Slip, Trip, or Fall? A Delaware Injury Guide by Attorney Mary Higgins.

It starts with where you were and why you were there. Delaware law treats injured people differently depending on their status on the property. Were you there for a business purpose that benefited the owner, or were you simply visiting as a social guest?

If you were on the property for a business purpose, the owner owes you a much higher duty of care. If you were a social guest, that duty is far more limited. From there, you must show the owner owed you a duty, failed to meet it, and that the failure caused your injuries. Chapter 2 of the book walks through each element.

A social guest is someone visiting a home for personal reasons, like dinner or game night. The homeowner or renter has no duty to inspect for hazards or fix every problem. Their only duty is not to harm you intentionally or act in a willful or reckless way.

A business invitee is someone on property where the owner benefits financially from their presence, such as a store or restaurant. Those owners must inspect the premises, maintain them, and warn visitors about dangers. Even if you weren’t paying, you may qualify as a business invitee if the owner received some business benefit from your visit.

In most situations, no. If you’re a social guest in a private home and you’re hurt because something wasn’t fixed, like snow or ice left on the walkway, you generally don’t have a negligence claim in Delaware. The homeowner’s policy may include MedPay coverage, which can pay a limited amount of medical expenses, often $5,000 to $15,000.

Apartments are different. Inside the individual unit the social guest rule applies, but in common areas like hallways, stairwells, parking lots, and sidewalks, the landlord must inspect, maintain, and warn of dangerous conditions. Because the landlord controls those areas and benefits from tenants having visitors, the landlord has a higher responsibility there.

A few. Dog bite cases can be different because Delaware has a specific dog bite statute, and sometimes it controls over the guest statute. The “attractive nuisance” doctrine can also apply when a dangerous condition, like a swimming pool, attracts children onto the property.

Trespassers are treated much like social guests. If you were trespassing and got hurt because of a condition on the property, you usually do not have a claim. The main exception is when a property owner deliberately harms someone.

You may still have a case. Delaware follows the modified comparative negligence rule. If you are 50% or less responsible, you can still recover, but your compensation is reduced by your share of fault. If you are more than 50% responsible, you recover nothing.

For example, if you fell on ice while wearing five-inch heels, a jury might find you 30% responsible. You could then recover 70% of your damages from the property owner. The other side carries the burden of proving you failed to act reasonably.

A strong case usually comes with the feeling of “that shouldn’t have been there.” In one case, a woman in her 70s tripped on rebar exposed when a snowplow damaged a parking block, hidden under fresh snow. The snow plow company was determined to be negligent. In another, a runner broke his leg on black ice formed by water draining onto an apartment sidewalk. The landowner was negligent, and we settled that case.

A case weakens when you failed to keep a proper lookout. A tenant who tripped over tree roots he had known about for months, after parking and loading his truck directly in front of that hazard while carrying boxes that blocked his view, did not have a strong claim. The key questions are:

• Was there a dangerous condition that shouldn’t have existed?
• Did the property owner know about it, or should they have known about it, and fail to fix it or warn you about it?
• Did you know about the danger and fail to protect yourself?
• Did you do something that contributed to your fall?

Damages in a Delaware slip and fall case can include medical expenses, lost wages, out-of-pocket costs, and the cost of services you had to hire because you couldn’t do things yourself, like cleaning, cooking, or shoveling snow.

You can also seek compensation for pain and suffering and emotional distress. If you’re married and the injury affected your marital companionship and daily life together, your spouse may have a claim for loss of consortium. The book includes real case examples for each category.

Document the scene immediately. If you can, take photos and video showing exactly what caused the fall and the condition as it exists right then. If you’re too hurt, ask someone with you or a bystander to do it. Witnesses are often in a better position because they aren’t dealing with pain and adrenaline.

Get the names and contact information of any witnesses. Property owners often clean up the area quickly after someone falls, so preserving the condition before it changes can make or break your case.

Three things make a significant difference as your case progresses:

• Seek and continue medical treatment. Gaps in treatment are used to argue you weren’t really hurt.
• Report the injury to the property owner and ask them to notify their insurance company about MedPay coverage.
• Keep a pain diary recording pain levels, sleepless nights, physical limitations, and emotional struggles.

If your case goes to trial a year later, you won’t remember those details. Writing them down while they’re fresh helps tell the full story of how the injury affected your life.

MedPay is no-fault insurance coverage that pays medical expenses regardless of who was at fault. It is similar to Personal Injury Protection (PIP) in Delaware auto cases, where drivers must carry at least $15,000 in PIP so injured people can get treatment right away.

Most homeowners’ policies, and many commercial policies, include MedPay for injuries to guests and visitors. When the coverage exists, the insurer will typically pay a set amount promptly, often $5,000 to $15,000 or more, without requiring you to prove negligence first.