Does a Property Owner Have to Pay if I Get Hurt on Their Property?

When you’re hurt at an event, whether it’s at a public or private venue, can the property owner be held liable for
your injuries? The answer? It depends. Accidents can happen for a variety of reasons, and just because you were
injured it doesn’t mean you automatically have a claim against someone. However, if there was a known issue on the
property, and it wasn’t fixed, you may have a case.

In this FAQ, we’re going to cover who’s liable when someone is injured on another person’s property. These cases can
be extremely complex and can often involve several more parties than is initially apparent. If you have any
questions about this FAQ, or have a current premises liability case that you need help with, call or contact our Personal Injury Lawyers in St. Louis now. We don’t charge any fees for our consultations,
and we don’t require any attorneys fees unless we win your claim. Contact our team now at 314-542-2222 or 618-272-2222.

Does a Property Owner have to Pay if I get Hurt on their Property?

Does a homeowner or a landowner have to pay you if you slip and fall or trip and fall on their property? The answer
is no. Many homeowners or business owners do not have to pay you just because you fall on their property even if
it’s their fault. No one has to pay you. All you do is you hold a claim if you slip in a grocery store or you fall
on black ice at the Home Depot or one of these are Lowe’s or one of these places. So, no one has to pay you. You
have to be an advocate for your own rights. You hold a legal claim. Now if it’s a small claim, you have a little bit
of injury and you’re talking to the insurance adjuster and they want to take care of you, you can resolve that claim
yourself. If you have more serious injuries or they’re challenging liability, that’s the time that a lawyer like me
can add value to your claim.

So, there is no obligation to pay you, but when a property owner has guest on their property, either it’s business,
they’re making money off you as a customer, or you’re visiting in the home, then they owe a duty not to have a
dangerous condition on their property which could injure you, and they have to inspect their property and keep it
reasonably safe for their guest, and if they fail to do that and they break that safety rule, then they’re liable
for the harm, and they’re responsible for that harm. And that’s an important safety rule. If people come to my
house, it has to be safe for them. If I have a store or a business where I’m selling merchandise to customers, I
have to keep it reasonably safe for them, and they’ll often say, “Well, you needed to look out for yourself.” You do
need to look out for your own safety, but when you walk around, you walk, you look above, you look down, you
environmentally scan to make sure you’re not going to get hit by a car, or you’re not just looking at the floor, so
you look all around, so don’t let someone blame and say, “It’s your fault because you weren’t looking adequately out
for your safety.” Usually you are. No one tries to walk into a hole in a yard or slip on black ice or slip on some
water spill in a store.

So, remember that the landowner doesn’t necessarily have to pay you, and it’s only for you being vigilant about your
rights to get 100% compensated for your injury that will make it so. Remember, you don’t need to be 70% compensated
but 100% compensated for your damages. Those are wage loss damages, medical bills, pain and suffering, disability
and disfigurement, future medical, future pain, future disability, those types of things, and wage loss damages.

If you have any questions about this, call me, Gary Burger at Burger Law, 866-599-2222 toll-free, in Illinois it’s 618-272-2222, in Missouri it’s 314-542-2222, and you
can email me at [email protected]. Thank you.

Gary Burger

Founder | Injury Attorney
Gary Burger has dedicated his career to standing up against bullies. The founder and principal attorney of Burger Law | St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer has helped hundreds of Missouri and Illinois individuals and families recover th …
Years of experience: 30 years
Location: St. Louis, MO

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