Proving Liability in a Slip & Fall Claim
Slip and fall accidents happen. The world is simply NOT FLAT! A slip and fall refer to an accident in which someone was injured on someone else’s property due to a hazard. For example, if you were to go grocery shopping, slip on a wet substance in the store, fall, and injure yourself, you could file a slip and fall personal injury claim.
While a slip and fall may sound like a minor accident, they can cause serious injuries, such as broken bones, brain injuries, and damage to the knees, back, and shoulders. Have you been injured by a slip and fall as a result of a property owner’s negligence? Here’s what you need to know about proving liability in a slip and fall claim.
Alabama premise liability law
Slip and falls, and similar accidents, fall under Alabama’s premises liability laws. Premise liability law mandates that property owners maintain their property and take reasonable steps to keep their visitors safe. When a property owner or manager fails to adequately maintain their property, they put visitors at risk and can be held financially responsible for the injuries of the visitor.
However, slip and fall personal injury claims are more difficult than you might think because the premise liability law also states that the property owner does not guarantee visitors’ safety and places a heavy burden on the injured party to prove liability.
How to prove liability in a slip and fall claim
To have a successful premises liability claim in Alabama, we must prove that the hazard existed, the hazard caused your injuries, and that the property owner failed to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition and/or warn you of the hazard.
Common hazards include:
- Wet and slippery floors
- Objects on floors
- Hidden dangers
- Insufficient security measures
- Defective flooring or carpeting
- Defective stairways, escalators or elevators
- Missing railings
- Insufficient protections around swimming pools or hot tubs
- Improperly stored chemicals
- Poor lighting
Because property owners rarely admit that they knew of a hazard or defect on their property prior to a slip and fall, we usually have to prove that they “should have known.” We call this constructive knowledge. Property owners and businesses aggressively fight slip and fall cases using Alabama’s contributory negligence law as a weapon, which denies a victim compensation if they were even 1 percent at fault for their injuries.
As mentioned above, slip and fall cases are more difficult than you might expect and can get pretty complicated. An experienced personal injury attorney can help you better understand how strong your claim is, how much it is worth and your next steps in filing a claim.
Contact Petro Accident & Injury Attorneys for a free consultation
If you have been injured by a slip and fall caused by a negligent property owner, contact Mark Petro of Petro Accident & Injury Attorneys today. Your claim deserves a customized analysis and hands-on approach. Don’t go at it alone!
Mark Petro has built a reputation of being the go-to guy to get personal injury claims handled in a manner that maximizes the amount of recovery so that you get what you deserve sooner rather than later. Be smart, call Mark for a free consultation about your case. Let us fight for you!
Request a FREE copy of Mark’s book, The Truth About Injury Claims here.
