Were you injured in an accident at Walmart?
If you were injured in an accident at Walmart—either as a customer or as an employee—you may be able to file a claim with Walmart. However, not every accident results in Walmart claims settlements. Some accidents are simply unavoidable.
To claim compensation for an accident at Walmart, you must show that the store, a store employee, or a store agent acted negligently and that failure to exercise due care resulted in you suffering avoidable injury.
Even if this is the case, successfully resolving Walmart accident claims can be difficult. Because while many retail stores have commercial liability insurance to protect against claims for damages, Walmart insures itself.
Self-insured means that any compensation for injuries caused by an accident at Walmart comes directly from Walmart and not from an insurance company. As a result, the world's largest retail chain disputes many of Walmart's accident claims or seeks to reduce compensation payments to the minimum possible.
We put together this Walmart Accident Claims Guide to help customers and employees who have been injured in a preventable accident at Walmart. However, because no two Walmart accident claims are the same, it is recommended that you speak to a personal injury attorney at the first practical opportunity if you were injured in an accident at Walmart.
An unavoidable accident or negligence?
As the largest retail chain in the country with more than 5,200 stores, accidents are inevitable at Walmart. Your right to compensation for an accident at Walmart depends on whether your accident was unavoidable or the result of negligence.
An example of an unavoidable accident is when you are injured because you slipped on a bunch of grapes that fell out of a shopping cart right in front of you at Walmart. Regardless of the type of injury you suffered, Walmart cannot be held liable.
Only if it could be proven that the grape you slipped on was left on the floor for an unreasonable amount of time would it be possible to file a personal injury claim with Walmart. Your claim would be justified because Walmart failed to provide you with a safe shopping environment.
Other examples of personal injury claims that Walmart may have as a result of failure to provide a safe shopping environment include:
- Stumbled across a box left in an aisle at Walmart.
- Slipped on wet floor at Walmart due to missing warning cone.
- Stumbled or fell over at Walmart due to product left on the floor.
- Slipped on yogurt that spilled on the floor at a Walmart store.
- Slipped on lettuce on the floor of a Walmart grocery aisle.
- Injured by a can falling on a foot in Walmart due to an improperly stacked shelf.
- Slipped on sugar that had been spilled on the floor of a Walmart grocery store.
- Slipped on thawed peas that had been left on the floor for some time at Walmart.
- Tripped and fell over a cracked tile on the floor at Walmart.
- Cut your fingers on products on display at Walmart.
- Struck in the head by a low hanging sign at Walmart.
- Cut off the wrist on a nail sticking out of a Walmart display case.
- Slipped and fell on the floor of a Walmart store through spilled cooking oil.
- Slipped and fell in a water accident near the floral department at Walmart.
- Slipped on water from a refrigerator at Walmart.
- Slipped on milk that was spilled on the floor of the Walmart grocery store.
- Fell in Walmart parking lot after failing to clear ice and snow.
Walmart equips its stores with CCTV cameras throughout. If there is any doubt as to how long a hazard responsible for your injury existed, your attorney should be able to obtain a copy of the relevant records to support your entitlement to compensation for an accident at Walmart.
Making a Walmart personal injury claim outside of the store
Not all Walmart accidents and injuries occur in stores. Walmart has a duty of care to keep certain areas of public access safe from hazards — such as parking lots and sidewalks or restrooms and restaurants on its premises. Even if the responsibility for cleaning has been delegated to another service provider, you can still claim Walmart Accident Compensation if you are injured because of:
- Slipping on an icy sidewalk in front of Walmart.
- Tripping over an uneven surface in a Walmart parking lot.
- Getting hit by a Walmart employee pushing carts.
- Fall due to a mistake in a Walmart entrance ramp.
- Getting hit by an automatic door at Walmart.
CCTV coverage in these areas is not as extensive as in the shops. Therefore, if you are injured in an off-store accident at Walmart, it is very important to write down the names of any witnesses who may have seen your accident, report your accident to a Walmart employee, and seek one at the earliest opportunity doctor for your injury.
Walmart Product Liability Claims
Claims by Walmart customers are not limited solely to in-store accidents or injuries sustained in the parking lot. If you have suffered an illness or injury as a result of a defective product, you may have a Walmart product liability claim.
