A property owner has a basic responsibility to protect visitors from known dangers on their premises. While not all hazards can be foreseen and discovered before an accident occurs, property owners can be held liable for neglecting to warn visitors about known hazardous conditions if someone gets hurt.
Unfortunately, property owners and insurance companies will fight tooth and nail to avoid being held responsible for your accident, despite their duty to protect visitors from harm on their premises. If proving liability on your own is a struggle, it may be to time to consult with an experienced lawyer.
If you or someone you love has been injured on the premises of a property owner, whether it is a supermarket, mall, or office, our slip and fall attorneys in Miami may be able to help you recover compensation for medical expenses, loss of income, and more. Fill out our free, no-risk case evaluation form today to learn how our attorneys can help you.
The Responsibility of a Property Owner
Although a property owner is not responsible for injuries that occurred as a result of an unknown dangerous property condition, they can be held liable if they knew or should have known that their property contained a hazard and did not repair this hazard or warn visitors about it. The property owner can also be held liable for negligence if the hazardous condition, such as a puddle of water, occurred regularly and was a foreseen hazard on the establishment, according to state law.
Types of Dangerous Conditions
Dangerous property conditions can include the following unmarked hazards:
- Wet and slippery floors
- Uneven sidewalks, carpets, walkways
- Unsafe terraces
- Potholes and uneven roads
- Inadequate lighting on a premises
- Unmaintained elevators or escalators
If a property owner is aware of a dangerous condition on their premises, they can take safe measures including:
- Placing a “wet floor” sign near a puddle
- Sectioning off and repairing uneven and cracked pavement
- Sectioning off and repairing unsafe stairways
- Replacing dead lightbulbs
- Clearing debris from areas where visitors may walk
If any of these conditions existed on the premises and the property owner knew about it and failed to make the appropriate repairs, you may be able to pursue a lawsuit.
Attractive Nuisance Doctrine
A property owner is generally not liable for injuries that occur on their property if the person injured was trespassing. However, under Florida law, one exception to this immunity is the “attractive nuisance doctrine.”
Under this statute, a property owner can be held responsible if a child is hurt due to hazards on their property that may attract the attention of children and entice them to trespass. These may include:
- Pools without secure fencing
- Improperly secured trampolines
- Abandoned appliances on a property
- Abandoned cars on a property
- Accessible drains, ponds, ditches
- Unlocked construction sites
It is a property owner’s duty to anticipate these dangers if children are likely to be present near the property and take reasonable measures to secure it.
How a Slip and Fall Attorney in Miami Can Help
Our slip and fall attorneys in Miami will fight to prove negligence on the part of the property owner in order to support your claim. This may involve:
- Taking photographic evidence of the property hazard
- Collecting witness statements about the accident
- Reviewing video surveillance of the accident and premises
- Obtaining copies of the accident report
- Collecting and reviewing your medical records
Your attorney will use all of this information to try and prove that the property owner was negligent in maintaining the property where the accident occurred. Our slip and fall attorneys will also work to ensure that amount of compensation you seek is adequate to cover present and future medical expenses.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitation for filing a slip and fall lawsuit in Florida is four years after the date of the accident, according to state law, so it is essential to reach out to an attorney as soon as possible if you believe you are a victim of an accident caused by negligent property management.
How Much Does a Slip and Fall Attorney Cost?
Our Miami slip and fall attorneys at Morgan & Morgan work on a contingency-fee basis without upfront costs. This means that you only pay a reasonable fee if your attorney prevails in recovering compensation for your injuries, pain and suffering, and more.
What Can I Recover From a Slip and Fall Lawsuit?
If you or someone you love has been injured on another’s premises as a result of the negligence of the property owner, you may be entitled to compensation to cover medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and more. To learn more about what our Miami slip and fall attorneys can do for you, fill out our free, no-risk case evaluation form today.