Many people are injured every year in accidents that occur in homes or businesses. While some accidents are unavoidable, others are caused when the property owner or manager fails to keep their property safe.
If you were injured due to the failure of a property owner to maintain their property in a reasonably safe manner, you might have the right to compensation for your injuries. A Columbia premises liability lawyer in South Carolina can help you recover damages from an incident that wasn’t your fault.
Legal claims involving accidents that occur on another homeowner’s or business owner’s property belong to an area of law called premises liability. South Carolina laws state that all property owners are legally responsible for fully maintaining and keeping their properties safe for visitors.
When a property owner is negligent and fails to follow this responsibility, they may be able to be sued by a premises liability law firm if someone is hurt. The Solomon Law Group, LLC, is here to help.
What Are Premises Liability Laws in South Carolina?
When an injury is suffered on private property, the circumstances determine whether or not the victim is eligible to recover compensation. This area of law addresses the legal protection property owners owe to others who visit their premises.
Essentially, the law states that property owners have to protect visitors from dangers, but only to the extent that a responsible person would.
Premises liability cases can be difficult to prove for a number of reasons. Some of the most common ones involve the lack of witnesses or video evidence, the lack of law enforcement on-site to determine fault, and the fact that it’s not likely the responsible party will admit fault.
To improve your chances of receiving the full and fair compensation you deserve, you can take pictures of the area where the injury occurred, make an incident report with the owner of the premises, write down contact information for anyone who saw the accident happen, and notify the property owner about the unsafe condition.
It’s important to note that not all accidents on private or public property are eligible for compensation in a premises liability claim.
In South Carolina, the law states that landowners do not owe a duty of care to persons who have sought and obtained permission to use the property for recreational purposes. Property owners are also not required to provide an adequate warning of dangerous conditions when the property is being used recreationally.
Dealing with insurance companies can be tough, so our Columbia premises liability attorney at the law firm are here to make the process easier for you. We’ll handle the paperwork and difficult conversations so you can focus on your recovery and getting your life back in order.
Common Areas Where Premises Liability Accidents Happen
Injuries resulting from a property owner’s negligence can happen anywhere. Here are some of the most common locations where these accidents often occur:
- Someone else’s privately owned house or yard
- Commercial property
- Rental property
- City parks
- School playgrounds
- Construction sites
- Parking lots
- Hotels, resorts, and casinos
- Grocery stores
- Business lobbies or hallways
- Streets or roadways
- Driveways
- Anywhere with poor lighting
- Sidewalks (private or public)
- Surfaces covered with snow, ice, or water from rain
- Stairs, steps, or porches
- Public venues such as concert halls, movie theaters, and restaurants
- Apartment complexes
Property owners are responsible not only for fixing hazards that exist on their properties but also for regularly inspecting their properties to see if hazards exist.
If you were injured while carrying mail to a homeowner’s front door, for example, and an overgrown tree fell and caused serious injuries, that homeowner cannot claim they did not know the tree was falling apart. Part of their job is regularly maintaining trees and knowing how safe their property is.
No matter where you were injured on someone’s property, it’s important to understand when you have grounds to file a claim and what your claim will be based on.
When you work with an experienced premises liability lawyer in South Carolina from our law firm, you’ll start working toward the compensation you need to get your life back in order.
The Types of Premises Liability Claims
Personal injury lawyers can handle many different types of premises liability cases. Determining the type of lawsuit you’ll be filing is crucial, as the evidence you’ll need to support your claim could vary.
The most common premises liability cases we see include the following:
Slip and Fall Accidents
Falling accidents, often referred to as slip and fall accidents, are the number one type of premises liability injury we see.
According to the National Flooring Safety Institute, slips and falls are the reasons for about 1 million emergency room visits, with some individuals suffering fractures in 5% of these cases.
When a homeowner or business owner fails to clean up spills or properly maintain walkways, stairways, or flooring, injuries can quickly occur when a customer or visitor trips and falls or has a slip and fall accident.
Criminal Acts
We assume that business owners have taken steps to ensure we are relatively safe on their properties.
Often, we don’t know the history of any criminal acts on the property and aren’t warned of any dangerous activity that may cause us or our families harm. Unfortunately, many business owners are more concerned about profits than our safety.
