What Is Premises Liability?

Premises liability is the principle that you’re responsible for injuries that occur on your property. In other words, you need to keep your property safe for others to visit, and others may hold you liable for any injuries that happen when they are on your premises. In California, this is true for all kinds of property, whether you’re a homeowner or run a business.

As a property owner, it’s vital to understand what your legal responsibility looks like for those who visit your property. After all, if someone gets hurt on your property, they can make an injury claim for which you might be responsible. If you’re visiting someone else’s property and are injured yourself, it’s just as important to understand what your rights and legal options look like.

How Premises Liability Works

Premises liability stems from the concept of duty of care. This term has several legal applications, but in premises liability, it means you have a responsibility to reduce known risks to visitors on your property. Simply put, you must do your best to protect those who visit your property from preventable harm. If you don’t, you’re being negligent, which opens you up to legal risks.

That said, you aren’t automatically going to be held liable for all incidents that occur on your property. Many activities carry a certain level of inherent risk, and participants understand they may get injured simply by engaging in them. For instance, if someone is roller skating at a skate park or roller rink, for example, and they fall and get hurt due to their own mistake, lack of training, or inexperience, they’re unlikely to have much in the way of a premises liability claim.

However, if there is some feature of the property that caused the injury — such as loose flooring that causes people to trip or a large spill that causes skaters to slip — that’s a different story. As a property owner, if you know about a hazard and don’t effectively address it, you may be liable for any resulting injuries. The same is true if you should have known about a hazard, even if you weren’t aware of it, such as if you failed to conduct routine inspections of your business equipment to ensure its safety for others to use.

That’s how premises liability claims tend to work. A property owner is either aware of a hazard and fails to correct it and warn others against it, or they fail to take steps to learn about the hazards on their property. As a result, a visitor gets injured and can then take legal action against the owner due to that negligence.

How Liability Varies Based on Types of Visitors

The type and level of liability that you assume depend entirely on the kinds of visitors who come to a property. Though incidents can happen to anyone, anywhere, and at any time, different types of visitors are owed different levels of care under the law.

Invitees

Invitees are people who have been allowed onto the property for business purposes. Not only do they have the property owner’s permission to be there, but their presence is also directly beneficial to the owner. Think of customers who are shopping at a store or tenants who are renting a home to live in.

Property owners must provide the highest duty of care to invitees. That means going beyond simply fixing hazards that arise to ensure visitors’ safety. Owners must also regularly inspect their property to identify and address hazards they weren’t previously aware of. They also generally need to warn visitors about potential risks on the property, especially if they can’t be fixed right away (such as a “wet floor” sign to warn visitors of a spill before and while employees clean it up).

Licensees

Licensees are social guests or non-commercial visitors. They may be invited onto the property, either implicitly or explicitly, by the owner, but their presence isn’t financially or commercially beneficial to them. This includes friends and neighbors of homeowners, as well as certain “customers” of businesses (like those who enter an establishment just to use the bathroom).

Property owners still owe licensees a duty of care, though not to the same degree as invitees. In this case, you don’t need to inspect for unknown hazards actively, but you do need to fix known hazards and communicate them to visitors.

Trespassers

Trespassers are the final type of visitor, but unlike invitees and licensees, they do not have permission to be on the property. As such, the duty of care owed is much lower. Generally, property owners aren’t liable for harm to trespassers. If there’s a known trespasser on the property, property owners must disclose hazards. Otherwise, they generally don’t need to take any additional steps to protect themselves.

The one exception here is for child trespassers, who are owed the same duty of care as invitees, and it’s when the attractive nuisance doctrine comes into play. Property owners are still liable for injuries to trespassing children if something on the property may entice them, such as a swimming pool or trampoline.

In these instances, because children aren’t fully able to understand the risks of the nuisance, property owners must proactively protect them from harm. Exact measures will depend on the nature of the nuisance, but often involve preventing access with fencing or locks and using security systems to monitor the area.

Key Elements of a Premises Liability Claim

Many of the same key elements tend to come up in the diverse world of premises liability claims. The main components include:

• Duty of care: The property owner was in control of the property and owed a duty of care to you when you visited the premises. This involves determining your connection to the property and its owner to identify the duty of care owed to you.
• Breach: You must be able to show that the owner breached their duty of care or that they were negligent in some way. This may include failure to inspect for hazards, or to address or communicate about hazards to visitors.
• Injury: You sustained an injury on the property and can demonstrate that this is the case. Medical records are often important for this part of a claim.
• Causation: The cause of the injury can be attributed to the property itself, rather than to the inherent risk of the activity in which you were participating. You can show the sequence of events that resulted in your injury.

