Injuries can strike anyone at any time. Sometimes the circumstances leading to an injury cannot be avoided, but often the dangerous condition leading to injury could have been prevented, had a responsible party acted in time. If you have been injured on property owned by another person or company, you may have a legal claim under premises liability law. This is complicated area of personal injury law, and our Mount Dora premises liability lawyers can provide the guidance you need.
Usual Examples of Premises Liability Accidents
A premises liability accident is one where negligence on the part of the property owner or tenant leads to a person’s injury. The most common causes of liability are these:
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- Slip/trip and fall — A hidden hazard, such as a spill on a floor causes a slip and fall onto a hard surface. Likewise, debris or an uneven surface can cause a person to trip and take a bad fall.
- Faulty construction/maintenance — Dry rot or a design defect weakens a structure that then collapses, injuring one or more victims.
- Falling merchandise — Items stocked on high shelves in a store or warehouse fall onto people below, causing concussions and other traumatic injuries.
- Negligent security — Substandard security in apartment buildings and commercial premises invites criminal activity in dark areas, potentially victimizing those who pass through.
- Dog bites — Many Floridians suffer severe injury due to dog bites and animal attacks on private property or in public places.
- Pool drownings — Fatal accidents can occur in pools whether or not owners have complied with safety mandates.
- Due to the state’s tourist industry, many Florida premises liability cases involve amusement park accidents.
Thankfully, a seasoned and dedicated attorney in Mount Dora could help with any of these premises liability accidents.
Proving the Right Elements in a Premises Liability Claim
The fact that you were injured does not mean you have a valid injury claim. The following legal rules govern premises liability claims:
The owner or occupier of property must not subject anyone entering his or her property to an unreasonable risk of injury and must maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition. The owner or occupier of property must warn someone on the property of dangerous conditions that owner or occupier knew or should have known about. The person injured must not have been acting in a dangerous, unexpected or unauthorized way, and the dangerous condition must not be open and obvious to a reasonable person. Finally, if an owner failed to correct a known safety concern and you are injured while legally on that property, you may have a valid premises liability claim.
Workers’ compensation can be an exception to this rule. If you are injured at your place of work or in the course of your job, your injury claim would follow the workers’ compensation process rather than the premises liability process.
Even a valid premises liability claim fails if you bring your case against the wrong party. Determining the negligent party usually hinges on:
The precise location of the accident, what the lease or business contract says about such liability. For instance, the business or the property owner may be the negligent party, depending on the contract. However, different rules can apply to injuries suffered at private residences.
Proving all of this successfully almost always requires detail-oriented legal representation – guidance that a premises liability lawyer in Mount Dora could offer.
What Makes Local Premises Liability Cases Different?
Florida premises liability law is business friendly. If a person slips on a “transitory foreign substance” at a place of business, that person must prove the business had “actual or constructive knowledge” of the presence of the substance and was negligent in failing to remove it. Actual knowledge means the business or an employee had created the hazard, had seen it or had received a report of it. Constructive knowledge means the hazardous condition existed for so long that management should have taken notice or that the condition was regularly occurring, so that management should have had protocols in place. Additionally, the victim must prove the business was unreasonable in its failure to remedy the hazard.
Available Compensation in These Cases
Victims of premises liability accidents are entitled to fair compensation for medical bills, lost income and their pain and suffering.
The Statute of Limitations Explained
It is important to understand that most forms of personal injury cases with accidents prior to March 24, 2023, are subject to a four-year period of limitations and accidents on or after that date have a two-year limitation set by Florida Statutes Annotated § 95.11(3). Failing to respect this time limit might result in a rejected case, even in situations where a claim is compelling and well-constructed.
Protect your Rights by Working with a Mount Dora Premises Liability Attorney
Largey Law represents victims of premises liability accidents in many different locations. When you work with our Mount Dora premises liability lawyers, you set yourself up for maximizing the potential of your case and holding a negligent business accountable for their failure to maintain a safe environment. Contact us today to speak with a team member and get started. Se habla español.
