When you are injured on another person’s property, place of business, or public property due to a dangerous condition, you may be looking at a premises liability case. Property owners have a duty to keep guests (and sometimes even trespassers) safe from dangerous conditions on their property. If you have been injured by a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, contact our Kent premises liability attorneys to discuss your injuries and legal options.
The good news is that premises liability claims are often covered by property owners’ insurance policies, which means that you may be compensated for your injuries without having to put a dent in a friend or neighbor’s bank account. Our clients worry about bringing a claim for recovery against someone they would like to preserve a relationship with and we understand that concern. In these situations, we will respectfully and considerately reach out to property owners and their insurance companies in an effort to secure the compensation that you are entitled to as a result of the injuries you sustained.
Trespasser – with a couple of exceptions, a property owner does not owe a duty of care to a trespasser beyond a duty to not willfully or wantonly injure a trespasser. For example, a property owner may not set a trap intended to cause serious injury or death to trespassers. An exception to the trespasser duty of care relates to trespassing children who are often owed a duty of reasonable care even though they are trespassing. This is meant to protect innocent children who are not mature enough to appreciate their actions and their consequences.
Non-trespasser guests – In general, property owners owe their guests a duty of care with regard to dangerous conditions on the property that the owner knew about or should have known about. Depending on the circumstances, the property owner has a duty to either warn the guest or remediate the dangerous condition and if the owner did not take measures to protect guests from known harms, he or she may be liable for injuries suffered by guests due to the dangerous condition.
Premises liability defenses that may be raised by defendant property owners include the following:
If you have sustained an injury on someone else’s property, contact our Kent premises liability attorneys at Russell and Hill, PLLC to schedule a consultation. Dangerous conditions involved in premises liability cases may include slip or trip and falls, negligent security, dog bites, inadequate property maintenance, and unsafe structures. If a property owner’s negligence related to a dangerous condition caused you to suffer injuries and damages, you deserve to be fully compensated.
