Maison Law represents the victims of premises liability accidents in public places like stores, other businesses, and residential communities. If you were injured due to the carelessness of a Bell CA property or business owner, contact Maison Law today for a free, confidential consultation. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injury may be worth and how to hold an owner or operator fully responsible for your recovery costs.
Do I Need a Lawyer After a Premises Liability Accident?
If you take a slip-and-fall at a business like Walmart or have something fall on you at a home improvement store and get injured, you should talk over your options for getting help with a lawyer. If your injuries are confined to some mild scratches or bruising, you may be able to handle your claim yourself.
However, when your injuries are serious, such as a wrist fracture or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), your time in need of medical care will be longer, and your medical bills will be higher. This triggers insurance adjusters to get stingy with their support. They’ll even try to blame an accident on you, implying that you are clumsy, simply to avoid paying you what’s fair.
These are just a few of the ways a Bell Premises Liability Lawyer helps you fight back and secure more in compensation:
- Gathering The Evidence You’ll Need to Prove Your Case: Your lawyer fully investigates what happened to you so you have evidence ready when an insurer tries to deny responsibility. Your lawyer also works with your doctors to document your injury, so insurance adjusters can’t claim your injury isn’t serious, simply so they can offer you less.
- Protection Against Insurance Tactics: Commercial liability insurers for property owners can also delay responding to your claim on purpose. They hope to make you nervous as your medical bills become past due and your lost paychecks put you behind on things like car payments and the rent. Then they offer you a “lowball” settlement, hoping you’ll be desperate enough to accept it. Your lawyer is a safeguard against this shady treatment. Maison Law makes sure insurers act as quickly as possible without delay. We also help you go over every settlement offer to see if it’s enough to cover what you’ve been through. If not, we reject it and demand more.
- Protections Against Corporate Lawyers: Large store chains and property management companies might also be able to rely on corporate lawyers to help them escape blame. These lawyers will be trying to limit what you take home, or leave you with zero in support. Your Maison Law attorney isn’t afraid to stand up to major companies and their lawyers to demand what’s fair for you.
- Earn More for Your Recovery: When injuries are serious, like a broken bone or a head injury, the financial stakes are much higher. Your attorney has a great chance of earning more for you and your family than you could by taking on a company alone.
Who Is Responsible for an Accident at a Bell CA Store?
California premises liability laws hold property and business owners responsible for any accidents that happen to you while you are visiting a business, public property, or a residential property. If the owner or owners could have acted to prevent the accident, they could be held financially liable for your recovery costs.
That’s according to California Civil Code 1714:
“(a) Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself.”
Store owners or landlords must keep aisles and the grounds around an apartment complex free of obstacles. That means removing spills or debris on stairwells that could send someone tumbling for an injury. It means protecting customers or residents from construction mistakes like exposed wires that could provide a shock. Owners and operators must avoid creating hazards, and they must clean up the hazards that visitors create.
When this duty is neglected and you are hurt, owners can be liable for helping victims recover physically and financially. This can include providing help with all present and future medical bills and reimbursement for lost wages while you are out of work.
These are just a few of the parties that may be responsible for a premises liability accident:
- Property Owner
- Homeowner
- Business Owner
- The owners and operators of pools
- Corporation or business chain
- Landlord or property management company
- A homeowner’s organization
- City of Bell, Los Angeles County Government, or State Government departments
Where Can Premises Liability Accidents Occur?
Premises liability cases can arise from any accident that happens on a property where visitors, customers, clients, or residents have been invited in. Owners and operators are responsible for their guests’ safety from the time they park and get out of their cars to the back aisle of a store.
City government departments can also be responsible if unsafe conditions cause you to get hurt at a government office, a park, or in a parking garage.
These are just a few of the types of accidents property owners might be responsible for:
- Slip-and-falls and trip-and-falls at stores, restaurants, and gas stations
- Falling merchandise
- Apartment complex accidents
- Hotel and resort accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Amusement park and water park injuries
- Accidents at a public park like Ernest Debs Park
- Burns and electrocution
- Toxic fumes or chemical exposure
- Injuries caused by a lack of security
After an injury, your personal injury attorney helps you determine who exactly can be held responsible for what happened. It may be that more than one owner or business should be providing support to you and your family.
Compensation for Premises Liability Accident Victims
After an accident, strong evidence will be key to getting every hardship you’ve had to endure and will endure covered in a settlement. Right after an accident, try to get as much evidence at the scene as possible, as long as you are left strong enough.
Contact 911 if you are injured. Then try to get photos of the obstacle that caused your injury. Get contact information from the witness. Alert a manager and help them create an incident report.
Afterward, it’s also important to make a full list of your hardships since the accident. Maison Law ensures this list is complete because anything left off becomes something an insurance company wouldn’t have to compensate on a premises liability accident settlement check. It’s an expense you would be left to pay.
Your lawyer then files your claim and demands support for all of these factors and others: determine how much the victim would receive in a premises liability settlement check:
- Complete reimbursement for current medical expenses and support to pay for care expected to be required in the years ahead.
- Estimated expenses for care over a lifetime for a victim with a permanent disability.
- Physical pain and emotional anguish suffered by the victim in an accident and through a difficult recovery. This can include a loss of enjoyment of life and a loss of intimacy with a spouse or partner.
- Travel costs while attending doctor visits. Transport can be expensive when victims can’t drive and may be in wheelchairs or on crutches.
- The totals on lost paychecks at work while in recovery. Any lost income expected in the future.
- Wrongful Death Benefits. Families who have lost a loved one in a premises liability accident may file a wrongful death claim. This civil claim seeks help with funeral costs and medical expenses. It should also protect the family from economic hardships in the future when they’ll be without the financial support the deceased would have provided.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a premises liability accident claim?
The statute of limitations on most premises liability injury cases is two years. You have up to two years to file your claim. However, if the at-fault party is a government entity, such as the City of Bell, the statute of limitations can come much sooner. Government departments enjoy stronger legal protections, and the window to sue the city could only be months. These cases can be complex, so consult with a skilled attorney as soon after your accident as you can.
What if I can’t afford to pay a premises liability attorney?
You won’t need any upfront money to hire a skilled lawyer to handle your case while you focus on healing. Maison Law doesn’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement that a car insurance company must pay you.
What type of documents do I need to bring with me to a meeting with a pedestrian accident attorney?
If you’ve obtained a copy of the incident report created at the business where you were hurt, bring it in. If you don’t have it, and you hire Maison Law, your attorney will secure this document for you. Also, turn over any documents you’ve received from the business, its lawyers, or its insurance company. Keep notes on any phone calls you’ve received from the insurance company. Medical records and billing invoices for every visit you’ve made to doctors, physical therapists, surgeons, and other specialists will help. Paystubs help your lawyer determine how much income you are losing each week while you can’t work.
Contact a Premises Liability Attorney Serving Bell Victims
If you or a loved one is hurt in an accident at any business or public place, don’t count on insurance adjusters to treat you fairly. You’ll need to hold them accountable even when you have strong evidence showing a property owner or company’s negligence.
Having an experienced Bell Premises Liability Lawyer on your side safeguards your case and helps you get the most compensation for your injury. Contact Maison Law to schedule a free and confidential case consultation to find out what your case is worth.
