Premises liability refers to a landowner’s obligation to keep his property reasonably safe for people that come on to his property. These personal injury cases involve many different types of accidents that can happen when one enters onto another’s property.
Massachusetts premises liability claims can involve the homeowners insurance company, or general liability insurance company, that insures the property where the accident occurred. Boston premises liability lawyer Christopher Earley can help if you’ve been injured on someone’s property. These claims occur both on private and commercial properties.
Establishing Fault For Premises Liability Accidents
Massachusetts landowners and occupiers of land must generally keep their property reasonably safe for visitors. Failure to do so can result in legal liability. However, just because an accident happened that caused injuries, does not mean the landowner is legally responsible.
The way to establish fault in these cases is to show that the landowner negligently maintained his premises which led to the injuries sustained.
Negligence can be shown if the injuries were caused by a dangerous condition on the property that the landowner created, knew about, or should have known about in the exercise of reasonable care and inspection.
A property owner, business owner, a landlord (commercial and residential), a tenant, management company, snow removal company, landscaper, etc. can all be potentially held liable depending on the facts of a given case.
Here are some different types of premises liability accidents that commonly occur:
- Slips and falls at someone’s home, or at a business
- Injuries on MBTA property
- Injuries on residential property caused by a negligent landlord (may be liable for negligence as well as for breach of warranty of habitability claims)
- Dog bites (they account for roughly 1/3 of all premises liability claims)
- Snow and ice accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Falling objects
- Supermarket accidents
- Staircase accidents
- Icy parking lots
There are many, many more types of premises liability claims that can potentially arise. Many people that get injured on-the-job also have a third-party claim if they are injured on someone’s property. That means in addition to workers compensation rights, they also may sue in tort for damages they suffer.
Boston Premises Liability Lawyer Can Help You
If you had the misfortune of injuring yourself on someone’s property, I encourage you to contact us. These accidents can be very complicated to pursue, and have strict notice and statute of limitations issues. Call today to get started.
