of injury claim against a restaurant or bar. Protecting your business from these lawsuits is an important part of your overall Risk Management strategy. These types of claims are common and are typically covered by your General Liability insurance. They come in many forms:

• Minor Injuries – These are normally straightforward and may even be covered sufficiently by the Medical Payments coverage on your policy. It’s important to handle these properly to keep your customer happy and prevent a minor incident from getting out of control.
• Serious Injuries – Customers that have suffered a more serious injury may need extended medical treatment and may suffer long term complications. It’s not unusual for these customers to retain an attorney to represent them. your insurer will help to get these claims settled fairly and as quickly as possible.
• Fraudulent Claims – All too often, you’ll come across someone that makes a claim that you believe is fraudulent or exaggerated. Your General Liability insurance carrier will help with the investigation and defend these types of suits.

In all these cases, it’s important to have a plan to mitigate the risk and also a plan for how to respond in the event of an incident. Properly training your employees on what to do when a customer is injured can make a major difference in how damaging the claim ends up being to your business and your reputation. A proper Risk Mitigation Strategy for Slips and Falls includes:

Statement Insurance Agency can work with you to help address all of these areas. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We have the resources from Professional Risk Managers and help you implement them in a way that makes sense for your business.