Content Reviewed By:
John Richmond, Co-Founding Member
- November 5, 2024
Niagara Falls is home to many beautiful storefronts, businesses, and stretches of land that locals and tourists alike can enjoy. Everyone who owns land in Niagara Falls owes a responsibility to the people who visit them, though. Guests and licensees benefit from a landowner’s duty of care, which ideally protects them from on-site dangers.
Unfortunately, not every landowner upholds the duty of care they owe their visitors. If you get hurt on someone else’s property, you can work with a Niagara Falls premises liability attorney to hold them accountable for your financial stress. You can connect with Richmond Vona today to learn more about the legal representation a Niagara Falls personal injury lawyer can offer you.
What is a Premises Liability Case?
The term “premises liability” covers cases wherein a landowner fails to protect the people who come onto their property. You may find yourself entitled to a premises liability case if you can prove that a landowner owed you a duty of care, violated that duty through some form of negligence, and facilitated an accident that caused you economic strife.
You may specifically demand financial compensation for your losses after incidents involving unkempt property, including the following:
- Damaged sidewalks
- Storefront robberies due to inadequate security measures
- Accidents stemming from poor property lighting
- Avoidable slip and fall accidents
If you don’t know whether or not you qualify for a premises liability case, Niagara Falls lawyers can investigate your circumstances and help you act accordingly.
Who Do Landowners Owe a Duty of Care to?
Landowners in New York state primarily owe a duty of care to guests and licensees invited onto their property. These parties have explicit invitations to join a landowner on their property, albeit for different reasons.
Guests, for example, can include personal friends or consumers using the property to make purchases. Licensees, comparatively, come onto a person’s property to complete business transactions. These parties can include mechanics, maintenance people, electricians, and government employees.
There are some circumstances, too, wherein even trespassers may benefit from a reduced duty of care from a landowner. Landowners may not take unnecessarily aggressive action to remove trespassers from their property and must maintain that property if said property has an attractive nuisance on it. However, the attractive nuisance doctrine only applies to minors.
How Can You Take Action After a Premises Liability Accident?
If you believe a landowner violated the duty of care owed to you, you may take up a personal injury claim against that landowner. Personal injury claims give you the right to outline the economic support you need to recover from your accident before demanding that support from a landowner.
Filing a personal injury claim alongside a Niagara Falls premises liability lawyer does not mean that you have to go to trial to win the support you need to recover. You can instead schedule out-of-court settlement negotiations with a liable party, allowing you to resolve an issue with a landowner faster than you might otherwise.
All parties interested in pursuing premises liability claims in New York civil courts should be aware that New York applies its personal injury statute of limitations, New York Civil Practice Law & Rules section 214, to these cases.
You have three years and no longer to gather the data needed to meet the state’s burden of proof, or else a New York civil judge may waive your right to legal action.
Should You File an Insurance Claim After a Premises Liability Accident?
There’s a good chance that a landowner responsible for your well-being has insurance protecting them and their lot from natural disasters, accidents, and other sources of economic strife. As such, you might have the right to file a claim with the landowner’s insurance provider if you want to receive compensation after an accident.
However, the insurance claims lot owners use to protect their land may not cover your injuries. Alternatively, the insurance a landowner has may not adequately address the severity of your losses. It’s still worth it to have a conversation with an insurance claims adjuster, but you still may not receive the support you need to recover.
What’s more, insurance claims adjusters may choose to act in bad faith instead of responsibly assessing the severity of your losses. While having a Niagara Falls premises liability attorney on the scene can mitigate that bad-faith behavior, you may still struggle to receive the financial aid you need without filing a personal injury claim.
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Words cannot describe how grateful my wife and I are of John Richmond. His friendliness, knowledge, loyalty and professionalism are of the highest level. Being this was the first time we’ve had to obtain legal assistance, John made this process very easy for my wife and I. We both would highly recommend Richmond Vona.
What a phenomenal experience to come from a terrifying accident. From day 1 Richmond/Vona provided me with nothing but comfort and professionalism. Communication is paramount in my needs and they performed that with nothing short of exceptional. Mr. Richmond made me feel like this was the only case he was working on. Thank you to all of your staff for looking out for my best interests and taking a stressful situation and making it so very easy for me and my family.
My experience with Keith Vona was exceptional. To this day, I am grateful for the dedication and compassion he displayed throughout my case. The outcome of my case was successful as a result of his drive and commitment. I would highly recommend Keith Vona to anyone in need of legal representation.
What Compensation Can You Receive From a Premises Liability Claim?
The compensation you can request in a premises liability claim should fully address the losses you sustained due to a landowner’s negligence. This means that the compensation you request can span your economic and non-economic losses, including the following:
- Medical expenses, including emergency care
- Property damage
- Lost wages or opportunities to return to work
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Stress
Richmond Vona makes every effort to maximize the support you can request from a landowner in the face of uncheck negligence. You can bring any questions you have about your rights to accident compensation forward during a free personal injury case evaluation with our team.
Let’s Investigate Your Premises Liability Case Today
It’s not always easy to hammer out the details of a premises liability case. If you get injured while under someone else’s care, though, you may have the right to hold that party accountable for their negligence. Going to court can help you pay your accident-related bills and protect your savings.
Fortunately, our team can make it easy for you to contact the Niagara Falls premises liability attorneys who can help you overcome your losses in or out of court. You can book a free case evaluation with Richmond Vona’s personal injury lawyers today!
