“Slip and fall” is a type of premises liability claim in Georgia. If someone suffers injuries during a slip and fall accident in Georgia and they bring a legal case, it falls under the scope of premises liability law.
Premises Liability Versus a Slip and Fall in Georgia
Premises liability law refers to a property owner’s duty to keep their premises safe and prevent injuries on their property. If an injury on their property does happen, the property owner may be responsible for the damages of that injury accident. This is known as premises liability.
Slip and fall accidents fall under the scope of premises liability cases. If a customer or visitor comes onto someone’s property and suffers a slip and fall injury, the property owner or occupier may have been negligent in the accident. If they were negligent, they are legally liable for the damages (Georgia Code § 51-3-1).
Besides slip and falls, other situations that fall under premises liability include:
- Dog bites or animal attacks
- Swimming pool accidents
- Dangerous property
- Inadequate security measures
- Defective conditions
- Snow or ice accidents
- Elevator or escalator accidents
How to Handle a Slip and Fall Accident and Premises Liability Case
If you were injured during a slip and fall accident (or some other type of accident) on someone else’s property, you may have a valid case. If the property owner or someone else in charge of the property, such as a store employee, was negligent, you can seek compensation through a personal injury claim.
You would need to file your slip and fall or premises liability claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company. It’s best to contact a Georgia slip and fall or premises liability lawyer who can help you do this. They help you gather evidence of your accident, the owner or business’s negligence, and your damages.
Proving Negligence in Premises Liability
To prove a slip and fall or premises liability case, you’ll need to show that:
- The property owner or employee failed to recognize a dangerous condition and fix or remove that danger within a reasonable amount of time OR
- The property owner or employee caused the dangerous condition that caused your accident
You will need to show that the owner or employee was not exercising ordinary care in preventing your accident from happening. They must have failed to act in a manner that another reasonable person would have in the same or similar circumstance. You’ll also need to prove that you could not have reasonably avoided the dangerous condition and that you wouldn’t have fallen if the owner or employee had not been negligent.
Proving You didn’t Cause the Accident
In a slip and fall or any other type of premises liability case, you’ll need to be prepared to deal with the insurance company. Insurance companies do not like to pay much on injury claims, so they will look for ways to reduce what you have to pay. One of the ways they might do this is by trying to blame you for part or all of the accident.
Under Georgia law, you do have a degree of responsibility to avoid an accident on someone else’s property (Georgia Code § 51-11-7). However, chances are good that the property owner or business was mostly at fault for what happened.
Your slip and fall or premises liability lawyer will work to compile strong evidence of the at-fault party’s negligence. If it turns out you do hold a degree of fault in the accident, you still have options under Georgia’s modified comparative negligence law:
- You can still recover compensation as long as you were less than 50% at fault for the accident.
- Your compensation would be reduced by the percentage of fault you hold. For example, if you were five percent at fault and the property owner was 95% at fault, they would still be responsible for 95% of your damages.
- If you are found to be 50% or more at fault, you would not be able to recover any damages.
Dealing with the insurance company in any premises liability case can complicate things. They are skilled at intimidating injury victims or encouraging them to accept a settlement that is much less than they deserve. To make sure your legal rights are protected during your premises liability case—whether you suffered a slip and fall or some other type of accident—speak with an experienced lawyer as soon as you can.
Let our team help you with:
- Jersey Mike’s slip and fall cases
- Long John Silver’s slip and fall cases
- Nordstrom’s slip and fall cases
- Dick’s Sporting Goods slip and fall cases
- Dillard’s slip and fall cases
We’re standing by to assist with any slip and fall claim.
Talk to a Slip and Fall Lawyer in Georgia for Free Today
At John Foy & Associates, we have been helping injury victims with their premises liability cases for more than two decades. Whether you were injured during a slip and fall or some other type of accident on someone’s property, we are here to help you seek the compensation you deserve.
Contact us online to get a FREE consultation and case evaluation. We’ll discuss the details fo your case and how we can help.
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