Property owners have certain obligations to keep their premises reasonably safe for visitors. It is common for someone visiting a grocery store to slip and fall due to a failure of the store to clean up a wet floor.
If this kind of incident happens to you, you will likely have many questions about what you should do next and how your hospital expenses will be paid. A Marion County premises liability lawyer could help you understand your rights and how to pursue civil compensation for any injuries you suffer due to someone else’s negligence. Call a compassionate attorney today to get started on your claim.
A slip on standing water is not the only type of accident that can happen because of a property owner’s negligence. A property owner’s failure to maintain safe premises could manifest in a number of ways, including but not limited to:
Someone injured on another person’s property may be eligible to file a claim for negligence against the property owner for failure to keep their premises safe from dangerous conditions. The foundation of any premises liability claim is that property owners owe a certain duty of care to individuals entering their property and a breach of this duty of care directly caused injury to a visitor. A premises liability attorney in Marion County can assist an injured person with filing a claim for negligence.
Florida Statute §768.075 states that an injured party’s classification upon entering private property imposes certain limitations on the property owner’s liability. An individual visitor in Marion County may be given one of three classifications based on how and for what reason they entered the owner’s premises.
An invitee is an individual who reasonably believes they were invited onto someone else’s property for public or business reasons and are welcomed as such. This definition could apply to a customer in a store or someone visiting a personal friend’s house. These individuals expect for the premises to be safe and free from known dangerous conditions. As such, a property owner owes invitees the highest level of duty of care.
A licensee is an individual with an express or implied permission from the owner to be on the premises, who enters said premises for their own business purposes or amusement. Compared to that to other states, Florida law does not favor licensees and in many cases considers them to be entering the premises at their own risk. The property owner does not owe a duty of care to a licensee to keep the premises free of dangerous conditions but still must warn them of any hazards on the premises that may not be immediately obvious.
A trespasser is an individual who enters property without an invitation from the property owner. A trespasser in Marion County is not owed a duty of care. However, the property owner cannot intentionally set traps or create dangerous conditions to harm trespassers.
Under Florida Statute §768.0755, the burden of proof in a premises liability case lies on the injured plaintiff, who must establish that the property owner had knowledge of the hazard on their property and breached their duty of care in a way that caused injury. This could be accomplished by establishing that the owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the condition.
In order for a property owner to have constructive knowledge of a dangerous condition, the condition must have existed for such a length of time that the exercise of ordinary care should have alerted the owner to its existence. Also, the condition must have occurred on a regular basis and was therefore foreseeable.
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Florida law gives an injured party four years to file a premises liability claim in Marion County. Because recovering from your injuries, the potential inability to work, and trying to maintain family balance, time to file a claim may slowly get away from you. An experienced Marion County premises liability lawyer at Glover Law Firm, including a dedicated personal injury attorney serving THE SHORES area, could ensure you file a timely negligence claim and receive the necessary medical treatment in the meantime to return to your pre-injury way of life.
After a serious accident suffered on someone else’s property, you do not need to manage your injuries on your own. Whether you reside in Marion County or specifically in THE SHORES Silver Springs Shores, reach out to a seasoned attorney today who could help you shoulder your pain and frustration and pursue compensation on your behalf.