Premises Liability Accidents and Owner Negligence
A premises accident can happen anywhere, and under the right circumstances, the property owner can be held responsible for injuries or damages. After being injured at someone’s home or business, a victim may not know where to turn or even know they are eligible for compensation. Like a car accident or medical malpractice, when negligence is involved, a person injured on the property of another may be able to get restitution for their pain and suffering.
What Is Negligence?
When a person does not act with reasonable care towards a situation and a person gets injured, they can be held responsible for being negligent. For any personal injury cases, such as a premises accident, negligence must be proved. To prove negligence, there must be a duty to establish for the property owner to maintain under law, refusing to provide maintain that standard, and an injury with damage caused by inaction. For example, if there is a wet spot in a grocery store and no effort was made to clean up the spill or warn patrons, the store owner may be held liable if someone slips and breaks a bone.
Not all unsafe properties, dog bites, or slippery surfaces are treated the same. The invitation status of a person on a property is another factor of whether someone can sue for personal injury. If a person is a licensee, such as a customer, or an invited party, then the property owner is expected to uphold reasonable safety accommodations. While this does that guarantee the absolute safety of invited parties, the property owner can be held responsible if they knew about an issue and refused to act.
If a person is trespassing, then the property owner is held less responsible for what happens to that person. For example, if a group of urban explorers enters an abandoned house, and someone falls through the floor and experiences severe head trauma, the property owner would not likely be considered negligent. Trespassing is against the law, and since the urban explorers were not invited to the property, the owner has no duty to maintain safety for them. For dog bites, similar rules apply. If someone trespasses and is bitten by a dog, the owner and pet will not be penalized.
Contact an Aurora Personal Injury Attorney
Obtaining an injury that affects your quality of life should not be ignored if it was caused by another person’s negligence. If you have been injured on private property, contact an experienced Kane County premises accident attorney today. Call our office at 630-907-0909 to schedule a free consultation.
Source:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2048&ChapterID=57
