Every year, slip and fall accidents send millions of people to the emergency room. Slip and falls happen without warning, and they can devastate your life. After a slip and fall, you may rack up significant debt from the cost of your medical bills and time spent missing work. You shouldn’t have to foot the bill for someone else’s negligence.
Determining slip and fall liability is one of the most complex parts of personal injury law. In slip and fall cases, there are many potentially liable parties, including property owners, tenants, and managers. Establishing liability also includes factors like the nature of the accident and where it occurred.
If you have experienced a slip and fall due to a property owner’s negligence, you shouldn’t be responsible for covering the cost of your injuries. Call Farah & Farah for a free case review and find out about how we have helped people like you win settlements.
Liable Parties and Factors in a Slip and Fall Case
Legally speaking, slip and falls accidents fall under the category of premises liability laws. Under premises liability law, the property/landowners are responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of visitors.
Specifically the responsibility of owners under premises liability law includes:
- Warning of known risks like spilled liquid or trip hazards
- Ensuring that hazards are taken care of quickly and efficiently
- Ongoing monitoring of potential safety hazards
- Regular inspection of the property
When a business or property owner fails to make sure these are taken care of, they should be held accountable for their oversight.
Understanding Potentially Liable Parties
Although a property owner is primarily responsible, parties may share responsibility. Florida law gets a bit more complex at this point as it designates different types of visitors who may be involved in such an accident. Business licensees are people invited to do business, such as customers in a store or restaurant. Invitees are social guests and visitors.
For each of these categories, the property owner is required to exercise reasonable care in the property’s upkeep, or to warn visitors if there is a hazard. Failure to do either one of these things can result in an injury and leave the property owner liable for a Jacksonville slip and fall lawsuit.
Here are some of the different parties that can share responsibility in a slip and fall lawsuit.
Property Owners
This is the individual who owns the land where a business is operating. A property owner is liable if they have been made aware of an issue — perhaps by a business tenant or manager — but it was not quickly corrected. For example, if the renter reported a hazard that the owner never repaired.
Commercial Tenants
Many businesses like grocery stores, malls, and retail operations do not own their location, but they rent it from a property owner. Usually, liability rests with the property owner. However, commercial tenants are liable if a careless employee did not remove a hazard — such as cleaning up a spill — in a timely fashion.
Property Managers
When a management company is responsible for maintaining premises, property managers may be liable for injuries. Many apartment complexes and assisted living facilities to rely on this type of relationship. For example, a management company is liable if someone falls due to a warped floorboard. Or if the property’s dim lighting prevented you from slipping on water from a leaky pipe.
Another Homeowner
If you experience a slip and fall while visiting a residential location, then the owner of that residence is responsible for your injury. You will need to find out information about their homeowner’s insurance policy to file your claim.
Injured in the Workplace
If you get injured on the job, then your workplace is responsible for compensating your pain and suffering. For these claims, you can contact your employer’s worker’s comp insurance.
Your Personal Negligence
Your case may be considered comparatively negligent if your injury occurred while you were in an area that is off-limits to the public. Further, if you are trespassing on a property, then it is not the responsibility of the property owner to cover your damages. You may not be able to recover any compensation if you are comparatively negligent.
File Your Slip and Fall Accident Claim with a Professional Attorney. Start with a FREE Consultation.
After a slip and fall, you may feel crushed under the weight of medical and personal debt. If your injury occurred because of someone else’s negligence, it shouldn’t fall on you to cover these costs. Businesses and property owners have a responsibility to protect visitors. And they should have to answer to the law when they fail to honor that responsibility. However, determining liability for slip and fall accidents can be difficult as many parties can share fault in your accident.
You may be entitled to significant compensation for your slip and fall injury. Since slip and fall accident settlements are difficult cases to argue, you need the peace of mind of an attorney’s office that knows how to win slip and fall settlements.
If you have experienced a slip and fall injury in Florida or Georgia, contact us today for a free case review. We will talk to you about your case and help you get the compensation that you deserve.
