Beavercreek Premises Liability Lawyer
You may need help from a premises liability lawyer in Beavercreek, Ohio if you or someone you love has been injured in an accident on someone else’s property. At Elk & Elk, our personal injury lawyers are committed to helping injured accident victims. Our lawyers will work closely with you to achieve the best possible resolution for your injury claim. Start by scheduling a free consultation with us today.
Common Premises Liability Accidents
Premises liability is the area of law governing injuries and losses related to dangerous property defects. If a hazardous condition caused by a property owner’s failure to properly maintain a safe premises results in a serious injury or death, the property owner will be liable.
A property owner’s carelessness in Beavercreek, Ohio could result in many series types of accidents, including:
- Slip and fall accidents
- Snow and ice accidents
- Animal attacks
- Parking lot accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Structural collapses
- Fires and burn injuries
- Elevator and escalator accidents
- Lack of security
A premises liability claim can involve an accident at a store, shopping center, gym, bank, cruise ship, amusement park or a friend’s house. You may even have grounds to file a premises liability claim after an accident in your own home if the maintenance of your property is the responsibility of another party, such as your landlord or a homeowners association.
Property Owner’s Duties of Care
Premises liability law in Ohio places property visitors into three separate categories. A property owner’s legal duties of care change according to the type of visitor on the premises. An invitee is the highest level of visitor. This is a person expressly or implicitly invited to enter a property by the owner, such as a customer at a business. A property owner in Ohio owes an invitee three basic duties of care:
- Inspect a property for new, unknown or hidden defects before welcoming invitees.
- Remedy any known hazardous elements on the property in a reasonable amount of time.
- Post warning notices regarding existing defects on the property that may not be obvious.
The second type of visitor is a licensee. A licensee also has permission to enter a property, but does so for his or her own reasons, such as a salesperson. A property owner owes the same duties of care to an invitee as a licensee, minus the duty to search for unknown defects. The last type of visitor is a trespasser. A trespasser does not have permission to be on a property.
Property owners in Ohio generally do not owe trespassers any duties of care, other than the duty not to intentionally cause the trespasser harm. However, if the trespasser is a minor under the age of 18, a property owner has a responsibility to make the premises reasonably safe for that visitor in Ohio.
When Can You File a Lawsuit Against a Property Owner?
If a property owner in Beavercreek, Ohio owed you a duty of care, breached this duty through an act of negligence and this caused your injury, you will have grounds to file a premises liability claim.
Negligence in premises liability law refers to any act or failure to act that a prudent property owner would not have committed in the same circumstances. If the property owner – or an employee at a business – carelessly or recklessly failed to prevent the hazardous condition that caused your injury, that party may be financially responsible for your injuries.
Consult With an Attorney Today | Free Consultations in Beavercreek, OH
A premises liability lawsuit can be a highly complex type of claim. It may be difficult for you to obtain fair compensation from a property owner’s insurance company on your own. If you were recently injured while on someone else’s property, consult with the premises liability lawyers at Elk & Elk. We offer free initial consultations in Beavercreek, Ohio.
Find out how we can help you today. Call 1-800-ELK-OHIO or reach us online anytime.