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Injury on Private Property: How to Sue For Damages After a Home Accident

August 10, 2023 
by LA Injury Group

You can sue the property owner for compensation if you are injured while on someone's property. The foundation of this ability lies in the fact that the property owner must take active measures to ensure that their guests do not suffer any injury. However, if they do not take active steps to ensure their guests do not suffer any damage, they shall be liable for any eventual harm. The basis for any successful claim against the property owner shall be negligence.

 As indicated above, property owners must ensure that their guests do not suffer any injuries on their premises. If they are negligent and the guests suffer harm, they shall have violated the duty of care that resides with them. This is where a Slip and Fall Accident Lawyer can provide crucial expertise. It is vital that property owners warn their guests about possible dangers on the premises so that injuries can be prevented. Additionally, property owners must seal off any area that is likely to cause harm.

As much as the above statement is true for most states in the United States, the laws of the state from which the liability arises shall guide the process in which liability shall arise. It is, therefore, crucial that as soon as you are involved in an injury arising from a home accident, you consult a duly licensed premises liability lawyer in that particular state. The discussions with the premises liability lawyer shall inform your next course of action. 

Home Accidents and Seeking Compensation

Home accidents may include slips and falls, dog bites, drowning, fall accidents, wet floors, dangerous pavements, slippery floors, electrocution, food poisoning, hazardous objects, and any other injury from home. Generally, any home accident one goes through while visiting someone else's home forms part of the premises liability claims. 

The process of obtaining compensation in premises liability claims is long and tedious. This conclusion is because the property owners may likely blame you for the accident. Moreover, they may go to great lengths to ensure they do not have to pay anything as compensation. Because of this, you must always ensure that you engage the services of an experienced premises liability lawyer to receive adequate compensation.

This blog highlights injuries in private homes, why they happen, and how to sue for damages following home accidents. 

injured man using an ipad

Injury on Private Property: Why You Were on the Property Matters

The reason for your presence at home will likely impact the amount of compensation you will receive if you file a premises liability claim.

In light of the above, the law looks at and makes the following classifications of people in a property. They include:

  • An invitee;
  • A licensee; and
  • A trespasser 

We are going to look at the various classifications below:

An invitee

An invitee is someone who is under the invitation of an owner of a home or someone who has the legal authority to invite people into the house to visit a property for some transaction or any other reason. An invitee shall include people who businesses or other entities have requested to visit their premises. 

When someone is an invitee into a property, the owner must ensure that the invitee does not suffer any harm at the premises. Therefore, The inviting party must ensure that no harm befalls any party at their home on the strength of their invitation. The inviting party must also warn the invitees of possible dangers in the house and how to avoid them.

The law classifies individuals on a property in three ways. The category you fall into will determine whether a property owner owes you much of a duty of care and whether you have a case. ?

A Licensee

A licensee has been allowed into the home to do some particular tasks on the property. They include plumbers, electricians, and social guests attending a specific event or function in the house.

A homeowner must ensure that the stay of licensees is without any bad incident. Homeowners must warn licensees about possible dangers and how to avoid them. Moreover, homeowners must ensure that they take away objects that are likely to result in any harm to the licensees. Furthermore, they should erect signage or notices about the possible dangers on the property in easy-to-see places.

Trespassers

Trespassers are people who are in a home without the invitation of the homeowners. Trespassers are often unwanted in the places that they have taken themselves to. 

As much as trespassers can lodge a claim against property owners for the harm they suffer at the premises, the chances of the allegations succeeding are minimal. The reason for this conclusion is that homeowners have a limited duty of care to trespassers compared to the people they have invited or allowed into their homes. 

The above shows that a homeowner may deal with less traffic on their premises than corporate entities. However, as much as there may be little traffic in their homes, property owners are expected to ensure that they warn their guests about certain potential dangers in their homes.

Foreseeable and Reasonable

After filing a premises liability claim, the court shall examine whether the situation was foreseeable and reasonable. Depending on its conclusion, the court shall decide on the same.

Proving a Premises Liability Case

As indicated above, for any premises claim to be successful, you must provide evidence that leads to the conclusion that the homeowner was indeed negligent.

To be able to lead to the conclusion that the homeowner is liable for your injuries, you must prove that:

  • The homeowner had a duty of care-the homeowner must have had the duty of care at the time the accident occurred;
  • That there was a breach of the homeowner's duty of care. The violation of the burden of care must be seen from the lack of active steps from the homeowner to reduce the possibility of harm occurring; and
  • That there was an injury/loss/damage due to the duty of care- you may prove this by providing medical documents issued following your visit to the health facility and documents supporting the loss or damages.
  • You must also prove the damages arising from the breach. The damages may include
  • Disability;
  • Lost wages and future earnings;
  • Medical costs. The medical bills of the person injured must be adequately documented;
  • Pain and suffering; and
  • Any other resulting damages

As can be seen from the above, the process of proving personal injury liability can be long and tedious. It follows from this that you must ensure that you engage the services of an experienced premises liability lawyer so that they can assist you throughout the process. The personal injury lawyer shall also advise you on the statute of limitations, as you may lose your entitlements if you do not file your claim within time. 

How to Sue for Damages After a Home Accident 

It is important to note that you should have a sufficient level of evidence against the homeowner before you start the process of suing them. The evidence in your possession should strongly indicate that you were a victim of the homeowner's negligence. Therefore, you must immediately assemble the proof as soon as you are involved in an accident. You can immediately start taking videos and pictures of the accident scene.

After taking photos and videos of the accident scene, you should take active steps to get medical attention. The videos and pictures should capture the dangerous conditions of the home. After being checked by medical personnel, you should contact a premises liability lawyer to discuss your situation and review the evidence in your possession. After reviewing the evidence, you must check a possible list of Defendants to use the correct party.

After identifying the correct party, you can send them a demand letter asking them to abide by certain conditions. Suppose they must comply with the requirements you set in the demand letter. In that case, you can instruct your premises liability lawyer to file a claim.

While the homeowners or their insurance company may contact you before you file the case in court, you must engage the services of an experienced personal injury attorney to represent you in the insurance claims negotiations. Homeowners and their respective insurance companies may exploit you at the negotiation stage as they aim to pay very little compensation. In light of this, you must instruct an experienced premises liability attorney to attend the negotiations. 

If the homeowner or insurance party does not contact you, you shall proceed with filing or prosecuting the court case. After filing the lawsuit, the residential property owner can file a defense. The homeowners' reasons may include the allegation that you were not invited into the property, that you solely contributed to the accident, that they had warned you about the risks in the home, that you were reckless, that you provoked the dog into biting you while you were at their home and so many unique defenses that the homeowner may choose to use against your claim. 

Contact LA Injury Group Today

LA Injury Group's personal injury lawyers realize how complex premises liability claims can be. With this in mind, LA Injury Group assists premises liability victims in pursuing adequate compensation. Do not delay reaching us if you or a loved one is a victim of a premises liability accident. We are experienced in premises liability cases and understand liability laws in their totality. We offer a free case examination to enable you to decide the best way forward.

Do not hesitate to contact our able Firm of Attorneys, and we shall passionately pursue your personal injury cases.

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