Learn about common types of premises liability claims and who is at fault in each scenario. See how to prove liability for injuries.
Premises liability is a legal concept that means a property owner is financially responsible for someone suffering an injury on their property.
Premises liability can arise in a host of different situations, such as fall accidents, dog bites, food poisoning, swimming pool accidents, or criminal assault. The premises may be a business, government, or residential property.
Who Pays for Your Injuries?
Premises liability often falls on the owner of the property where you were injured. However, sometimes a property owner leases its land to others, or another entity occupies a portion of the property.
Regardless of the exact scenario, the liable party is typically the entity that controls the area where you were injured. “Control” means the party had a duty to inspect the property and make sure it was reasonably safe for visitors. Whether or not you receive compensation can depend on proving the property owner was negligent.
Some premises liability cases are more difficult than others. When a claim entails severe injuries, allegations of shared fault, wrongful death, or other complications, you’ll need a personal injury lawyer to get a fair settlement.
1. Slips and Falls on Slick Surfaces
More than two million people are injured each year from falls on slippery surfaces, with resulting injuries ranging in severity from a few bruises to disabling back injuries.
Common causes of slip and falls include:
- Wet floors from leaking plumbing or machinery, or water tracked into stores during inclement weather
- Ice and snow collected on walkways, steps, and parking lots
- Spilled food or drinks in bars, restaurants, and convenience stores
Potentially Liable Parties
The negligent property or business owner will be liable for preventable injuries, if you can prove the owner knew about the slick surface and failed to take appropriate action.
The owner may not be at fault when:
- There were wet floor signs warning of the danger
- The snow is still falling (many town ordinances allow businesses a few hours after the snow has stopped for removal)
- The business didn’t have time to find or clean up the spilled food or drink before you fell
If the injured victim fell on a puddle caused by malfunctioning machinery, like a store freezer, you may have grounds for a product liability case against the manufacturer.
2. Trips and Falls Over Obstacles
Falls are the leading cause of accidental death for older adults, but young and healthy young adults trip and fall, too. A recent study of college students found that more than half had tripped and fallen in the previous four months.
Trip and falls can happen anywhere, resulting in forward-fall injuries to the face, hands, arms, shoulders, and more.
Trip and fall causes include:
- Bunched or torn carpeting
- Products and boxes in store aisles
- Potholes in parking lots
- Electrical cords stretched across the floor
- Uneven flooring
Finding Fault for Trips and Falls
The business or property owner is generally responsible for hazardous conditions on the property that they knew about or should have known about.
If a kid just ran through the store aisle knocking items off the shelves, and another customer comes around the corner and trips, the store might not be liable.
On the other hand, if store employees had already stepped over or around the fallen items several minutes before an unsuspecting customer tripped, the store is certainly liable. Store surveillance camera footage will tell the tale.
Bad flooring, torn carpeting, and other hazards in the common areas of apartment buildings or condominiums may be the responsibility of the property owner and a management company.
Renters of each apartment unit are in control of that space and will absorb responsibility for any injuries within the unit. However, the apartment complex owner will typically retain control of common areas like stairways, elevators, entryways, and exits.
3. Faulty Elevators, Escalators, and Stairs
Shopping malls, condo buildings, office buildings, and the like often involve a common area over which the property owner retains control, separate from the business owners who occupy the property. The common areas include elevators, escalators, and stairs.
Victims may be injured by:
- Elevators that stop above or below floor level, creating a trip hazard
- Escalators that suddenly stop or jolt, throwing customers down to floor level
- Escalators with gaps at the sides of steps or railing that catch clothing, hands, or feet
- Stairs with broken risers, torn carpeting, or missing handrails
Who Should Pay?
The property owner or the business owner may be liable, depending on which entity was responsible for the upkeep of the hazardous area.
Malls and businesses often rely on elevator and escalator services to inspect, clean, and maintain the equipment. Your attorney may pursue the maintenance company in addition to the property owner for your injury compensation.
4. Food-Related Injuries and Illness
The CDC reports that each year an estimated 48,000 Americans get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 people die from foodborne illnesses. Food-related injuries can happen at restaurants, hotels, and other establishments that provide food to the public.
When you or a loved one are sickened or injured by food-related negligence, you have the right to pursue compensation.
Food-related injuries may be caused by:
- Contaminated food
- Improper food handling
- Foreign objects
- Scalding and burns
- Undisclosed allergens
Financial Responsibility for Food-Related Injuries
Liability will depend on the specific causes of your injury.
At-fault parties may include:
- The server who deliberately adulterated your food
- The manufacturer who mislabeled the ingredients
- The manufacturer who distributed contaminated food
- The retailer who sold tainted food after a recall
- The restaurant that failed to prepare or serve food at a correct temperature
5. Dog Bites and Tripping Accidents
Serious dog bite injuries send 1,000 people to the emergency room every day. In addition to dog bites, aggressive or excited dogs may cause injury by jumping on or tripping the victim, causing them to fall.
Most dog attacks cause injuries to school-age children, with serious injuries, including fatalities, occurring in all age groups.
Liability for Injuries Caused by Dogs
The dog owner is typically liable for dog attack injuries unless the victim was trespassing or taunting the animal.
Some states have a “one-bite” rule that relieves the owner of liability if the dog had no prior history of aggression and the owner did not let the dog run loose.
In states with “strict liability” the owner is responsible for any injuries caused by the dog, unless the victim was trespassing or teasing the dog.
