New Port Richey Slip and Fall Lawyer
Florida slip and fall injuries can happen to people of all ages and occur in a variety of places including grocery stores, gas stations, department stores, parks, walking trails, and inside homes. Regardless of how a slip and fall, trip and fall or any fall occurs, it is important to keep in mind that compensation may be available if the injury occurred due to someone’s failure to maintain a property or warn of a dangerous condition.
Floridians who injure themselves in a slip and fall accident may be entitled to compensation in the form of medical bills, lost income, and pain suffering if the injury was caused by someone else’s negligence. A New Port Richey slip and fall lawyer can review the situation and analyze whether negligence exists. It is important to contact a distinguished personal injury attorney to determine what types of compensation might be available to you.
Determining Liability in a Slip and Fall Case
Whether in a store, at a friend’s home, or visiting a beach or park on New Port Richey’s Gulf Coast, anyone in control of a property (including owners, renters, governmental entities, and others) generally has a duty to warn about dangerous conditions unless they are trespassing. However, the law assigns different levels of duty depending upon why the person was on the property.
Anyone injured on a property where dangerous conditions existed and the warning was not provided should contact a New Port Richey slip and fall lawyer to discuss their situation and determine their legal options so that they can make an informed decision about what’s best for them and their family.
Types of Visitors
Invitees are people who are expressly or impliedly invited to enter the property. Common examples include family, friends, and neighbors. An express invitation might include an invitation to a cook out on a specific day. An implied invitation might include a standing or open invitation to come over whenever that person is in town. In these situations, whoever controls the property has a duty to keep the property reasonably safe.
Licensees, such as landscapers, maintenance workers, or pool attendants (anyone entering the property for their own financial purposes) generally have express or implied permission from the owner, tenant, or person controlling the property to enter it. In these situations, whoever controls the property only has to warn licensees of dangerous conditions that may create an unreasonable risk of harm.
Trespassers never have permission to be on a property and there is generally no duty for owners to warn of dangers. However, there is one important exception to that rule involving children. An owner has a duty to warn children of potentially dangerous situations in which children might be attracted. New Port Richey slip and fall lawyers have seen children interested in hazards such as a ditch filled with water, old machinery or a fenced animal who may look friendly, but is not.
Contacting a Slip and Fall Attorney in New Port Richey
If you have been injured on someone else’s property, it’s important to keep in mind that Florida’s statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit is four years from the injury date. Equally important to remember is that most Florida premises liability claims will involve insurance company representatives whose main objective is to compensate you as little as possible if anything at all. An experienced New Port Richey slip and fall lawyer can protect your interests and even the playing field.