What Law Says About Suing For Injuries On Private Property

Legally, the duty of the property owner plays a huge part in determining the strength of any charge made by someone that has been injured on that same owner’s piece of property. The law even provides details on the acknowledged duty of care for various owners. It distinguishes between those that own a business and those that own a private residence.

Duties assigned to business owner

This entrepreneur must make certain that any customers enter a space with a safe environment. The maintenance of safe conditions needs to be ensured by regular inspections. If an obvious danger has been associated with some spot, that area should receive a warning sign or a safety device, such as a banister on a staircase.

There is one situation that could put a customer in danger, but one that the business’ owner would not be expected to prevent. That would be a time when a 3rd party might choose to take some action against an innocent customer. Of course, none of the owner’s actions ought to encourage the making of such a move.

Duties assigned to owners of residential properties

Here the duties vary, depending on the nature of the person that has stepped onto or into a specific private residence. If that same person happens to be a trespasser, the owner has no duty to protect his or her safety. Still, the trespasser should not be harmed for willingness to tread on private ground.

A second category used for those that might visit a private residence includes all those that would be viewed as licensees. That would include anyone that comes to deliver service and also any social guests. According to the law, a licensee should be warned about any dangers that are not open and obvious.

A set of stairs would be an obvious danger, unless the head of the stairway had been placed behind a closed door. A swimming pool would be an open danger, but it might not be viewed as an obvious threat to safety. A young person might be tempted to approach that pool, if it has not been surrounded by a barrier of some kind. A glass door would need a warning sign, if it had not been placed in a normal position. These are the things that an Injury Lawyer in Cambridge considers when pinning liability on the at-fault party.

The final category for those persons visiting a residence would fall under the label of invited guest. The owner of the same residence should make certain that every invited guest enters a safe environment.

What is a safe environment? That would be one that either lacks any danger or one in which all the necessary precautionary measures have been taken. Those same measures have succeeded in limiting the possible consequences from an existing threat.