Property owners can become liable for injuries or accidents that occur on their properties under the premise liability law. This law covers different types of properties. They include residential areas, commercial spaces and public spaces.
“It is vital to understand how premise liability law works. This legal concept boosts your chances of receiving compensation when you get involved in an accident on another person’s property which leads to a personal injury,” says personal injury attorney attorney Matthew D. Shaffer of Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, LLP Accident & Injury Attorneys..
In this essay, you will understand how to determine liability when you suffer personal injury on someone else’s property. It will also highlight different types of accidents covered under this law.
Understanding the Legal Concept of Premises Liability
Premise liability is an important legal concept in personal injury claims. Attorneys use this concept to determine the responsible party and the compensation to receive.
According to the concept, a property owner becomes liable for the injury of another person when two conditions are met. The first is that the person sustains the injury on their property. The other is that the injury is due to unsafe conditions on the property.
To hold the property owner liable, you have to prove that they are negligent in keeping the premises safe. The law defines negligence in several ways. It includes failures to fix dangerous conditions, failure to install proper signposts for potential hazards, and failure to put measures in place for security.
Key Factors that Play a Role in Personal Injury Outcomes
There are three major factors that determine the outcome of a personal injury claim. They include causation and damage, breach of duty and duty of care.
Factor One: Duty of Care
All property owners have a standard duty of care to maintain. The duty of care demands property owners to ensure safe conditions of the premises to a reasonable extent. This is why establishing a property owner’s duty of care is an important part of premises liability.
You should know that the application of duty of care differs for each visitor. For example, if you trespass a person’s property, the duty of care owed to you is minimal compared to having permission to be in the premises. For those with permission, a property owner is expected to implement safe measures, which include fixing potential dangers in the property.
Thus, when you enter a person’s property without permission and sustain personal injury on the property, you cannot hold the owner liable for your injury. Trespassers can only hold property owners liable when their injury is a result of wilful or wanton misconduct.
Understanding this aspect of the law will help guide you in your personal injury claims against property owners. It also helps with knowing your rights and defining the responsibility of property owners in its appropriate contexts.
Factor Two: Breach of Duty
Before you can hold a property owner liable for your injuries, you need to prove that they breached their duty of care. The law considers a duty of care breached when the owner is aware of a potential hazard but fails to fix it.
To prove this, you need to present evidence that can help establish breach of duty. The evidence includes the following:
Maintenance records: A typical maintenance record shows the timeline of equipment servicing or repair. This can provide insight on negligence in maintaining standard of property maintenance.
CCTV footage: You can understand the circumstances that led to the accident by reviewing the security footage on the property. With this, you can determine what type of action to take next.
Witness testimonies: Witnesses can give perspective on how the property owner maintained or breached duty. They can present their observations or experience on the property. Witness testimonies can make or mar your case as they can either strengthen or contradict it.
Factor Three: Causation and Damages
You need to establish that your injury is directly related to the property owner’s breach of duty. You also need to show how this injury resulted in damages.
Damages may include medical bills, loss of income, pain and suffering. The court will use the severity of the damages to determine the extent of the compensation to award.
Types of Accidents That May Occur on a Property
There are three major accidents that may occur on a property which may lead to sustaining personal injuries. They include slip and fall, inadequate security and family maintenance.
Slips and Falls
When the surface of a property is wet, uneven or icy, they may lead to people slipping and falling. It is generally the duty of property owners to fix potential hazards and put up warning signs for the potential dangers on the property. Failure to do this makes them liable.
Failure to Provide Security or Inadequate Security
You can sustain injuries in a property due to inadequate security or the lack of it. Such injuries may be due to assaults.
Property owners are expected to take necessary measures to curtail potential dangers and ensure people’s safety on their property. They may become liable for failing to do this.
For example, a property owner may become liable for an assault on their property if the location is poorly lit, especially in areas with a high rate of crime.
Maintaining Faulty Objects
You may sustain injuries on someone else’s property due to faulty or poor maintenance culture. Such accidents may include getting hit by falling objects, or falling off broken stairs.
Property owners have a duty of care to inspect their property and repair any faulty or broken objects. This helps in preventing avoidable accidents.
Concluding Remarks
It is important for property owners to understand their responsibilities to their premises. They need to conduct periodic inspection, ensure maintenance of property, repair faulty objects and install signposts that warn against dangers. They should also understand regulations that guide property safety so they can avoid lawsuits under premises liability.