Do You Automatically Get a Recovery If You Fall on Someone's Property?

Business owners and property managers have a duty to keep their premises safe. If a commercial business has a property that is unsafe, such as ice covering its walkways, water or other liquids making a floor extremely slick, or a pathway with cracked concrete or other unsafe obstacles, and someone has an accident on the property, the business can be held liable. But are they always responsible? What if the area was clearly marked and cordoned off and someone still got hurt? Is the business or individual still liable? In this FAQ, we're going to cover several different examples of a Slip and Fall claim to show when a person can get a recovery, and when they can't.

If you've been injured on someone's property, you do have options regardless of how the accident happened. If you need immediate assistance with your claim, call or contact our Personal Injury Lawyers in St. Louis now. If you have questions about our Firm, or how a lawyer can help your claim, give us a call as well at 314-542-2222 or 618-297-4777.

Do You Automatically Get a Recovery If You Fall on Someone's Property?

Personal Injury Lawyer St. Louis

So here is the big question - If you get hurt on someone's property, do you get an immediate recovery? Not at all. There are several conditions that can lead to you not getting anything from your accident. First, the dangerous condition that caused the accident has to be one that the owner either knows about or should have known about, and second, the condition has to have caused your injury. Here are several examples:

• Did the property owner have time to know about the dangerous condition? For instance, if someone spills something in an isle, and a shopper then falls due to the spill within a minute, the case of negligence is much harder to prove.
• Just because snow or ice is on a parking lot, it doesn't mean that a landowner has to clear the parking lot. However, if they do clear the ice or snow, and they do it negligently, they can be held liable.
• If a dangerous condition is present, and it would be open and obvious to a reasonable person, and the condition has been labeled as dangerous and cordoned off, and an accident still occurs, the case will be much harder to pursue and win, and may be outright dismissed.

Once negligence has been proven on the part of the property owner or lessee, there can be several other factors that can complicate the case. Who owns the property, and are they liable? What if they own the property, but lease it out, are they still liable? What if there are multiple lessees, who is liable in those cases? You can see how a slip and fall accident can become complicated quickly. This is where a Personal Injury Lawyer comes in. Knowing who is liable, what the laws surrounding the liability are, and what you can pursue and recover in these types of claims can be confusing. An experienced lawyer is going to know how to gather evidence, who to bring the suit against, what they can recover for their client, and how to depose the defendant to see if a trial can be avoided entirely.

Remember, Slip and Fall claims don't always mean you can recover. However, if you were hurt on a property, and the owner or lessee of the property should have known about the danger, or did know and did nothing about it, you can recover for your injuries. If you have questions about how a personal injury lawyer can help your claim, or if you have questions about our firm, please don't hesitate to contact Burger Law today. We can help you get the care and recovery you deserve.