Walmart holds its place at the top of the retail market because its size allows it to negotiate massive volume discounts. While Walmart pressures suppliers to get the best deals on the products it sells, it sometimes neglects to ensure product safety.
It has been reported that Walmart relies on subsequent customer complaints as part of its quality control policy. Consequently, there have been times when products sold by Walmart have caused illnesses and injuries for which the company has to pay compensation. Talk to your attorney about Walmart product liability claims if you think this scenario applies to you.
The Walmart Employee Injury Policy
It has been claimed that the reason for the high rate of employee injuries at Walmart is that the company is also reducing the health and safety costs of its employees. However, the high number of employee injuries at Walmart may also be due to the retail giant employing so many people.
Walmart's injury policy states that it provides for internal worker compensation. However, as with Walmart customer claims, Walmart insures itself. If you are injured as a result of your employer's negligence or the negligence of a co-worker in one of the following accidents, your supervisor may try to dissuade you from making a claim for Walmart employee compensation to assert:
- Employee injuries from trips, slips, and falls at Walmart.
- Cuts by box cutters while working for Walmart.
- An electrical accident at Walmart due to faulty equipment.
- A Walmart compactor accident due to lack of training.
- Manual lifting injuries to employees at Walmart.
- Repetitive strain injuries while working for Walmart.
- Injuries to Walmart employees from falling boxes and falls from heights.
There are allegations online that the retail giant doesn't always follow Walmart's employee injury policy -- some writers have accused the company of unfair practices in retaliation for demanding compensation for an employee injury at Walmart. If you encounter obstacles to claiming compensation for an accident at Walmart, you should speak to an attorney immediately.
Health concerns after injury at Walmart
If you are injured in an accident at Walmart, your primary concern should be your health. Luckily, most slips, trips, and falls at Walmart result in little more than injured pride, and while you can't make a Walmart accident claim for minor embarrassment, you should still have a precautionary evaluation by a doctor after an accident at Walmart -- even if you do You can get first aid at the store.
Symptoms of some injuries sustained in an accident at Walmart may not show up for an extended period of time, but it is always in your best interest, in the interests of your health, to seek immediate medical attention and avoid contributory negligence claims - wherever you take you have allowed your injury to worsen before you have consulted a doctor and thus have made your condition worse through your own lack of care.
No amount of compensation will fully compensate for a lifetime disability that could have been avoided with timely medical intervention. So if your injury is not considered serious enough to call an ambulance, you should go to the Accident and Emergency Department at your local hospital, or make an emergency appointment with your GP as soon as possible.
Procedure after an accident at Walmart
Once your injuries have received medical attention, you should report your accident to Walmart in the "Accident Report Book." Your Walmart accident report should be as comprehensive as possible, including details - if any - of witnesses who saw your accident. Keep a copy of the report of your accident at the Walmart grocery store to provide to your attorney to prove you were injured at Walmart.
Because Walmart has its own insurance department, Walmart's accident reporting policy requires that you be given the phone number of the risk management office to call. Unfortunately, due to the number of personal injury claims filed against Walmart every day, the risk management office can't keep track of everyone. As a result, claims for compensation are often delayed or denied in the hope that the aggrieved customer will forfeit their claim for Walmart accident compensation.
As noted at the beginning of this article, personal injury claims against Walmart are often disputed and fiercely defended. It's unlikely that after you file your Walmart accident report, you'll get much support from the company and should seek professional legal advice — especially if you receive accident compensation quotes from Walmart prior to a lawsuit.
Walmart Accident Compensation offers before a promotion
At the beginning of this article it was also mentioned that Walmart will try to reduce compensation payments to the minimum possible. Therefore, whenever the company's negligence is clearly established and a lawsuit would likely be successful, the Walmart claims department will attempt to get you to accept an inadequate indemnity settlement from Walmart in exchange for an early settlement.
Often, Walmart's claims department will claim that you contributed to your accident by not paying attention to where you were driving, or claim that you should have paid more attention to your own health and safety. They can tell you they have security cameras showing that your accident at Walmart could have been avoided if you had paid close attention to where you were driving. If this is the case, make sure you request a copy so it can be checked by your attorney.
