A landowner or property occupant (such as a business) may be held legally responsible if an accident occurs due to dangerous conditions present on their property. Owners of real estate and companies have to conduct routine inspections and maintenance on their premises in a timely and suitable way.
A customer or other permitted visitor who suffers an injury due to inadequate maintenance may be able to make a property insurance claim to get compensation. Premises liability attorney covers the ingredients of a successful negligence action against a property owner for poor care.
ELEMENTS OF LIABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH POOR MAINTENANCE
What exactly constitutes sufficient (or acceptable) upkeep is not always an easy one to answer. The owner of a company or piece of property has the general obligation to do maintenance in a manner that is as meticulous as a person of average discretion would be expected to be under the same conditions. According to the Advisory Board of Civil Jury Instructions, to find a company or property owner accountable for an accident caused by improper maintenance, a plaintiff must establish all three of the factors listed below.
- On the premises were circumstances that constituted an abnormally danger to visitors’ health and safety;
- The owner of the company or property was aware of, or should have been aware of, the potential risk to safety; and
- The defendant did not rectify the safety fault, did not put alternative precautions in place, and did not appropriately alert customers and visitors of the danger. These are all violations of the law.
No Defence For Ignorance
A property owner cannot “get off the hook” from facing civil responsibility for an accident caused by poor upkeep while also claiming that they “did not know” about the hazardous material in question. It is impossible for a property owner to “not know” about a safety hazard. There is a general obligation placed on owners of the property and those who occupy the property to do routine and comprehensive inspections. Suppose the company or property owner should have been aware of the potential threat to safety. In that case, they may be held legally accountable for failing to remedy or maintain the hazardous condition.
A defense that an owner of the property or company owner may potentially use is that they provided visitors with sufficient warnings. For the sake of this illustration, imagine that a particular portion of a department store has been conspicuously cordoned off. There were a lot of notices that said, “repairs are currently being done.” If a client chooses to ignore prominent safety warnings, the shop’s proprietor could not be responsible for any injuries that result. There is also the possibility of holding the client partly accountable for their harm. In cases involving claims for premises responsibility, the case’s particular circumstances are always relevant.
CONCLUSION AND REMARK
At Law Corp, the lawyers who practice in the area of premises liability work relentlessly to defend the constitutional rights of the victim and the members of their families. They could assist you if you or a member of your family were wounded due to the inability of a company or property owner to do the necessary maintenance.
You may contact them online or give them a call right now to set up a time for a free assessment of your case with no obligations attached. They service all of Central California from their legal office, where they handle issues related to premises liability.
