The CDC reports that emergency rooms see over 30 million visits each year for unintentional accident injuries. A large number of these injuries occur outside of the home. Did you know that if you have been injured on someone else’s property, such as another person’s home or place of business, the property owner may be liable for your injuries if they were caused by an unsafe condition? Premises liability cases are often covered by the property owner’s insurance policy.
Premises liability injury causes and factors
Our Wheeling premises liability attorneys at Shendervich, Shenderovich & Fishman see a lot of premises liability cases in our office and we have listed some of the most frequent injury causes and contributing factors below.
Falls – Slip and fall cases get a bad rap but falls are one of the leading causes of injury and death in the United States. How often have you tripped over something and thought “Why did someone leave that right there?” Well, leaving an obstruction in a walkway with no warning is negligent and if you were injured, the property owner would be liable for those injuries. Obstructions, protrusions, and other dangerous conditions such as poorly maintained or slippery floors and stairs frequently cause falls and injuries.
Poisoning – Poisoning can relate to dangerous carbon monoxide or children finding easily accessible medicine, detergent pods, and cleaners.
Dog bites – Dog bites occurring at someone’s home or place of business are premises liability cases that we frequently see and unfortunately, the elderly and children are often the target of dog attacks.
Burns – We see burns from parties with fireworks, fire pits, fireplace fires, and candles. We also see burns from restaurants and backyard barbeques.
Swimming pool accidents – Swimming pool accidents are unfortunately common, especially in children. We see drowning, oxygen deprivation injuries not resulting in death, and shallow dive injuries most frequently.
Falling objects – Injuries due to falling objects happen more often than you might think. Falling objects may include items dangerously stocked on store shelves, improperly affixed wall and ceiling objects, and objects falling from building windows and construction sites.
Liable parties
Liability my lie with a landowner, homeowner, property manager, landlord, or a municipality. We repeatedly see injuries sustained by visitors at people’s homes, schools, commercial properties, and work. Special notices and procedures may be required when the defendant is an employer or a government entity, so it is important to contact a premises liability attorney as soon as possible to be sure that you are in compliance with any policies and requirements.
As mentioned above, when you are dealing with a premises liability claim, there is a good chance you will be dealing with an insurance company. Our Wheeling premises liability attorneys regularly negotiate with insurance companies and will not advise you to settle with them for less than what we believe your claim is worth. If you have been injured due to a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, our experts at Shenderovich, Shenderovich & Fishman will aggressively advocate for the recovery you deserve.
