A large percentage of the total personal injury case occurrences in the United States today happen on somebody else’s property. Often, this can leave the injured person unsure of who needs to be held responsible for the personal injury. The person held responsible will also vary depending on the type of accident that occurred. This can quickly become confusing for the personal injury victim.
Luckily, the personal injury lawyers at The Law Place have over 75 years of combined experience dealing with Florida premises liability laws. This means they have the knowledge and skill needed to identify the negligent party and prove liability in your premises liability case. To find out more about how a premises liability lawyer from our firm can maximize your compensation, call today for a free consultation and case evaluation at no obligation. All of your confidential details will be protected, and our lines are always open.
Get your premises liability case started today by calling our firm on (941) 444-4444!
What Are the Boundaries of Florida Premises Liability Laws?
Florida premises liability cases include any case that violates property negligence laws, as set out in Florida Statute 768.075.
This includes the following types of personal injury and unsafe conditions:
- Slip and fall or trip and fall accidents.
- Accidents caused by ice or snow.
- Accidents due to inadequate maintenance taking place.
- Accidents due to the property owner failing to provide adequate security.
- Escalator accidents and elevator accidents.
- Accidents at public swimming pools or amusement parks.
- Dog bites or other animal attacks.
- Fires caused by negligent property owners.
The truth is, there are many ways that a premises owner can cause accidents through unsafe conditions or other failures to ensure their space can be used in a reasonably safe manner.
If your experience of a property owner’s negligence is not listed above, you may still be able to make a premises liability lawsuit. The best way to find out is to get in touch with a personal injury lawyer from our firm today and arrange a free consultation to find out more about your specific situation.
For a free legal consultation, call 941-444-4444
Who Is Able to Be Sued in Premises Liability Cases?
Your premises liability attorneys will be able to help you to seek fair compensation from any property owner when somebody owned, occupied, or leased property and had actual or constructive knowledge of a risky condition that the property owner failed to take steps to address.
It must then be proven that this dangerous condition led to a personal injury being sustained by the claimant and that it was the negligence of the property owner that was a substantial contributor to the harm being caused.
How Florida Premises Liability Lawyers Prove a Property Owner Is Negligent
As per Florida Statute 768.81, to prove negligence in premises liability claims, your personal injury lawyer must complete the following steps:
- Proving that the owner of the property owed you a duty of care.
- Proving that the owner of the property failed to exercise reasonable care, which led to this duty of care being broken.
- Proving that this breach of the duty of care was the thing that led to damages.
While this may sound like a lot, it is the standard procedure for personal injury attorneys dealing with any kind of negligence. To find out more about how a Florida premises liability lawyer from our law firm can help you to hold the property owners responsible, call us today for free legal advice.
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What Types of People Are Able to Raise Premises Liability Cases?
People who spend time on somebody else’s property are divided into three categories, invitees, licensees, and trespassers. It may surprise you to find out that each of these three categories is able to raise a premises liability lawsuit in some cases.
The three categories and the occasions where they are entitled to raise premises liability claims are explained in the following sections.
Invitees
Invitees are anybody who has the permission of the property owner to enter. This can be expressed or implied. For example, shoppers at any business establishment are counted as invitees, as are technicians and contractors.
Invitees are owed the highest duty of care under Florida law, and the property owner owes a duty to make sure no dangerous condition exists on the property or to exercise reasonable care in preventing an incident. This includes situations such as making proper use of wet floor signs, caution tape, or other warning devices.
Licensees
A licensee is defined as somebody who comes onto the property of the property owner for their own purposes. Examples of this include salespeople or social guests.
In this situation, it is still true that the property owner owes the licensee a duty of care under premises liability law. Here, it is still their legal duty to make the licensee aware of any risks that the property owner knew about on the property.
Trespassers
Trespassers are parties who do not have the permission of the property owner to be on the property. Usually, when somebody chooses to trespass, they waive most of their premises liability rights. However, it may surprise you to find out that there are specific cases where trespassers are owed a duty of care, too.
The most common exception, in this case, is if the trespasser is a child. Under the attractive nuisance doctrine, a property owner must provide warning signs if their property is a place that children are likely to be attracted to trespassing on. This includes situations where the property owner has a potentially dangerous entertainment option, such as a trampoline or swimming pool.
This also includes requirements for the proper signage to warn of the possibility of dog bites or injuries such as those caused by an electric fence.
The premises liability lawyers at our law firm will be able to tell you exactly whether or not you have a case. Call us today to arrange a free consultation if you have any doubts.
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What Types of Damages Can a Premises Liability Attorney Win for You?
If you have received any type of premises liability damages, it is likely that you can make an insurance claim or file a lawsuit to seek financial compensation for your injuries, as well as any other complications or damages you suffered as a result of the negligence of the property owners.
The most common types of damages your personal injury attorney may be able to help you claim are as follows:
- Property damage – Though a less common problem with premises liability accidents, your personal injury attorney may be able to help you recover the value of any valuable items damaged in the accident.
- Medical bills – The cost of medical expenses is often astronomical. If you come armed with the receipts and bills, your premises liability attorney is likely to be able to seek monetary compensation to cover these costs. This may also include the cost of future medical expenses if you suffer from a long-term injury.
- Lost wages – Florida allows an accident victim to seek fair compensation for any time they were forced to spend off work and therefore not earning. The injured person should keep hold of all relevant correspondence to help their premises liability lawyer prove the cost.
