It would be natural to assume that a person would only ever claim that they were injured in a small business if they truly were, but, unfortunately, people claim otherwise every day. For example, people often walk into a small business and claim that there was a wet spot on the floor that caused them to fall and get hurt. When this happens, the individuals will attempt to file a claim against the business insurance to get money for their supposed injury. If you own a small business, it is important to understand that your insurance company will not pay the settlement just because the person claims they were injured.
When someone takes a fall and files a claim to an insurance company, a thorough investigation is done. You will need to meet with an insurance agent and he will more than likely want to take a tour of your business and view where the supposed accident took place. They may want to see any training material you have for how employees are to handle liquids that get on the floor. If possible, you may also want to get the last few inspections you have from the health department and safety inspector. This will allow the insurance company to establish that your business has a high safety rating and proven track record for keeping the premises as safe as possible at all times.
The agent will then want to interview any witnesses. If there were any customers who were there on the day of the fall and are willing to tell what they saw, give the information to the agent right away. He or she can contact them to find out what they saw and if it matches with the individual's claims.
Next, the insurance company will meet with the individual that claims to have been injured. They will look at their medical documentation to see if the injury is an old or new injury and how bad of an injury it truly is. They will also do a case history on the individual to see if he or she has a history of making slip and fall claims to business' insurance. If he or she does, there is a good chance that the case will be dropped and no money will be awarded.
When it is all said and done, your insurance company will not give anyone any money unless they feel something really did happen. If you want to be sure that you can always prove when someone is making a false claim of slip and fall, you may want to consider placing video cameras throughout your business. This will allow you to catch the individual on tape and then charges can be filed against him or her for attempting to commit insurance fraud.
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