Injury claims can be made to the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance policy. If the negligent dog owner is uninsured, you may have to file a personal injury lawsuit (small claims court is one option for minor injuries) to pursue compensation.
6. Swimming Pool Accidents
A recent Consumer Product Safety Commission report on drownings reveals that over a two-year period, there were 6,700 near-drownings and 379 fatal drownings involving children less than 15 years old.
Wet pool decking and slippery pool ladders cause thousands of slip and fall injuries.
The most common causes of swimming pool accidents include:
- Wet surfaces
- Low water levels (shallow diving leading to spinal cord injury)
- Lack of supervision (by a lifeguard, parent, or others)
- Inadequate warning signs
- Broken glass in the pool area
- Missing emergency devices (for example, flotation devices)
- Faulty or dim pool lights
Liability for Pool Accidents Varies
At a community pool, the city or county could be liable for drowning injuries if there were not enough lifeguards or if the lifeguards were poorly trained.
Hotels and other private pool owners can be liable for injuries caused by hazards around the pool area, like broken glass or inadequate pool lights. There should be warning signs that state when or if a lifeguard will be present. It would be hard to make a case against the hotel if young children are left in an unsupervised pool area by the parents.
Homeowners may be liable for pool accidents on their property when they have not taken reasonable steps, like fencing and locked gates, to keep unsupervised children away from the pool.
When very young children are trespassing, the homeowner may be liable for a child’s injuries or wrongful death. Most states have a version of the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine, which requires property owners to secure irresistible attractions from children who aren’t old enough to understand the danger.
7. Inadequate Lighting Causing Injury
Inadequate lighting can create hazardous conditions inside and outside a commercial or residential property. Poor lighting makes it hard to see slip and trip hazards. Inadequate or broken lighting may also pose a serious security risk as an invitation for criminal attacks.
Poor lighting increases the risk of harm in key locations, such as:
- Stairwells
- Hallways
- Entrance and exit doors
- Parking lots and parking garages
- Apartment building laundry or storage areas
Criminal and Civil Liability
Injuries that occur because of poor lighting in the common areas of condos or apartment buildings may be the responsibility of the property owner or management company.
Claims for injuries that occur on government property such as schools, hospitals, and libraries must be directed to the state, county, or municipal agency that runs the facility.
When the victim is harmed on business property, the business or property owner can be liable.
Victims who are mugged, assaulted, or raped in poorly lit areas may have a civil claim against the property owner or manager, and the right to bring a civil suit against the attacker. The state can bring criminal charges against the attacker, who may be incarcerated if convicted.
Proving Fault in Premises Liability Claims
Fault in personal injury cases is typically based on a showing of negligence. According to most state laws, the same applies in premises liability cases.
To receive compensation, injured parties have to prove that a property owner (or a lessee or occupier of the property) acted negligently or without reasonable care.
Elements of a negligent property or business owner:
- Duty of Care: A property owner had a duty to keep their property safe for others
- Breach of Duty: The owner breached its duty by acting unreasonably or failing to take some reasonable action to fix a dangerous condition
- Cause: The owner’s breach of duty caused your accident and injuries
- Damages: You suffered specific injuries in your accident, which you can support with evidence.
Nearly any hazard can give rise to a premises liability case.
Premises Liability Based on Status of Visitors
Most states currently determine fault for premises liability cases on the basis of negligence. However, some still adhere to an older system of rules that determine liability on the status of the injured person.
These states divide all visitors into three general categories – invitees, licensees, and trespassers. Property owners owe each class of guests different duties when it comes to the safety of the owner’s premises.
1. Invitees are people who have a property owner’s permission to be on the property. Examples of invitees include social guests like family and friends. Property owners usually have to provide a safe environment for this class of people. If they fail to do so, and an invitee is injured, then the property owner is typically responsible for the injuries.
2. Licensees are people that have a property owner’s permission to enter the property, but do so for their own purposes. Examples include delivery people, salespeople, and landscapers. Property owners generally owe licensees a duty to warn them of dangerous conditions on their property that create an unreasonable risk of harm.
This duty is often limited to those cases where:
- The property owner knows of the dangerous condition
- The licensee isn’t likely to learn of it
If owners fail to warn of certain hazards, then they’re responsible for any injuries to the licensees.
3. Trespassers are people that enter someone’s property without the owner’s permission. Property owners generally have no duties to trespassers. However, property owners are liable for injuries if they set traps for trespassers, or deliberately allow a hazardous condition to exist, knowing there will be trespassers.
Limitations on Liability
Many states have comparative negligence laws that can work to limit your claims of negligence. These laws reduce an owner’s degree of fault if you helped contribute to your accident.
For example, if you slipped on a store’s icy sidewalk while wearing high heels, the owner’s insurance company could argue that you were comparatively negligent since you were wearing inappropriate footwear for the weather.
In most states, you can still recover money if you were partially to blame for your accident. However, your ultimate compensation will get reduced by your percentage of fault.
If the facts of your case are complex, you suffer from serious injuries, or you need to file a premises liability lawsuit, it’s a good idea to discuss your case with an experienced personal injury attorney.
Most experienced injury attorneys offer free consultations. Also, personal injury law firms usually work on a contingency fee basis. This fee arrangement means that you don’t have to pay attorney fees unless you settle your claim or receive a favorable outcome in court.
Don’t let a property owner, or their insurance company, bully you out of receiving the compensation you deserve. Contact a premises liability attorney today and get help in recovering your losses.
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