Generally, all of these elements must be present and proven for a claim to be legally valid. If you have any questions or concerns about the validity of a claim, it’s always best to reach out to a legal professional for advice.

How Property Owners Can Reduce Liability Risks

If you’re a property owner, you have to make sure your property doesn’t cause harm to your visitors. Doing so ensures people remain as safe as possible and can help reduce your risk of being held liable for injuries or other harm.

To reduce your liability risk, you should:

• Conduct regular inspections to identify hidden but potentially dangerous conditions.
• Address any hazards as soon as you identify them.
• Document anything that may be relevant, including your inspections, communications with visitors, and any upgrades, maintenance, or repairs.
• Use a security system to monitor high-risk areas.
• Put up signs to communicate dangers to visitors.
• Block or fence off dangerous areas to make them inaccessible.

In addition, these steps can give you some insight into what negligence can look like in the context of premises liability. That is, if you fail to take the above actions and an incident occurs, it could legally be considered negligence on your part. However, it’s always best to take whatever precautions make the most sense in your particular circumstances.

When Should You Contact a Premises Liability Lawyer

Whether you’re a property owner or a visitor, there are times when it makes sense to contact a premises liability lawyer. Some circumstances that warrant a conversation with a knowledgeable attorney include:

• If you’ve sustained a serious injury on someone else’s property.
• If someone has sustained a serious injury on your property.
• If there’s unclear or disputed liability at play.
• If insurance has denied claims related to the incident.
• If insurance offers a subpar settlement that doesn’t fully cover damages.

Be sure to reach out for assistance as soon as possible after an incident. Not only does early legal guidance help protect your rights, but it also helps strengthen your case. It is critical to take photographs of the dangerous conditions, get measurements, and gather all evidence of the area before a property owner or business can fix those conditions. Though there’s no guarantee of a specific outcome, working with a premises liability lawyer can provide some much-needed support during a difficult time and help put you in a better position for legal success.

Speak with a Premises Liability Attorney at Leslie Law Firm

We can’t overstate the importance of having legal support in a premises liability case. However, it isn’t enough to have legal representation — you need the right representation on your side.

If you’re dealing with a premises liability case in Southern California, Leslie Law Firm can help. The firm has over four decades of experience as injury attorneys, and our legal experts have the expertise and knowledge to evaluate your claim and secure the compensation you deserve.

Contact us today for a free consultation about your premises liability case. You can do so either by completing our evaluation web form on our website or by calling us at (949)-752-7474. No matter what, we’re here to help.

FAQs About Premises Liability Claims

What Is Considered a Premises Liability Case?

A premise liability case involves injuries caused by unsafe or hazardous conditions on someone else’s property. Common examples include slip and falls, inadequate security, poor maintenance, or dangerous structures. If a property owner failed to address or warn about a known hazard, they may be held liable.

How Do You Prove Premises Liability?

To prove premise liability, you must show that the property owner owed you a duty of care, breached that duty, and caused your injury as a direct result. This often involves evidence such as photos, incident reports, witness statements, and medical records.

Can You File a Claim If You Were Partially at Fault?

Yes, in many cases, you can still file a claim even if you were partially at fault. States follow comparative negligence laws, which may reduce your compensation based on your level of responsibility. The specifics depend on your state’s laws.

How Long Do You Have to File a Premises Liability Claim?

The time limit to file a claim is known as the statute of limitations, which varies by state. In many cases, it ranges from one to three years from the date of the injury. Missing this deadline can prevent you from recovering compensation. Additionally, if the injury occurred on a city or county property (like a sidewalk), your time frame can be much shorter, generally six-months from the date of the injury.

What Types of Compensation Can You Recover?

You may be able to recover compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages related to your injury. The exact amount depends on the severity of the injury and the circumstances of the case.

Do You Need a Lawyer For a Premises Liability Case?

While not required, working with a lawyer can significantly improve your chances of success. An attorney can help gather evidence and ensure your claim is handled properly. Insurance companies generally deny cases regarding premise liability, so having an attorney pursue this matter is beneficial.