Property owners in Florida have a responsibility to provide for the safety of individuals who are on their premises. Often times an unsuspecting person can become a personal injury victim as a result of the negligence of a property owner. Property owners are required to provide well-lit walkways, prevent elevator accidents, clean up spills and put up warning signs regarding any potential hazards.
The failure of a property owner to meet the required standard of care can easily result in the occurrence of a slip and fall accident. Under Florida law, a property owner may be held liable for a slip and fall accident on their premises. If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of a slip and fall accident, you may be able to recover money from the property owner to compensate you for your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages and other costs arising from the slip and fall. A Florida personal injury lawyer can guide you through the process and fight to protect your rights against the insurance companies. Furthermore, a Florida slip and fall accident attorney can build your case against the property owner and help you to get monetary compensation for the injuries sustained as a result of a slip and fall accident on unsafe premises.
Some of the most common injuries are caused by the carelessness of property owners. People who are harmed by dangerous conditions on someone else’s property have rights to assert. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, we have helped numerous accident victims seek the compensation that they deserve.
Holding Negligent Property Owners Accountable in South Florida
Many types of dangerous conditions can result in slip and fall injuries. Some examples include wet floors, uneven pavement, inadequately removed debris from construction, and loose or deteriorating handrails or guardrails. While these conditions are widespread, their impact should not be discounted. Victims of slip and fall accidents, which can lead to brain injuries or serious fractures, may be forced to leave their work or undergo significant medical treatment.
Recovering from slip and falls can leave you saddled with a heavy financial burden as you try to pay hospital bills or look for a new job. To lighten this burden, a victim can file a negligence claim against the person or entity on whose property they were injured. This requires a victim to prove that:
- The defendant had a duty to use reasonable care;
- The defendant breached this duty; and
- The victim suffered injuries and damages as a result of the defendant’s breach.
Florida property owners must keep their premises free from dangerous conditions for anyone legally on them. This means that they must fix or warn of any risks that they know or reasonably should know about. Failing to fix or warn of a risk generally breaches the duty to keep the property safe for patrons and guests. Slip and falls often happen in commercial properties such as stores, hotels, or restaurants. A customer might slip on spilled food, for example, or trip on a wet floor that had no warning signs. In these cases, the owner of the business may be held liable for the carelessness of an employee if the employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment.
Sometimes property owners will argue that they took no action because they were unaware of any dangerous condition. When this happens, a victim can try to prove that the owner should have known of the risk because it had existed for a significant period of time before the accident or because it was a situation that regularly occurred and thus was foreseeable.
The victim must show that he or she was injured because of the defendant’s carelessness, but damages still may be available if the victim was partly responsible for the accident. Florida uses a comparative negligence rule, which allows people injured in slip and falls to recover compensation proportionate to the fault of the defendant. Even if you were 70 percent responsible for your injuries, for example, you may be able to make a defendant pay 30 percent of the costs arising from them. Damages can include medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and lost earning capacity. A knowledgeable lawyer can help advise you on which types of compensation to pursue.
If you have been injured in an accident on someone else’s property, you should not hesitate to hold the responsible owner accountable for the harm that you have suffered. A lawsuit based on a slip and fall must be filed within four years of the accident, or you may lose the opportunity to have your case heard.
