A Costco Wholesale store’s carelessness may cause your injury in Florida. If so, you may be entitled to recover damages.This article is about claims where Costco’s negligence caused your injury in Florida. I do not talk about slip and fall accidents here.
I wrote a separate article that specifically talks about Florida slip and claims injury against Costco.
In Florida, you may be able to make a claim for your damages.
1. Liability (Did Costco do anything wrong?)
In order to have a personal injury case against Costco, Costco’s negligence must have caused your injury. In other words, Costco must have done something wrong for you to have case.
Otherwise, you will not get money for your damages (pain and suffering, medical bills and lost wages). However, if you were a Costco employee, you do not have to prove negligence.
If you were a customer, then you have to prove that Costco was negligent (did something wrong) that caused your injuries. If you can’t prove this, then the odds are that you will not get any money for your injuries.
Truck Accidents
If you are hit by a Costco truck then in order to get money for pain and suffering you also have to prove that the truck driver committed a moving violation (e.g. speeding, careless driving, running a red light, etc.) that caused your injuries.
In Florida, in most cases if you are hit by a truck then you may also have to prove that you have a permanent injury in order to get money for pain and suffering. But there are exceptions.
Find out if you can get non-economic damages (e.g. pain and suffering damages, etc.) in a Florida auto accident case.
Employees do not have to prove Fault
If you are an employee of Costco at the time of the accident or incident, then you do not have to prove that Costco did anything wrong that caused your accident in order to have the possibility of getting benefits.
2. Causation (Your injuries were caused by the accident.)
In a personal injury case against Costco you have to prove that your injuries were caused by Costco. Many people incorrectly believe that just because you had an accident at Costco then they should pay for your medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.
You have to prove that your injuries were caused by the accident.
So, in certain types of cases, it is relatively easy to show that your injuries were caused by the accident. Some types of injuries that are easier to show are related to an accident.
Also, the sooner that you get medical treatment following an accident, then generally speaking it is easier to prove that your injuries were caused by the accident.
Injuries that are easier to prove are related to an accident include the following. (I have also added a link so that you can see the full settlement value in Florida for some of these types of injuries.)
- Broken (Fractured) Bones (These include but are not limited to a hip fracture, knee fracture, ankle fracture, hand/wrist fracture, thigh bone (femur) fracture)
- Amputation
- Bleeding of the brain
- Paralysis (Paraplegia/Hemiplegia/Quadriplegia)
- Herniated disc or Bulging disc (If you are younger such as a teenager or in your 20’s)
- Rotator Cuff/Shoulder Tear (If you are younger such as a teenager or in your 20’s)
- Torn Achilles tendon (If you receive immediate medical treatment)
- Torn Quadriceps
- Cuts and Scarring
Injuries that may be tougher to prove are related to an accident are the following:
- Back pain
- Neck Pain/Injury
- Memory Loss (especially if there were no problems with your brain such as bleeding or shifting of your brain)
- Herniated disc or Bulging disc (If you are older such as in your 30’s or older, or if you have a history of manual labor such as construction work)
- Shoulder injury or rotator Cuff Tear
- Knee injury without a fracture
- Torn ACL (Anterior cruciate ligament)
Now just because I say that some injuries are tougher to prove, it does not mean that you don’t have a case if you have these injuries.
For example, I settled a herniated disc case for a man in his 30’s for $95,000. I settled a case where my client had a torn rotator cuff for $147,000.00.
Those settlements are before deduction for attorney’s fees and expenses. Most cases result in a lower recovery. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.
But you should weigh causation into the value of your case before you think your case is a “slam dunk” or very easy. Your doctor plays a huge factor in relating your injury to the accident, especially for the injuries that I described above as being more difficult to relate to an accident.
3. Damages
You do not have a personal injury or workers compensation case if you don’t have damages. Damages refer to your injuries and the effect that they have on your life.
In a personal injury case, some damages include medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. A good starting point is to take a look at the full value of the pain and suffering component of an injury.
Once you know the full value of the pain and suffering component, then you add it to the medical bills and lost wages. Then you factor in liability, comparative fault, causation and other factors.
In a workers compensation case, your damages are your lost wages and the medical treatment that you need. If you are injured while working at Costco, in most situations you are not entitled to pain and suffering. You may also be entitled to a lump sum (one time) settlement to close out your case.
4. Is Costco insured?
No. Costco Wholesale Corporation is self-insured. There is no medical payments (Medpay) coverage. As of 4/4/2015, Costco is worth $66.7 Billion dollars. They have enough money to pay any personal injury claim.
5. Who handles Costco injury claims?
As of late 2014, Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc. is Costco’s the third party administrator (TPA) for injury claims. This means that you will be dealing with them if you are making an injury claim against a Florida Costco. They will give Costco their evaluation of the case.
Costco will either accept or reject Gallagher’s recommendation. Gallagher’s contact information is:
P.O. Box 6330
1901 S. Meyers Rd.
Suite 200C
Oakbrook Terrace. IL 60181
Sometimes you will not be able to settle a Costco injury claim without a lawsuit. You may have to sue Costco. In South Florida, they use attorney David Cooney of Cooney Trybus Kwavnick Peets.
6. How are Florida Costco injury claims handled differently than against their competitors?
Accident claims against different Florida companies are not handled exactly the same way. In Florida, Costco’s has many competitors. Some are below. I have written extensively about some of them and claims.
- Florida Walmart accident claims
- Florida Target injury claims
- Sam’s Club
- BJ’s Wholesale Club
- Office Depot
- Big Lots (over 90 stores)
- Staples
- Best Buy
- Five Below (9 stores)
Over 86 important factors that may affect whether you have a case.
Did Costco’s carelessness cause your injury in a Florida accident? Did someone else’s negligence cause your injury in Florida?
See Our Settlements
Check out some of the many Florida injury cases that we have settled, including but not limited to car accidents, truck accidents, slip or trip and falls, motorcycle accidents, drunk driving (DUI) accidents, pedestrian accidents, drunk driving accidents, taxi accidents, bicycle accidents, store or supermarket accidents, cruise ship accidents, dog bites and much more.
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Our Miami law firm represents people anywhere in Florida if someone’s carelessness caused their injuries in car accidents, truck accidents, slip, trip and falls, motorcycle accidents, bike accidents, drunk driving crashes, pedestrian accidents, cruise ship or boat accidents, store or supermarket accidents, accidents at someone else’s home, condo or apartment, accidents involving a Uber or Lyft Driver, and many other types of accidents.
We want to represent you if you were injured in an accident in Florida, on a cruise ship or boat. If you live in Florida but were injured in another state we may also be able to represent you.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2013 and has been completely revamped and updated.