What to do if my wife and i got food poisoning at a popular restaurant and we both had to spend the next day in the ER?
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What to do if my wife and i got food poisoning at a popular restaurant and we both had to spend the next day in the ER?
After a horrible night of vomiting and diarrhea we had severe dehydration. I sent the restaurant a letter stating this and got a call back stating they will pay for the meal and to send them our medical records from the ER. We did and got no response for some time now. Should I send a letter that states that I will obtain legal counsel if they don’t at least offer to pay our ER bills?
Asked on May 24, 2014 under Personal Injury, California
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
You can send a letter telling the restaurant to immediately provide you with the name, address and telephone number of its insurance carrier or the restaurant will hear from your attorney and the Board of Health.
You should notify the insurance carrier in writing that you and your wife will be filing personal injury claims.
You and your wife have separate personal injury claims. Both of you should obtain your medical bills, medical reports, and documentation of any wage loss after each of you is released by the doctor. Your personal injury claims filed with the restaurant's insurance carrier should include these items.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your injury / illness and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering, which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
If your case and your wife's case are settled with the restaurant's insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed. If you and/or your wife are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the restaurant's insurance carrier, reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the restaurant. If the case is NOT settled with the restaurant's insurance carrier, the lawsuit for negligence against the restaurant must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
If the case is settled with either you or your wife but not both of you, only the party with whom the case did not settle, is named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the restaurant.
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