Businesses have a duty to keep patrons and other visitors safe.
If you were a victim of a criminal act at a grocery store, hotel, restaurant, or other public establishment and feel that the act occurred due to negligent security measures or poor management, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the business owner.
Doing so helps guarantee the safety of future patrons.
Inadequate Security
Businesses have a duty to implement adequate security measures—including using security cameras and hiring security personnel if required—to ensure the safety of guests and customers.
If you’ve suffered from injuries that resulted from inadequate security measures or untrained security officers, you may be able to file a negligent security claim against the owner.
Child Injuries
Childhood injuries are common, but when a child is injured due to faulty playground equipment, poorly maintained amusement park structures, or a property owner’s negligence, you deserve peace of mind. By filing a lawsuit against the guilty individual or company that allowed your child to become hurt, your family can begin the process of moving forward and prevent children from getting hurt on the property in the future.
Dog Bites
All pet owners have a duty to keep their animals from harming others. If you were bitten or otherwise injured by someone else’s dog that was not properly restrained or leashed, you may be able to sue the dog owner. Doing so will hold the responsible party accountable and ensure the animal harms no one else again.
Swimming Pool Accidents
Swimming pool owners are responsible for ensuring small children cannot access their pool while wandering about unattended. Shallow areas must be properly marked so no one tries to dive into those areas. Pools must always be properly maintained and cleaned so visitors do not become sick after swimming or do not slip on the nearby pavement.
Depending on the type of accident you were in, you may not see it mentioned above. If that’s the case, it doesn’t mean you don’t have grounds for a valid claim.
When you contact the premises liability lawyers from The Solomon Law Group, LLC, they can evaluate your situation and determine your legal options based on your unique circumstances.
How Can You Prove a Property Owner’s Negligence?
In order to prove compensation is owed, there are a number of elements the injured party must show.
The premises liability attorney in Columbia you hire from our law firm will help you build a strong claim containing those necessary elements.
First, it has to be proven that the property owner had a duty owed to the person on the premises.
This is typically determined by the type of visitor they are. After proving that a duty of care was owed to avoid an unsafe condition, it must be shown that the property owner breached that duty. If the injured person tripped on a broken stair and fractured their leg, the property owner can be held accountable because they neglected to fix the step and didn’t warn about the dangerous condition that was present.
Finally, it must be shown that the injury and damages directly result from the breach of duty. Damages include medical expenses for the bills related to your current treatment and any future medical expenses for treatments you may eventually need.
They also include personal property damage, lost income for the time taken off work, and reduced or lost earning capacity if the injury impacts your ability to work. Finally, damages in personal injury cases like yours could include physical and emotional pain and suffering.
What If I Was Partially at Fault for the Accident?
South Carolina follows a modified comparative negligence system. However, there is a 51% bar for recovery. Under that, as long as you are not more than 50% at fault for the accident, you can still recover compensation. But your total award will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
For example, if you are found 40% at fault, the compensation would be reduced by that amount.
With the 51% bar, you cannot be assigned more than 51% or more at fault for the accident. Otherwise, you cannot recover any compensation from the other party. The other legal team and insurers understand this modified negligence rule.
Often, they will try to assign a higher level of fault to you in the accident.
With that, they can minimize their liability and payout to you. For this reason, we always recommend talking to a premises liability lawyer in Columbia to assess your situation and help you understand your options. With experienced legal representation, you can ensure you get fair compensation for your injuries in a premises liability case.
Get Help from a Columbia Premises Liability Lawyer
Your Columbia premises liability lawyer will seek to hold property owners accountable for allowing unsafe conditions to exist and cause harm to innocent people.
These types of claims can be incredibly complex in South Carolina. Still, we understand how these cases work and have access to accident recreation experts who can testify on your behalf and prove that negligence caused your accident.
Filing a personal injury claim with The Solomon Law Group, LLC, can help your family get the compensation you need for medical bills, loss of wage costs, pain and suffering costs, and more. We can also help ensure that all property owners understand how vital it is to keep their premises safe.
Contact us today to set up a free consultation at our law firm to learn more.
