# Slip and Fall call - What To Do Next



## Paul24 (Jan 23, 2013)

I received this e-mail to my company stating the person was a tenant living at an apartment building I plow and salt for. He apparently slipped and fell and hurt himself. He tells me he happened to have a knife in his lunch bag and he fell on it and had to get stitches at the hospital, miss work, as did his wife, etc. He says he's out the day of pay from work, parking at hospital, his clothes, and wants to handle this without lawyers. Does this sound like a scam, what should I do. My guys keep logs and I think the buidling has security camera's- that likely don't cover the lot. Strange that is this person was really hurt, why wouldn't they call me?

Is it better to just get my insurance to deal with it, and suffer through a premium hike, or wait for him to sue me and plead my case in front of a judge.

Any help is appreciated...


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

I would reply with "Where did you fall? What time?Did anybody see you fall, did you report the icy conditions? What footwear were you wearing? Did you require an ambulance? etc. Here's my lawyers #.

Or "Where did you fall?....Yah, that's not our lot." LOL
See where it goes.

Personally would not pay out without a hearing or mediator to determine blame. I wouldn't even mention it to my insurance untill I figured it was on the up and up.
But that is what they are there for.


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## coldcoffee (Jul 17, 2008)

Start by getting a copy of the incident report from the police or first responder. The fact that he wants to settle so quickly & directly with you sounds very suspicious. How do you know he wasn't in a drunken fight the night before with his old lady? How many people carry knives in their lunch bag & then fall on them? There's a reason why he's taking this route, you need to figure that out because the story has too much stink.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

This place have any security cameras around? Tell him you want the hospital report first.


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## G.Landscape (Oct 20, 2011)

Yea this is fishy.....

1. Do what Mr.Markus said.... that might scare him off if he's trying to scam you. 
2. Depending on how the email is worked it might have been a Scam email sent to various contractors...if there is nothing "personal" in the email linking your company i would just sent it to junk spam folder. If he is serious he/or his lawyer will deal with it.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

I slipped and fell and the wod of 100 dollar bills went flying and now Im out 10k....that I had in a lunch bag. Good advice from above.


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## White Gardens (Oct 29, 2008)

Keep us informed, I'd like to know how it all turns out.

And welcome to Plowsite!




.......


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## pabaker66 (Nov 25, 2011)

Paul24;1574343 said:


> I received this e-mail to my company stating the person was a tenant living at an apartment building I plow and salt for. He apparently slipped and fell and hurt himself. He tells me he happened to have a knife in his lunch bag and he fell on it and had to get stitches at the hospital, miss work, as did his wife, etc. He says he's out the day of pay from work, parking at hospital, his clothes, and wants to handle this without lawyers. Does this sound like a scam, what should I do. My guys keep logs and I think the buidling has security camera's- that likely don't cover the lot. Strange that is this person was really hurt, why wouldn't they call me?
> 
> Is it better to just get my insurance to deal with it, and suffer through a premium hike, or wait for him to sue me and plead my case in front of a judge.
> 
> Any help is appreciated...


1. Why didn't the property manager email or call you? Shouldn't they have a report of the incident?
2. Were you even there the day it happened? was there an event that day?


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## shovelracer (Sep 3, 2004)

You call your insurance ASAP and give them everything you have about it. You make sure your personal lawyer is on file. You direct further inquiries to your handling agent. You do not go putting details on plowsite till after it is settled. You raise their rate 20% next year for wasting your time.


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## White Gardens (Oct 29, 2008)

shovelracer;1574534 said:


> You call your insurance ASAP and give them everything you have about it. You make sure your personal lawyer is on file. You direct further inquiries to your handling agent. You do not go putting details on plowsite till after it is settled. You raise their rate 20% next year for wasting your time.


Best advice yet.

..........


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

shovelracer;1574534 said:


> You call your insurance ASAP and give them everything you have about it. You make sure your personal lawyer is on file. You direct further inquiries to your handling agent. You do not go putting details on plowsite till after it is settled. You raise their rate 20% next year for wasting your time.


Gotta agree with white gardens and shovelracer.

If its a scam your insurance company will get to the bottom better/faster than you. They HATE paying out.


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## CHPL (Oct 26, 2003)

Agree with above straight to your insurance company. They will be able to handle it and guide you. Anything other than that could blow up in your face unless you are an attorney .


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## allagashpm (Sep 29, 2012)

Although I haven't had anything like this happen to me before, I would be contacting whoever manages the property and get them involved. Sounds a little sketchy to me and he's hoping you just don't want to get insurance involved.


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## NICHOLS LANDSCA (Sep 15, 2007)

SCAM!!!!! You would have gotten a CALL from the property manager/management the second it happened saying get out here NOW and salt (at least I would have). Do NOT respond to the email or talk to anyone besides your contact and your insurance, contact PM and ask them "what happened? I got this email from so and so stating bla bla bla and I'm concerned that you didn't contact me when it happened". The guy probably got your number off your truck the last time you were there and looked you up.


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## trustyrusty (Dec 31, 2008)

If you pay him off based on his email send me your email address please.

Just kidding of course. Good luck.


