What Is Premises Liability?

If you’ve been involved in a Ft. Lauderdale slip and fall accident, you may have heard the term ‘premises liability.’ What, exactly, does this term mean, and what does it have to do with your slip and fall accident?

This term, in short, means that when you’re on the premises of an individual or a company, the owner of the premises is liable for things that happen to you there. This doesn’t mean that if you poke yourself in the eye the owner of the property is responsible for that. However, if you slip on a wet floor that isn’t marked and injure yourself in the process, the owner of the property is responsible for damages.

This whole concept might seem a little strange until you really think about it. After all, people should be responsible for the buildings they own. If you invite people into your home and have nails poking out of the walls and holes in the floor, you should be responsible for either clearly marking the hazards and warning guests of them or of fixing the problem.

It’s really all about expectations. When you walk onto a construction site, there are signs posted about being careful and wearing a hard hat. If you get scratched on a nail or trip over a loose board, it’s really no one’s fault but your own. That same nail or loose board in a different context, though, like that of a grocery store, is totally unexpected and can really get someone hurt.

Slip and fall accident cases are the most common premises liability cases around. If you have recently fallen because of a problem that should have been fixed, you may want to contact a Ft. Lauderdale slip and fall lawyer. At the very least, accidents where you fall hard can cause back problems that need to be fixed by a chiropractor, and at most, they can cause serious injuries that are expensive to fix. Either way, you need to hold the negligent party responsible for their lack of care, and you need to get funds to pay for medical fees, time off work, and other items related to your slip and fall accident.

The best way to do both of these things is to hire a lawyer who has dealt with slip and fall cases before. This will expedite the process and make it much easier for you to get justice as well as the funds you need to pay for accident related expenses.