- Pain and suffering – This is the legal name for damages that are calculated by looking at the duration and pain severity of your recovery process. This also includes considerations for any long-term or permanent disability, impairment, trauma, or disfigurement.
- Wrongful death – If your loved one tragically lost their lives as a result of a premises liability accident, Florida Statute 768.21 allows you to claim compensation. This compensation is designed to cover the cost of the funeral and burial, the damage to the household income, and the lost companionship/consortium of those family members left behind.
To find out which of the above categories apply to your case under Florida personal injury law, speak to a premises liability lawyer from our firm today. In your free case evaluation, you will be able to tell us the events of your accident, and we will give you all of the relevant information.
What Should You Do If You Are Injured Whilst on Somebody Else’s Property?
The very first thing you should do if you sustain an injury on somebody else’s property is to seek medical attention immediately, even if it is only a relatively minor slip and fall injury.
Firstly, this is for reasons of personal safety, as even seemingly minor back and neck injuries can significantly worsen if not treated quickly and correctly.
Secondly, Florida Statute 627.736 requires you to seek the attention of a medical professional with 14 days of the accident if you wish to make a claim.
If you are safely able, you should also document the dangerous conditions that led to your accident. You should aim to take a photograph of the hazard, as well as seek the details of eyewitnesses.
Furthermore, you should ensure that you continue to stockpile any relevant evidence that is related to your personal injury case. This will differ from person to person but includes things such as medical receipts, correspondence with your employer concerning time off work, and photographic updates of how your injuries heal over time. Furthermore, a full copy of your medical history can help if your insurance company tries to falsely blame a symptom on a previous undeclared injury.
Finally, it is important to get in touch with an attorney as quickly as possible, as any delays can impact the worth of your claim.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Premises Liability Accidents?
Victims of a premises liability accident have a limited amount of time to raise a claim, file a lawsuit, or otherwise seek compensation under Florida law.
Florida Statute 95.11 sets forth the time limit for making a premises liability claim and sets the period at exactly four years after the day on which the accident occurred. When making a wrongful death claim for the loss of a family member, this period is set at two years instead of the usual four.
Four years may seem like a lot of time, but as we stated above, the quicker you begin your claims process, the more you stand to gain in terms of financial compensation.
Why Is It So Important to Get in Touch With a Lawyer as Soon As Possible?
We have spoken about the importance of beginning your claims process promptly, but why is it so important?
Firstly, the best time to collect evidence is as soon as it is safe. Temporary hazards can quickly be cleaned away before proof can be recorded, eyewitnesses can become lost or otherwise unavailable, and valuable CCTV footage can conveniently disappear.
Secondly, your legal team will most likely not be the only one working on the case. The legal team of the property owner may be busy building a defensive case, and the lawyers of your insurance company are likely to be preparing too.
Finally, the more time you give your lawyers to prove actual knowledge of the dangerous condition (and therefore negligence), the better. More time to build you a solid case will result in an increased likelihood of your victory.
How to Handle Your Insurance Company After an Accident on Somebody Else’s Premises
While insurance companies would like us to believe that they are on our side after an accident, this could not be less true. In reality, insurance companies are for-profit businesses. It is, therefore, in their best interest to lower your settlement amount as much as possible to protect their bottom line.
There are many ways that an insurance company may do this, not least by using their legal teams and claims adjusters.
However, they may also resort to underhanded tricks to lower the value of your potential settlement. A common one of these is taking advantage of your shaken state when reporting the accident, as you are obliged to do if you want to raise a claim. Often, they will pump you for unnecessary information during this call.
Your lawyer can properly brief you on what is the minimum required information to disclose during this call. You should also be careful to absolutely never sign something given to you without your lawyer present.
As well as this, your lawyers will be able to help you with negotiating your final settlement with your insurance company. Often the first figure given will be unfair and an attempt to get you to settle below the worth of your claim. The attorneys from our law firm are skilled and experienced negotiators and can help you win the compensation you deserve.
How Much Will the Help of a Personal Injury Attorney From The Law Place Cost?
The perceived costs of a worthwhile lawyer put an unfortunate amount of people off seeking proper legal assistance. The truth is that, when it comes to personal injury cases, there does not need to be any financial risk involved at all.
All of the personal injury and accident cases that are undertaken by The Law Place in Florida take place on a contingency basis. This means that there are no risks involved, as the case will be no-win, no-fee.
This means that if you are unsuccessful in your claim for whatever reason, the process will have cost you nothing but time. Furthermore, if you are successful, all of your legal fees will be subtracted from the settlement amount only after you win it.
Here at The Law Place, we are committed to honesty, transparency, and the capability of our legal team. That is why you can make a no-win-no-fee claim with one of our many AVVO 10.0 rated lawyers today, monitored by the Florida State Bar Association.
Contact The Law Place Today
If you have been involved in any type of premises liability accident in the past four years and you are unsure of who to sue, the legal team here at The Law Place is more than happy to fill you in on your legal rights and show you the path to compensation. We have over 75 years of combined experience fighting for people in the exact same position as you and maximizing their compensation.
It all starts with a free consultation, where you will speak to a member of our attorney team and have your specific case evaluated. We will tell you what level of compensation to expect and the steps we will follow together to achieve it. All of our consultations are completely free, happen under no obligation, and all your confidential details are guarded by the attorney-client relationship from the outset. We make sure our lines are always open so that you can get in touch as soon as possible, whenever you have the time.
To find out more about how a premises liability attorney from The Law Place can help with your specific case, give us a call today on (941) 444-4444!
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