In Augusta, Georgia, all property owners are subject to the premises liability laws that protect anyone who may be on their property. These laws also apply to those who lease the property, manage the property, or occupy the property. They ensure that those who are responsible for the property are held to a certain standard and must ensure that the property is safe and free of hazards. When property owners fail to maintain this standard, there are plenty of ways that injuries may occur.
Some common examples include slip or trip and fall incidents, assault due to lack of security, and burn injuries due to inadequate management of the property and potential hazards. These are just a few examples, of course, and we are going to go into the various other ways that a premises liability claim could arise. We’ll also discuss the relevance of your status on the property and what you need to do to ensure that your premises liability claim is valid and strong. Finally, we’ll go over how the skills and experience of an Augusta, Georgia, personal injury attorney could help you with your claim.
What Kind of Premises Liability Claim Do you Have?
The type of premises liability claim that you can pursue depends on how the incident occurred. If the property should have had more security, and you were attacked, then it could be a negligent security premises liability claim. If you slipped on a wet or icy surface or tripped over damaged floors or hazards that were left in the walkway, then you probably have a slip or trip and fall claim. There are also premises liability claims that involve swimming pools, animal attacks, falling down stairs, or falling from heights. Sometimes, nursing home accidents can constitute premises liability claims. Other times, premises liability accidents happen at amusement parks with defective rides or other mistakes.
When it comes to slip and fall claims, these could happen on private or public property and could occur indoors or outdoors, depending on the situation. Incidents that arise from falling down the stairs could be caused by a lack of handrails, the stairs being too steep, or the floor or carpeting being damages. Swimming pool accidents frequently happen because the pool isn’t property fenced or supervised. Sometimes, premises liability claims even arise from exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Then, there are the variety of different hazards that might be on the property, such as holes in the ground or trip hazards with poor visibility. There are even cases where an object falls on someone. The premises liability claims that involve negligent security are typically in high crime areas and at hotels or apartment complexes. These cases usually involve situations where there should have been better lighting or better security in the area to prevent crime from harming a guest.
Do You Have a Legitimate and Strong Premises Liability Claim?
It is important to look at your claim from the perspective of the law. In other words, your claim has to meet the requirements of a premises liability personal injury claim in Augusta, Georgia. To do this, you must make sure that you are filing a claim against the correct person. This must be someone who owns the property, manages the property, and/or occupies the property. If you file a claim against the wrong person, then you won’t be able to recover compensation because you won’t be able to prove liability.
It is also important to know what your status was on the property. If you were a trespasser, then you are not owed a duty of care as strong as if you were on the property as an invitee or licensee. That means that you have to have had permission to be on the property.
What Kind of Injury Did You Experience on the Premises?
Just as there are many different types of premises liability personal injury claims in Augusta, Georgia, there are many different injuries that might occur. The most common include spine and neck injuries, burn injuries, head injuries, and broken bones. It is also possible to end up with internal injuries, paralysis, or permanent scars. Children are frequently the victims of premises liability injuries, and drowning can occur in cases where a swimming pool isn’t properly fenced or supervised. Animal attacks and burn injuries are some examples of premises liability injuries that could lead to long term scarring and a significant amount of life disrupting trauma. If someone you love was killed by a hazard on someone else’s property, then you can pursue a wrongful death claim.
A premises liability claim can provide compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, permanent scarring, and even trauma. If the injury was intentional or malicious in nature, then you may also be able to get punitive damages. These damages are split into three categories. There are economic damages, non-economic damages, and exemplary damages. The economic damages are all of your actual expenses and financial losses. So, lost wages and medical expenses will fall under economic damages. Non-economic damages are all of your non-financial losses, such as pain and suffering and lost quality of life. The exemplary damages are the punitive damages which may be ordered if there is good cause to further punish the responsible party. These are typically allowed in cases where someone was injured intentionally or through reckless misconduct.
The Benefit of Working with an Augusta, Georgia, Personal Injury Attorney
It is always a good idea to seek a free consultation with an Augusta, Georgia, personal injury attorney when you think you may have a valid premises liability claim. The skilled Augusta GA personal injury attorneys at Ted A. Greve & Associates can offer advice and guidance on what your claim might be worth and what you’ll need to do to prove it. We will then help you to go through the process on a contingency fee rate, so that we only get paid if we are successful in pursuing compensation for your injuries. Call today to learn more.
