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What Is Premises Liability?

You’ll need to understand at least the basics of premises liability if you’re ever hurt on someone else’s property. As is the case with most other personal injury cases, premises liability is based on the concept of negligence. You have to prove that whoever owned the property was negligent with its upkeep and that it was that negligence that caused your personal injuries if you want to win your case and the settlement that you want.

You’ll generally need to prove that the property owner didn’t use reasonable care when maintaining the property.You must never associate you getting injured on another person’s property with that person being negligent. It’s also erroneous to assume that unsafe property automatically makes the owner negligent.You must provide enough evidence that proves that the property owner should have reasonably known that the property was unsafe when you were on it.

Types of Premises Liability Cases

The following are different types of premises liability cases:

• Slip and fall accidents
• Snow and ice accidents
• Premises that were not maintained enough
• Premises had defective conditions
• You were assaulted or injured on the property because of poor security
• You were bitten by a dog
• You got hurt while in an elevator or an escalator accident
• You were hurt while swimming in a pool
• You got hurt at an amusement park
• You got hurt in a fire
• You were a victim of a water leak or flooding on a property
• You were exposed to toxic fumes or chemicals while on the property

Many dog bite cases are premises liability cases. The reason is that a dangerous dog was on another person’s premises and that is an unsafe condition.

The Property Owner’s Duty of Care

Some states limit the duty of care that an owner has towards the people on his or her property, especially if they were not invited there by the owner. These states place visitors into three different types of categories:

• Invitees
• Licensees, and
• Trespassers

An invitee is someone with the property owner’s express permission to be on the property. Invitees include (but are not restricted to) friends, relatives, and neighbors. The landowner is legally obligated to keep conditions safe for these people on his or her premises.

A licensee has the owner’s express permission to enter the property but is coming on the property for his or her own interests. Good examples of a licensee are a plumber or a real estate agent. Property owners need only to warn the licensee of dangerous conditions that may pose harm if:

• The property owner was aware of these conditions
• The probability of the licensee discovering these conditions on his or her own is remote

A personal injury lawyer in Waterloo knows that trespasser is someone who does not have the property owner’s permission to be on the prosperity. The exception is if the trespasser is a minor. If the trespasser is a minor, then the property owner has a duty of care to keep conditions on his or her property safe.

Examples of Premises Liability Cases

Slip and fall – these are the most obvious and straightforward premises liability cases. A slip and fall case exist when you trip and fall on another person’s property. Common conditions on a property that cause slip and fall cases are:

• Bad or defective staircases
• Lots of snow and/or ice in one place
• Wet floors
• Oily floors
• Hidden extension cords
• Loose carpets and/or rugs
• Thresholds
• Loose or broken floors, steps, sidewalks, and stairs

Not enough security for a building – it generally applies to an apartment or office building. The owners must reasonably secure access to these buildings. That’s why security guards tend to exist around apartment and office buildings. The owners also require the first-floor occupants to keep their front and back doors locked at all times. These measures prevent people from breaking and entering and killing or injuring the occupants.

Swimming pool accidents – young children can be injured or even drown in unsecured and unsupervised pools.