Premises liability – basic facts that must be known by the owners
Premises liability is a unique form of liability, which actually gets compensation for anyone who has been hurt in the premises of someone else because of negligence on the part of the owner of the premises. In malls and super stores, for example, this liability is enforced and the mall owner or the super storeowner is liable to pay for the damages caused by injury to the person in the event of a lawsuit being filed by the aggrieved party.
Premises liability has been in vogue for quite sometime now and covers injury caused knowingly or unknowingly to a person who is on the premises. The owner of the premises has often challenged premises liability, when he or she has been asked to compensate the person injured for no fault of the owner. This is an all-encompassing liability and the effects are far reaching. If a person strays into a premise even when he is not supposed to be there, and if some injury is suffered by such a person, the owner of the premises can be sued by the person and he or she can claim compensation for the injury even if he or she was not supposed to be on the premises in the first place. The gravity of the law is such that has been challenged with little success and therefore the owners of premises are required to be abundantly cautious about the provisions of the law. A person who slips and falls because of poor maintenance of the premises can sue the owner of the premises and claim compensation under the premises liability law. Even if the area is being cleaned and a notice has been put up saying so, and a person strays into the area and gets hurt by falling on a wet floor, he or she can sue the owner of the premises. This is possible since the premises liability law prohibits the owner from carrying on active maintenance when people are using the premises.
The implications of the premises liability law are consequential and far-reaching. The owners of these public areas often seek expert legal opinion to cover themselves adequately from a likely liability that may arise and they are not asked to pay for compensations for no fault of theirs. It is not that the law is always against them, there have been exemplary legal battles won by the owners of the premises against persons seeking refuge under the law.
Comments on this entry are closed.