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If you fell or suffered injuries in any preventable accident on someone else’s property, you may have grounds for a lawsuit. Premises liability is an area of law that holds property owners, managers, and occupiers financially and legally responsible when visitors on their property sustain injuries due to unsafe or defective conditions.
West Virginia laws provide the process to hold responsible parties financially liable for your damages. However, the rules are complex, and you should seek help from a Huntington premises liability lawyer to guide you throughout the process. The Personal Injury attorneys at Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law are committed to your case and your wellbeing.
The visitor types directly relate to the amount of duty the owner owes guests who enter the grounds. The first group, called invitees, are customers at stores, restaurant patrons, and anyone entering the premises for business-related purposes. The person responsible for the property owes the group the highest duty and must inspect for hidden dangers and warn of any potential risks until the repairs are complete.
The second category is licensees, including social guests, salespeople, and police officers and firefighters entering for non-emergency reasons. The property owner owes them the second-highest level of duty of care and must warn licensees of potential dangerous conditions that are not obvious and that they are unlikely to discover on their own.
Trespassers are those who enter without invitation or permission, and the property manager owes them no duty to keep the grounds safe or warn them of dangers. However, they cannot willfully or wantonly cause them harm by creating hazardous situations.
Under West Virginia law, all categories, including the invitees, are responsible for avoiding open and obvious dangers. A knowledgeable Huntington attorney can answer all your premises liability questions and help determine under which category you were in when the accident occurred.
A property accident can occur for any number of reasons. Examples of the typical forms of premises liability accidents include the following:
It is vital to collect as much information about the property and the accident as you can after you are hurt. If we can prove that the property owner failed to fix or warn of hazards, your case becomes much clearer.
Filing the lawsuit in compliance with the state personal injury statute of limitations, is crucial for successfully winning monetary damages. Under the West Virginia Code § 55-2-12, you must prepare the case and initiate legal action within two years of the date of the accident for premises liability claims. While there are exceptions to extend the deadline for cases involving minors and incapacitated persons, filing the case as soon as possible is essential.
For cases involving shared fault, the state follows a comparative negligence rule, and you are eligible to collect a payout from the landowner as long as the court finds that you are less than 50 percent liable. However, they subtract your percentage of responsibility from the total award for damages. Our premises liability lawyer in Huntington can handle the filings to ensure compliance with the statutes.
Property owners and managers must keep the premises safe for those they invite to enter and warn them of any potential hazards until the repairs are complete. When they fail to adhere to state laws, and someone suffers harm as a result, the state allows you to pursue payment to cover your injuries and other losses.
Our skilled Huntington premises liability lawyer can answer all of your questions and support you throughout the process. Call our office soon to set up a free consultation and learn more about your next legal options.
To Schedule an Appointment, Call Us Toll Free at 1.877.873.8208 or Email Us for a Prompt Response.
Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law
