Did you know that over 800,000 patients enter the hospital due to a fall injury every year? If you had medical care to treat injuries from a slip-and-fall injury, you may want to know who to hold responsible.
If you were not on your own property, you may not have responsibility. Instead, the property owner may have fault in your accident.
Property owner liabilities
Property owners must maintain their properties and cannot allow dangerous conditions to exist when someone could suffer harm. If invited to another person’s property, you should expect safety. Common causes of trip and fall accidents include broken and uneven steps, throw rugs and clutter. Poor lighting can also contribute to accidents. Premises liability claims may protect you in the event that you fall on another person’s home.
Slip-and-fall accident injuries
Every year, millions of people fall and one out of five falls results in a serious injury. For those over the age of 65, injuries are more common. Some of the severe injuries include:
- Hip fractures
- Bone fractures
- Traumatic brain injuries
For those who take medications such as blood thinners, the risk of injury increases. Blood thinners, for instance, could cause you to bleed uncontrollably. In addition to physical injuries, falling can result in psychological trauma. For example, many people who fall become afraid of falling. You may become less active and increase your chances for injury if you fell again.
While there may be many contributing factors to a slip-and-fall accident, you may not be liable when it occurs on another property owner’s land.