When you’re injured, where do you make a claim? It depends on how you were hurt. In cases where you got hurt at someone else’s home or business, you may be able to seek compensation from them for failing to provide you with a safe stay on the premises.
Premises liability was created to make sure property owners are liable for accidents that take place on their properties. Accidents like slip-and-fall accidents, collision injuries or lacerations can all fall under premises liability if the owner was negligent.
Here’s an example. If you’re at a local pool and slip on water while walking quickly, the pool’s facility won’t likely be responsible for the injuries you suffer. While you may be cared for and assisted, if everything was intact and the area was safe, you were already aware of the risk of slipping on water.
If you change that scenario and can prove that tiles on the floor were loose and caused you to slip, then you can prove that some negligence and lack of maintenance was the cause of an injury. If the owner of the pool could have anticipated that someone could get hurt on the loose tile, then he should have fixed it and thus can be held liable.
You’re also protected in some cases if you get attacked on a premises. For example, if a grocery store’s parking lot lights were out and you were attacked in the dark, you could claim that you were only injured because the culprits could sneak up on you and attack in the dark.
If you have been injured because a property owner had a dangerous condition on the property, you can learn more about seeking compensation from an experienced premises liability attorney.
Source: FindLaw, “Premises Liability FAQ,” accessed July 14, 2015
