Getting hurt while on vacation, visiting friends, doing business, or any other time may ruin your day, but can also have long-lasting consequences that you’ll need to think about and act on right away. If you suffer injuries or damages related to an injury outside your home while in Fresno, you need to understand what your rights are and take appropriate steps to make sure you are properly compensated.
Determining Your Unsafe Premises Claim in Fresno
Depending on what type of property you occupied when you experienced the injury, California premise laws outline some differences regarding liability that you need to understand. Property owners and property operators are assigned responsibility to create and maintain safe environments to prevent people on their property from being injured. They refer to this as “premises liability.”
Status of the injured party with respect to the property they inhabited during the injury must first be determined. Possible designations include:
- Invited -examples include a store customer, a member of a club, a patron in a theater. The implication is that the owner or possessor has taken proper steps to make the premises safe.
- Licensee – A renter, user of property for their own purposes, a possible guest who is on the property with owner’s consent.
- Social Guest – a visitor who has been welcomed to said property.
- Trespasser – Person who enters property with no rights, no invitation. No implied promise of premises safety for them unless the trespasser can prove that the owner was aware that they would be on the property.
CACI No. 1003 Unsafe Conditions list the proof requirements for a claim of unsafe premises in which you experiences damages from an injury. In order to prove liability for injury to a person with rights on a property, the plaintiff must show negligence on the part of the defendant because:
- Property conditions presented an unsafe risk of harm to the plaintiff
- That the defendant was aware or should have been aware of the unsafe property conditions
- The defendant did not make necessary repairs, protect the plaintiff from harm or warn the plaintiff regarding the unsafe condition.
These proof requirements apply to various types of liability cases such as:
- Slip and fall, snow and ice
- Poor premises maintenance or defective conditions
- Elevator, stairs and escalator accidents
- Animal bites, including dogs
- Swimming pool and amusement accidents
- Fires, flooding, or fumes related injuries
- Building security inadequacy
It can be a little confusing to understand the specific requirements for proving liability. Make sure you file your claim with help from a compassionate attorney who knows the pitfalls and premises of the current California premise laws. The Maison Law Firm is dedicated to uncovering every aspect of your claim and seeing that you are awarded full compensation for damages you’re entitled to. Trust us to be there for you.
