What are my options if my daughter slipped and fell on hotel property? My daughter fell breaking her two front teeth. She has undergone extensive dental work. The hotel stairs were slick and old non-skid strips that were completely painted over. Hotel did an incident report and I took pictures of the stairs. What are my options?

I've recently answered a similar question for an elderly man and my answer centers on identifying the defect, if any, that caused the person to fall. You have no options short of your own health insurance, if you can't prove there was a defect that was not open and obvious, and caused her to trip or slip and then fall. It's the defect that makes or breaks these cases. What is the defect?

Most businesses have some sort of medical pay coverage under the casualty insurance policy and will pay for medical (limited coverage dollar amount) without regard to fault. So I'd suggest you do two things. One, contact the hotel and ask if they have medical pay insurance coverage, and if they do turn in a claim for the expense you're incurring. Second, contact a lawyer to see if you have an enforceable claim. By the way, you did the right thing in noting the 'defect' and in photographing it. Well done.

For good advice see a lawyer and if you have questions about this blog, the law or your case write or call me directly. Steve Lombardi, sdlombardi@aol.com and 515-222-1110. I handle all types of personal injury cases including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, workers' compensation cases. We help truckers all across the country who come through Iowa and end up in an accident. If we need other lawyers from other states we hire them and it costs you no more than what you would pay us; in other words, we split the fee between us. So call 515-222-1110 or email us at sdlombardi@aol.com.
Steve Lombardi, Attorney