Is the college liable for my emergency room bills?

I was recently visiting a college in New York for a conference. I fell down an entire staircase because I slipped. I had to be taken to the emergency room, get x-rays and at CT Scan. I was not doing anything out of the ordinary on the stairs...I was slowly walking down them and they were slick. Several other people at the conference told me that they had come close to slipping on the stairs that week as well and attributed it to them being slick linoleum stairs. Should the college be liable for my medical bills if my insurance company doesn't pay the full bill (I have 80/20 coverage and a deductible). What do I need to do to make this claim? A police report was already filed in New York.

Linoleum can be extremely slippery when wet, and it would thus be pretty stupid to cover stairs with it unless perhaps you have lots of friction strips nailed to the tops of them. I've heard of one homeowner who got successfully sued by a tenant who slipped and fell because his concrete stairs were painted with several layers of oil-based paint, which creates a similar high-gloss slippery type of surface. If they wanted to make the stairs look nice, they should've used carpeting instead. I think you have a case.

have your lawyer contact them. you may have to sue.

Regardless of the police report, what did the college do to facilitate your falling? were the stairs slick because there was water or some other substance on them? Were you warned (as in your post) BEFORE you slipped by other conference goers?

You have (or will have) a hard case to prove negligence on the part of the college unless you can show that they were aware of the danger and did nothing to mitigate.

SORRY LEGALIZE: but you are suggesting heresay as testimony. Unless the poster has quantitative evidence that the stairs were slippery in ALL cases (we have no facts on which to base a legal opinion) and that the college was negligent outside of the ordinary care measure, this is at best a demand letter for payment but NOT, based on the facts presented, grounds for a winable lawsuit.

The college should pick up the bill under Part C of its commercial general liability coverage; but if not, then you will just have to sue them. Make sure that the University administration understands that you just want the bills covered but if the bill is not covered then you have to get a lawyer involved and then we're talking million-dollar lawsuit.

Get a lawyer right away -- I'm sure you can find one to work on contingency and get started for no money down. Get them started right away.

They'll probably give you alot of trouble, but you can try.

You'll have to document that the place you fell is a clear danger to the public. Take video or still photos of the staircase from several angles and close ups of the spot where your feet slipped.

You'll find that most public organizations like schools may be resistant, but if faced with facts, they'll be compelled to pay their share of any unpaid bills.

I'm no lawyer, but it sounds like they should be paying your ER bills. I would suggest that you speak to an attorney about this.

You'll have to show that despite the fact you were warned, the stairs were unreasonably slippery, to the point where a reasonable person would have felt safe walking down them when he or she really wasn't.

You'll also have to prove that the college knew the stairs were or could be slick, and that the slickness was the result of their actions.

Hire an attorney, and send a letter requesting coverage of what the insurance company does not cover, as step one. As step two, pursue a settlement.

Only about 4 or 5 percent of civil lawsuits find in favor of the plaintiff. Avoid this at all costs.

The college could be liable if you can get the other conference attendees to tesify that the stairs were slick. I'm not sure of your gender, but were you wearing high heels or low-hemmed pants that you could have tripped over? The college would likely want to dispute the issue and would ask you such questions. If the court finds that you were in any way careless, you could lose your lawsuit. However, from what you say here, it's likely that you would succeed. You'd have to gather enough witnesses though.