Tampa Commercial Property Premises Liability Lawyer
Commercial property liability occurs at a place of business where it either sells goods or services, and the primary reason for having the property is for business reasons. The gray area in some situations is if a person has a garage sale at their house and people are coming on the property to buy goods or services. The primary purpose of the building is still a private residence. Commercial property cases can be complex, so if you have been in injured, it is important to work with a skilled liability attorney as soon as possible. A Tampa commercial property premises liability lawyer can help explain your case and work hard to establish your right to compensation.
Premises Liability Cases
A property owner in Tampa has a duty to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition. That does not mean that the owner has to make sure nothing ever breaks or spills on their property. It means that they have the duty to correct the problems or warn of dangers that the owner knows of or should have known by the use of reasonable care, and which any visitor cannot or should not know by the use of reasonable care. The owner and the visitor both have a duty to act reasonably, but the owner has a duty to warn and to prevent things that may happen.
In Tampa, commercial premises liability statute of limitations is four years.
Determining Liability
When dealing with commercial property in Tampa, the assignment of liability in a premises liability case can be challenging. It can be assigned to either the owner of the property, the owner of the business, or the manager on duty.
A good example would be a gas station. There is an owner of the property; the corporate owner of the gas company, and the franchisee who owns the business and runs the gas station. They are all separate owners that may be liable for a person’s injury. As an example, if there was a structural injury like a wheelchair ramp that was not built correctly, that may be the responsibility of the owner of the property. If an invitee goes inside and the floor is wet, that would be the responsibility of the owner of the business.
In addition, there would also be a manager on duty who is responsible in making sure the floors are mopped, the air conditioning is not leaking, there are no spills and if there are, to make sure they get cleaned up properly. If someone cannot find the proper defendant, then they cannot have a premises liability case. They have to find the person that has the duty to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe manner when pursuing a commercial property premises liability case in Tampa.
Working with Large Corporations
When dealing with large corporations in these cases, the only difference is that some of the documents are harder to obtain from a large corporation. They may try to block some of the incident reports or their practices and procedures on what they do when someone gets injured on the premises. Large corporations have law firms on retainer who will represent them in these matters, and they will try to delay the case making it harder to prepare the case on behalf of the injured person. The liability and the probability of cases do not change depending on the size of the corporation.
Timeline
If a claim for injuries is filed with a commercial entity and it is rejected, very few are appealed. The injured party will file a lawsuit at that time and let the court handle it.
A claim for injuries is handled by an adjuster and they can either accept liability or deny liability. To appeal the decision of an adjuster, who does not have final authority, would be a waste of time. Filing a lawsuit against the commercial entity would bring both sides before the judge or a jury for final determination.
Working with Financially Unstable Parties
If the Tampa commercial property premises liability attorney is successful in finding the person that had the duty and they have no money, then the injured person is going to be spending a lot of money just to get a piece of paper at the end of the case that he cannot collect on. Most business owners have some money or some kind of insurance that an injured person can collect from. If a person is injured on a premise owned by somebody who does not have any money or insurance to collect from, then it is not financially feasible to file a premises liability case against them.
When a person is injured on commercial property, there should be a large insurance policy, and collecting would not be an issue as long as they are proven liable. If a person gets injured on a commercial property due to somebody else’s negligence, they should call an attorney immediately. Otherwise, the business will try to get rid of the injured person as quickly as they can by making very low monetary offers to settle with the injured person. Even if the injured person wins the case in court, they could lose money because they will spend money to pursue their lawsuit and any judgment will be uncollectible. Tampa commercial property premises liability attorneys will be able to help you deal with complexities of dealing in court.