Is a business property owner responsible for an accident on their property?
Question Details:
My husband went to get tires on our van and fell in the parking lot. Now they are telling us that we can't claim anything. It snowed the day before they plowed the lot but didn't salt it. He went outside to smoke a cigarette and stepped down to the parking lot and broke every bone in his ankle. Had surgery the next morning. Now they are saying after 3 years that he can't get anything for it. Why?
Hi. I am a Missouri attorney that focuses my practice primarily on personal injury and workers' compensation claims. I handle claims in most parts of the state.
"Slip and fall" cases, such as the one you describe, are highly fact sensitive. In order to recover compensation for all medical expenses relating to treatment for injuries incurred, and compensation for pain and suffering, you have to establish that the property owner was somehow negligent. Negligence can be established in many different ways in slip and fall cases, and I always obtain a very detailed description of the circumstances, including the condition of the surface, whether there were any warning signs, whether there was poor or adequate lighting, and other details. The statute of limitations has not expired yet on your claim, provided the accident occurred 3 years ago, as you indicate. A few additional details would be needed to determine whether there are potential theories of legal liability that could allow recovery in this situation. It is unusual for a property owner to offer payment without some convincing legal theory of liability, unless the act of negligence is highly apparent. However, you may have a viable case. I can be reached via e-mail, for your convenience, at mth2000@yahoo.com. Thanks.
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Two different possible reasons:
1) The fact that someone is injured on another's property does not automatically make the property owner liable. There must be fault, which generally means negligence, or not taking the care a reasonable person would. It's far from clear that it is negligent to not salt a parking lot; most people would probably agree that plowing it demonstrate ordinary care. (e.g. do you salt your entire driveway after a snowfall? most people don't.)
2) Depending on exactly when the incident occured, you may be beyond the statute of limitations, or time to bring a lawsuit.
