Getting hurt when you visit someone else’s property often leads to questions about who is going to cover the cost of the injury. There are several factors that can affect who is responsible for an injury. Knowing how these apply to your case can help you to determine who is liable.
What was your status on the property?
Generally, trespassers don’t have any right to expect that the property is safe. In most cases, they are excluded from being able to receive compensation. Invitees, licensees and social guests have the permission of the owner to be on the property. With that in mind, those people have a right to expect that the property is safe. Invitees, licensees and social guests might be eligible to receive compensation for injuries.
How does this apply to children?
In a previous blog post, we discussed the legal concept of attractive nuisance. This concept is one that says that property owners should take reasonable steps to secure items that a child might find inviting and that can cause death or serious injury, such as a swimming pool or swing set. Under this concept, property owners must give warning about unsafe conditions if they have reason to believe that children will venture onto the property.
Are there any factors that matter?
Property owners have a duty to warn of dangerous conditions or to fix those conditions. If there are unsafe conditions that are known to the property owner and the property owner doesn’t offer a warning about them, that likely meets the requirements for negligence on the property owner’s part.
Learning about how to determine fault in a premises liability lawsuit is vital for anyone considering seeking compensation. Once it is determined who is responsible for the injury, it is possible to move to the next step.
Source: FindLaw, “Premises Liability: Who Is Responsible?,” accessed April. 22, 2015
