No one expects to get injured when they leave the house. You take precautions and you expect others to do the same. Accidents happen, however, and sometimes you find yourself a little worse for wear.
Just because your injury may have been the result of an accident, it doesn’t mean that you have to bear the brunt of the cost of your recovery. In fact, there are certain legal steps that you can take that will help you recover physically and financially. Read on to learn about personal injury cases.
Visiting Someone’s Home
When you think about personal injury cases, you probably think about classic cases like a slip and fall at the grocery store. Premises liability law extends beyond private businesses, however.
Whenever you visit a person’s home, regardless of who they are, they owe you a duty of care to make sure that you are not injured while you’re there. When it comes to a homeowner’s duty of care, the amount of care they must exercise depends upon what type of visitor you are.
For example, if you are an invitee, then you are owed the highest duty of care. This covers most people who are invited into the home to visit with the homeowner. A licensee is someone like a mail carrier, and they are owed a lower duty of care.
What Is the Duty of Care
You know that a homeowner owes you a duty of care if you visit, but what does that mean, exactly?
All a homeowner must do to fulfill their duty of care is to take reasonable measures to ensure your safety. For example, if a chair is broken or defective, they should, at a minimum, warn you about the defect. If they own an animal that is not friendly to strangers, then they must take steps to make sure it cannot hurt you.
If you are injured on someone’s property and the homeowner had reason to believe there was a risk, then you should reach out to a premises liability lawyer to discuss your case.
Liability Factors
Are there mitigating factors in a personal injury case on private property?
Yes!
The primary thing a court will look to in cases like these is whether there was a level of foreseeability to your injury. They will also look at whether the homeowner took any steps to warn the invitee of the hazard and prevent the injury. The court may also try to determine whether your actions exacerbated the injury you received.
Do You Have a Personal Injury Case?
Getting injured on someone else’s property can be a painful and scary thing. Thankfully, the legal processes available to you can help assuage any fears you might have about making ends meet while you’re recovering. If you’ve been injured, it’s essential to reach out to a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to make sure you take the right steps in your recovery.
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