Visiting someone else’s property, whether it’s a business or a private residence, generally doesn’t seem to present much cause for concern. Unfortunately, it’s possible to suffer an injury due to a property owner’s carelessness or negligence. In this situation, you may wish to pursue compensation for your injuries and the expenses arising from them.
However, slip-and-fall accidents and other premises liability cases can present challenges due to various factors that make them different from other personal injury cases.
Increased Complexity Compared to Other Personal Injury Claims
It’s essential to understand the distinction between premises liability and other personal injury cases. Premises liability concerns the conditions of a property, while most other personal injury cases concern an individual’s actions.
A typical personal injury case is based on negligence on the part of the person who caused the injury. Premises liability cases also require an element of negligence, but they also involve some additional factors:
- You had permission to be on the property.
- The property owner, occupant, or renter knew or should have known about the property condition that caused your injury.
- The property owner, occupant, or renter should have taken steps to correct the hazard or warn visitors of its presence but failed to do so.
- As a result of their failure to correct or warn, you had an accident that injured you.
- The owner, occupant, or renter of the property was responsible for your injury.
You must prove all these elements in a premises liability case rather than just showing that someone else was negligent.
Understanding Who Can Be Held Liable
You also need to understand the difference between liability and negligence. Your attorney must prove the property owner’s negligence to hold them liable.
Depending on the property type, several different parties may be held liable in a premises liability case. If the property is a private residence, the homeowner, landlord, or tenant may be held liable for injuries. If the property is a business, the corporation or commercial property owner may be held liable. For injuries that occur on public property, the government entity responsible for maintaining it may be held liable.
Navigating Complex Litigation and Trial Preparations
The process of building a strong premises liability case can also be complicated for several reasons:
- Suing a corporation or government entity can be more complex than suing an individual.
- Gathering evidence can be a more challenging process, making proving negligence that much more difficult since it’s likely the property owner would have repaired the fault that caused the accident as soon as possible.
- Your attorney must prove the property owner or other responsible party failed to exercise reasonable care to protect visitors from injury.
Negotiating and going to trial involve considerable back-and-forth between opposing legal teams. Particularly if the property owner was a large corporation, they will have significant legal resources they can devote to the case, making the process challenging for an injured party.
Talk to Our Experienced North Carolina Premises Liability Lawyers Today
Are slip-and-fall cases hard to win? They can be — but your chances of recovering compensation can significantly improve if you trust our experienced North Carolina premises liability attorneys with your case.
If you suffered an injury on someone else’s property due to the property owner’s negligence, contact Poisson, Poisson & Bower, PLLC, today to learn more about your legal options in a free consultation. We’ve served North Carolina injury victims for over 40 years and are ready to put our skills and resources to work for you.