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

You should be talking/emailing (etc) to only 1 person. Your insurance company. It's the only single call to make, and then wait for your adjuster/investigator to get back to you. 

You don't want it to bite you in the a$$.


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## Ford.crazy (Jun 19, 2012)

I'd consider it junk mail and send it to the spam folder. noone is going to e-mail you and say they don't want to go though insurance if something is not fishy about it. I've never had someone e-mail me about being hurt, it's always a manager or someone from the site that calls over thing like this. If you want to dig into it call the manager of the place and ask about it, if they have no clue about it don't worry about it. Just my opinion


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## Buswell Forest (Jan 11, 2013)

I'd say erase every trace from your email files...but you already posted here...now it's out there.
So, I say keep 100% quiet. If they email again, do not open it.
If they call, take down the info, and call your insurance provider, then a lawyer if you can afford it or have one on retainer. And then let them guide you.


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## Triton2286 (Dec 29, 2011)

Did you receive the email through your website or did they have your email address?


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

Buswell Forest;1576479 said:


> I'd say erase every trace from your email files...but you already posted here...now it's out there.
> So, I say keep 100% quiet. If they email again, do not open it.
> If they call, take down the info, and call your insurance provider, then a lawyer if you can afford it or have one on retainer. And then let them guide you.


Sticking your head really is not a upstanding business decision.


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## leolkfrm (Mar 11, 2010)

i would go with i don,t have any record of it!


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## NICHOLS LANDSCA (Sep 15, 2007)

Some of you guys are giving horrible advice, just ignoring something won't always make it go away. Calling your attorney isn't needed, call your insurance provider WAY before you call your attorney. If you have insurance you wouldn't need your attorney 
As I said before call the property manager/management/owner and tell them what's going on and if they have no idea then I'd ignore him. Then if he tries to contact you again give your insurance provider his info WITH the emails and let them contact him DO NOT SPEAK/EMAIL HIM


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## underESTIMATED (Jul 2, 2010)

Paul24;1574343 said:


> I received this e-mail to my company stating the person was a tenant living at an apartment building I plow and salt for. He apparently slipped and fell and hurt himself. He tells me he happened to have a knife in his lunch bag and he fell on it and had to get stitches at the hospital, miss work, as did his wife, etc. He says he's out the day of pay from work, parking at hospital, his clothes, and wants to handle this without lawyers. Does this sound like a scam, what should I do. My guys keep logs and I think the buidling has security camera's- that likely don't cover the lot. Strange that is this person was really hurt, why wouldn't they call me?
> 
> Is it better to just get my insurance to deal with it, and suffer through a premium hike, or wait for him to sue me and plead my case in front of a judge.
> 
> Any help is appreciated...


Go through the email header and look for their ip address and cross reference from there. Google their email address as well.

I would assume they didnt provide their contact information as their closing? If they did, google that info as well.

Given all the information above seems legit, then consider it possible.

Call the property manager and see if they are aware of it.

Then from there, your insurance agent for information on what to do next.

Goodluck. Hope its a false alarm.


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## TCLandscaping (Jan 27, 2012)

Just curious. How does someone living in the complex have your email? Is it on your website? The only person at any of my sites that has contact info for my company is the property manager. Therefore if there are any problems obviously the property manager would be aware. ( they would have to contact them in order to get a way to contact me). Sounds alittle fishy but none the less contact your insurance. Placing a call wont make your rates go up. These things take years, im involved in a case from 2010 car accident in my work truck. The party suing me hasnt even been able to get their **** story or paperwork together in 2 years.. Good luck. If you have proper insurance you dont need to worry too much.


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## SnowGuy73 (Apr 7, 2003)

underESTIMATED;1577671 said:


> Go through the email header and look for their ip address and cross reference from there. Google their email address as well.
> 
> I would assume they didnt provide their contact information as their closing? If they did, google that info as well.
> 
> ...


Good advice here!


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## SnowGuy73 (Apr 7, 2003)

TCLandscaping;1578789 said:


> Just curious. How does someone living in the complex have your email? Is it on your website? The only person at any of my sites that has contact info for my company is the property manager. Therefore if there are any problems obviously the property manager would be aware. ( they would have to contact them in order to get a way to contact me). Sounds alittle fishy but none the less contact your insurance. Placing a call wont make your rates go up. These things take years, im involved in a case from 2010 car accident in my work truck. The party suing me hasnt even been able to get their **** story or paperwork together in 2 years.. Good luck. If you have proper insurance you dont need to worry too much.


I can see how someone could contact him, the properties we service have marker flags there and all of those flags have our company name, number, and website on them.

We have had it before where a manager or whatever will call and request salt and so on....


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## Ben/Insurance (Oct 22, 2012)

As an insurance agent, I strongly recommend that you contact your General Liability insurance agent and report this claim. You'll need the injured man's name and address (or just name if that's all you have). You can report it "For Records Only" and the insurance company will not hold it against you if they do not pay anything out. Don't talk/correspond with anyone else. Good luck.
Ben


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## BigLou80 (Feb 25, 2008)

I would just ignore it, if it's serious they or their atty will call you


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