3 times a business may be liable for your injuries during a visit

Businesses have to ensure that their facilities are safe before opening their doors to the public. Otherwise, they risk liability if someone gets hurt while visiting.

Whether you needed to drop some paperwork off with your accountant to start preparing for your annual tax return or you just needed some cat litter from the pet store, you can wind up getting hurt while simply trying to go about your daily life.

Sometimes, the business where you got hurt will have liability for your injuries and any other losses you suffer. What are some of the situations in which you could make an insurance claim or file a civil lawsuit against a business where you got hurt?

When understaffing leads to negligent cleaning

A business cannot permanently eliminate the risk of someone getting hurt on their premises. All it takes is someone ripping open a bag of cat food or dropping a jar of salsa on the ground to create a dangerous situation.

Moisture and dirt tracked in on people’s shoes can also lead to people getting hurt. Businesses should have enough employees on staff to quickly address spills and other issues as they arise. Negligent cleaning is one of the reasons that more than a million people end up in the emergency room every year because they slip, fall and get seriously hurt.  

When a business doesn’t take security seriously

Any place where large numbers of people gather can be a target for criminals. Hotels, bars and entertainment venues are places where muggers or other criminals may lurk in the hopes of attacking someone.

A business can reduce the risk of crime occurring on their property by installing lights, hiring security professionals and having cameras that capture the behavior of visitors. When you can show that better security practices may have prevented the crime you experience, you may have grounds for a premises liability claim.  

When a property owner doesn’t engage in adequate maintenance

Cleaning is a constant responsibility that staff members will usually perform for a business. Significant maintenance, like fixing the leaky condenser on a freezer, is something that a property owner or business manager needs to address. Ignoring or delaying crucial machinery, equipment or infrastructure repairs could contribute to someone getting severely hurt.

As long as a reasonable person would agree that the situation that led to your injury was foreseeable and preventable, you may have grounds for a premises liability claim. Learning more about premises liability  can help you seek compensation for the losses you have suffered due to an injury on someone else’s property.