Despite the inviting nature of an immediate cash payment when you're incapacitated and concerned about your finances, you can't go back to Walmart and charge more when the supply is less than what you need to pay for medical treatment or support your family. A personal injury attorney will conduct a full evaluation of your Walmart accidental damage claim to ensure you receive the maximum possible compensation.
Which includes compensation for Walmart injuries
There are a number of aspects that a personal injury attorney would consider when considering a claim for an accident at a Walmart grocery store. The first would be the severity of the injury you sustained and the time it may take you to recover from your accident at Walmart. The attorney would also include in the claims any "loss of convenience" you suffer - if you are unable to participate in activities and hobbies that you would normally have participated in but are now unable to do so because of your injuries .
You can also include compensation for mental damage suffered in your accident compensation claim. If you are embarrassed about your accident at Walmart, it may not qualify as emotional harm for compensation purposes, but you may experience depression or anxiety from immobility during your rehabilitation, provided the psychological injury is quantifiable and assessed by a qualified psychiatrist .
You are also entitled to reimbursement for any expenses you incur as a result of your accident at Walmart, provided they are supported by receipts and other documentary evidence. Financial costs that may be included in Walmart accident claims include medical expenses, lost income, alternative travel arrangements if you are unable to drive, and any legal costs associated with prosecuting an accident in Walmart compensation claims.
How car-carrying affects Walmart accident claims
As mentioned above, contributory negligence is a term used when you contributed to the cause of your accident at Walmart or the extent of your injuries through your own lack of care. A common defense against claims for trips, slips, and falls at Walmart is that the claimant took "reasonable care" to avoid the mishap that caused his injury.
While the "reasonable care" defense shouldn't apply to Walmart accident claims - since the store would admit they don't try to make the goods on their shelves as attractive as possible in order to catch the shopper's attention - there are others Areas of carful negligence that may result in a reduction in the Walmart Accident Compensation Scheme.
It has already been outlined above how failure to promptly seek medical attention can be interpreted as contributory negligence, and scenarios where a claimant was injured after climbing a shelf to get to an item - rather than the help a store maintenance assistant - can also be seen as the cause of an accident at Walmart through your own carelessness.
Walmart Injury Settlements are often contested
If a lawsuit alleging an accident at Walmart goes to court and a jury awards accident compensation from Walmart, there is a high probability that the settlement will be appealed—especially if you were awarded punitive damages. Walmart injury settlements are often challenged -- or post-hearing motions are filed -- to try to reduce the amount of damages awarded.
In some cases, attempts to reduce Walmart claims settlements are successful. These are typically the cases where contributory negligence is in doubt or where exceptional punitive damages have been awarded. In other cases, compensation payments for an accident at Walmart have been increased as more information emerges about the long-term effects of the injury.
It is best to note that Walmart infringement agreements are often challenged because the appeals process increases the time it takes to obtain an indemnification agreement. The time factor alone can affect whether or not you accept an offer of compensation from Walmart's claims department, but nonetheless, it is in your best interest to obtain legal advice regarding accidents with Walmart claims before making a decision.
Free Accident Legal Advice on Walmart Claims
Some people may feel that their Walmart accident damage claim is frivolous or that they are wasting an attorney's time by asking questions about it. However, being contacted by Walmart's claims department is just one reason to speak to an attorney about your Walmart accident claim at the earliest opportunity. An accident at Walmart in which a minor was injured, or a scenario where you have just been diagnosed with an injury resulting from a previous accident at Walmart means different procedures must be followed with potentially different outcomes.
If you sustained an injury in an accident at Walmart that was not solely a result of your own lack of care and would like to learn more about making a personal injury claim against Walmart, you are invited to call our service center and discuss the circumstances of your Accident at Walmart directly with an experienced attorney.
Our attorney will answer your questions about Walmart accident claims and determine if you have a Walmart accident compensation claim worth pursuing. You are under no obligation to follow our advice or to file an accident claim with Walmart, and all calls to our service are completely confidential.
No two accident claims at Walmart are the same, so it is important that you seek professional legal advice to determine your eligibility for compensation for a Walmart accident and how much Walmart Accident Compensation you should be entitled to. Let your attorney decide whether your personal injury claim against Walmart is frivolous or whether you have a valid claim for compensation for an accident at Walmart.