What do I need to prove to prevail in a premises liability claim?

Activities like grocery shopping, walking the kids to school or visiting a friend’s house are routine parts of our lives. Usually nothing unexpected happens when we are doing them.

Still, accidents do happen on occasion, and some cause serious injuries. For example, you could slip on a spill or trip on an uneven sidewalk leading to back injuries, head injuries or broken bones. If this happens to you, you may be able to seek compensation through a premises liability claim.

What are the elements of a premises liability claim?

There are three elements to a premises liability claim in New York. To recover compensation for injuries suffered on another person’s property, you first need to show that you had permission to be on the premises, for example, as a worker, patron or guest. If you were trespassing, you need to show that the property owner knew you were there.

Second, you need to show that a dangerous condition existed that the property owner was aware of the problem or should have been aware of it and failed to do anything about it. For example, the property owner may have failed to fix the danger, place warning signs about the dangerous condition or rope the dangerous condition off to keep people away from it.

Third, you must be able to show that the property owner’s failure to remedy or warn of the dangerous condition caused you to suffer an injury. For example, if there was a spill on the floor and the property owner did not mop it off, place “slippery when wet” signs by the spill or rope off the area of the spill, this negligence could have caused you to slip on the spill and fall, leading to physical injuries.

You deserve compensation for your premises liability claim

It is reasonable to expect that the places you visit are safe and kept in good repair. If you are injured due to a property owner’s negligence, you may have grounds for a premises liability lawsuit that, if successful, could provide you with the compensation you need to cover medical bills, lost wages and other damages you suffered due to the accident.