I recently broke a rib while riding a rollercoaster at an amusement park with some of my friends. Although I am apprehensive about pursuing a claim for an accident at an amusement park I feel that I am entitled to be compensated for my injury. Am I entitled eligible to pursue a settlement?
As with all claims for compensation, your entitlement to compensation is based on whether the injury for which you are pursuing a claim for an accident at an amusement park is your fault or the fault of a member of staff or management at the amusement park. Despite the intimidating nature of some of the rides at amusement parks and the appearance of danger, this is only a façade aimed at attracting visitors – amusement parks, as with most other businesses, have a duty of care toward their visitors and can be held responsible of one is injured due wholly – or in part – to their negligence.
If you were injured due to a defect in the car in which you were travelling or a problem with the rollercoaster as a whole, you may be entitled to compensation. If your own carelessness was the cause of or contributed to your accident, you may not be able to claim compensation or any award that you would have been given may be downsized to reflect your own contribution.
There is the possibility that even before you decided to claim for an accident at an amusement park that an insurance company was assessing the accident, attempting to determine whether or not its policyholder, the amusement park, or one of its staff, was responsible for your injury. It may have been made aware of what happened by a note made by you or a member of staff in the amusement park’s Accident Report Book.
If the insurance company believes that its policyholder was responsible for the accident which led to your broken rib it may offer you a quick settlement. An unsolicited letter like this should always be referred to a solicitor. Unsolicited letters of compensation are issued by insurance companies to save on legal costs and free up time to spend on other cases; they do not necessarily have your best interests at heart and often fall short of what you need or what may be achievable in court.
Your solicitor will be able to assist you in determining whether or not the unsolicited offer of compensation is enough to compensate you for your injuries and whether or not more could be achieved in court. In order to achieve the most from your claim for an accident at an amusement park, speak to a solicitor at the first possible opportunity.