Swimming pool incidents can arise anywhere, but not many people take the necessary legal actions to help them out after they were injured. You are entitled to legal compensation if you were hurt because of the negligence of another party, and swimming pool accidents are no exception to this rule. Contact the Downtown LA Law Group to learn more about how much your swimming pool accident lawsuit might be worth and what you can do to earn the maximum settlement available for your case.

How do swimming pool accidents happen?

Swimming pool accidents can happen for numerous reasons. We have provided a list of some:

• Untrained or ineffective lifeguards
• No maintenance from property owners
• No ropes separating deep and shallow ends of the pool
• Lack of markings on the pool to indicate depths
• Broken floatation devices
• Defective slides
• Broken ladders and stairs
• Broken diving boards
• Slippery floors or ties
• Lack of maintenance by hotel or motel

The types of injuries you can suffer in a swimming pool accident include:

• Concussions
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Drowning
• Broken bones
• Nerve damage
• Sprains
• Internal damages
• Closed head injuries
• Brain damage
• Coma
• Paralysis
• Death

It is not uncommon for individuals to be hurt in swimming pool accidents. If you are at a friend’s house or an acquaintance’s home, an AirBNB, a hotel or motel, a swimming club, a YMCA facility, a gym, a school, or anywhere else with a swimming pool, you could be injured in an incident. It is extremely important that you are near people who are aware and adept at intervening in the event of an injury.

What should I do to file a swimming pool accident lawsuit?

If you wish to file a swimming pool accident lawsuit, it is important that you have enough evidence to do so. Many victims forget to gather necessary and crucial evidence, and their claims suffer for it. The very first step that you should take involves going to the doctor, though. Your health is the priority, and if you wait too long to go to the doctor, your injuries could worsen. Additionally, your claim may be ignored because of the gap – the insurance agent can claim that you were hurt in another separate incident than the one you are trying to receive compensation for. After getting the help you need, make sure to hold on to doctor’s notes, receipts, prescriptions, and anything else proving that you to help. It will also be important that you have photographs of your injuries or damages and that you took pictures of the scene of the accident, the defects of the swimming pool, and more. You can potentially receive security camera footage if it’s available, such as in cases where the pool was at a hotel or a facility. You can then interview anyone who saw the incident happen or who was also hurt by a defect present in the pool. These bystander testimonies will be very beneficial to your case. You should file an incident report with the facility if the incident happened at a company or similar location. Lastly, it is highly recommended that you hire a skilled swimming pool accident attorney to handle your case. We will ensure that you are given them maximum compensation for your damages. Swimming pool accidents are a form of premises liability law. To file a premises liability claim, you must show that the property owner failed to maintain the property, knew about the hazard but did nothing to fix it, caused the issue, or should’ve known about the defect but was unaware of it. Don’t try to work through a premises liability claim or swimming pool accident case by yourself. Seek out the assistance of an attorney.

What is the average value of a swimming pool accident claim?

Swimming pool accident lawsuits can be worth a fair amount of money depending on the nature of the injuries, the extent of the damages, the impact they had on lives and careers, the responsibility or accountability of the victim, and more. The value of a claim will fluctuate depending on many factors, and the insurance agent will make the offer. Below are some examples of other swimming pool accident lawsuits for you to understand how much these claims can be worth:

• $850,000 Settlement: A family was out at a local motel for a short stay. The family’s nine-year-old daughter was later found unresponsive at the deep end of the pool after unsuccessfully swimming. The family attempted to resuscitate her, but were unable to. The family sued due to the motel’s liability and negligence. There was no rope or marker dividing the two ends of the pool, and there were excessive floatation devices and materials on the surface that prevented her from resurfacing once she dove in. The case was settled prior to trial.
• $750,000 Settlement: While on a school trip, a volleyball team was subjected to tragedy. An eleven-year-old boy who was on the team was found unconscious at the bottom of the pool. The team was at a private club to have a party. Although he was immediately removed from the pool and was attempted to be saved, it was in vain. The family of the boy sued the club, stating that the club did not provide a safe environment. There were no lifeguards nor markings on the pool. Ultimately, the case was settled.
• $2,000,000 Settlement: A young boy who could not swim was participating in a gym class, which taught the fundamentals of swimming. He was required to practice in the deep end and was not monitored closely. A full class period passed by before the boy was found discovered at the bottom of the pool, drowned. The family of the boy sued the school for not having a lifeguard, not assessing the student beforehand, not paying attention to the student during class, and more. The school admitted to liability and reached a settlement out of court.

To better understand the potential average value of your swimming pool accident lawsuit, call our swimming pool accident attorneys in Los Angeles.

What kind of compensation can I win in a swimming pool accident lawsuit?

It is possible for you to secure numerous kinds of compensation if you sue a party because of a swimming pool accident. The different damages can cover the various debts and expenses that racked up in the aftermath of the incident, and you should not be made to pay off these bills if you were not responsible for the occurrence in the first place. We will see to it that you are given the following forms of restitution:

• Coverage for medical procedures from the past and future, including surgery fees, hospital stay costs, medication deductibles, physical therapy sessions, and more
• Replacement or reimbursement of lost items, broken property, damaged goods and belongings, and more
• Reimbursement for lost income from the past and future if you were unable to go to work due to your injuries, recovery time, medical treatment, and more
• Pain and suffering damages to cover PTSD, anxiety, fear, mental scarring, emotional anguish, and more
• Wrongful death damages if a loved one or family member passed away in the incident, which could result in funeral and burial costs, pre-death medical bills and pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of relations, loss of expecting savings and income loss of inheritance, and more
• Punitive damages, which are additional types of monetary compensation that are handed out in times of gross negligence or when the opposing party deliberately harmed you; these damages are viewed as severe and harsh, though, so it is very difficult t win them without the assistance of a skilled lawyer with experience in swimming pool accident cases.

If you need assistance in any way, don’t hesitate to reach out to our attorneys who can file a swimming pool accident claim.

What’s the time limit for swimming pool accident lawsuits?

In California, swimming pool accident cases are a party of personal injury law. Therefore, they fall under premises liability claims. They have a statute of limitations of 2 years from the date of the injury before it becomes too late to take action. If you do try to sue thereafter, you will have the claim denied and you will be unable to collect any compensation at all. The statute of limitations is important because it allows you to gather your evidence in a fair period of time and submit it. If there were no statute of limitations, lawsuits could be filed for wrongs done years previous, which would have next to no evidence available. There are circumstances in which the statute of limitations can be pushed ahead, though. If you were underage at the time of a swimming pool accident, you could wait until you turn 18 years old to sue. You also may have been left mentally or physically incapacitated after the incident, which would in turn lengthen your statute of limitations until you return to health. Further, the defendant must be present in the state if you wish to sue him. If he leaves the state to evade the statute, for example, the time limit would still be postponed and would resume when he returns. Many claims are not filed because the victims do not know the amount of time left on their cases or because they forget about the statute of limitations. If you speak with our firm, we will work to ensure that you will never miss a deadline. All of your documents will be submitted on time and with room to spare.