Tampa Private Property Premises Liability Lawyer
The visitor that gets injured in a Tampa premises liability case is going to have to prove who is at fault. A lot of this depends on the agreements between the people renting the property versus the people owning the property.
To determine the liability in an injured person’s case, it is important that they consult with a Tampa private property premises liability attorney as soon as possible. A knowledgeable premises liability lawyer in Tampa can build a case to help recover just compensation on the client’s behalf.
Elements of the Case
When an invitee goes over to an apartment to visit a renter, and the renter has created a hazardous situation, for example, they have pulled the carpet out, and the invitee tries to step around it and steps on a nail, the liability would set on the person that is renting the property.
However, if an invitee is going up the elevator and the elevator stops and then falls and crashes to the ground, the liability for the injured person would be the person that owns the apartment building.
Where a person gets injured and what causes the person’s injury will dictate who is liable and is going to end up paying for the medical bills and any other bills associated with the injuries. These can be best pursued by an experienced Tampa private property premises liability attorney.
Landlords vs. Tenants
There are certain circumstances where a visitor can arrive at a place of business and become injured on that property. The person that owns the business is just a tenant, and the landlord is the one that may actually be liable. To best understand these regulations, it is important to contact a Tampa private property premises liability attorney.
For example, a person may be in a wheelchair and enters a clinic via a wheelchair ramp and, because it has no railings, the wheelchair falls off the side and the person sustains injuries. The injured person then sues the clinic when they should have sued the landlord who actually owns the property and created the wheelchair ramp. The clinic rents space from the landlord as a tenant, who would have rights against the landlord, and the landlord would actually have to pay for the lawsuit.
Comparative Fault
In Florida, fault is assigned as a percentage. If the injured party should have noticed the hazard, then they will get assigned a portion of liability. If the injured party is 25% liable and the owner of the premises is 75% liable, then the owner would only have to pay 75% of that claim to the injured party. To understand the nuances associated with comparative fault, it is important to contact a private property premises liability lawyer in Tampa as soon as possible.
Private vs. Commercial Property
Residential property and commercial property are different. Liability insurance is very important in a premises liability case for commercial property. Residential property has homeowner’s insurance, which only covers certain acts of negligence and does not cover the same things that commercial insurance covers.
Business invitees to a commercial property are owed a heightened duty rather than a social guest on a residential property.
Insurance Coverage
There are a few differences between the way insurance is handled between commercial and residential insurance. In a situation surrounding a bar, the owner would be expected to maintain a safe environment for the patrons by having security guards to break up fights, by making sure people do not bring guns in, and things like that.
At a residential location, the owner does not the same duty to have security and make sure that the conditions are free of that type of environment because it is not a commercial property.