INJURED?

Premises liability law for property owners

On Behalf of | Aug 21, 2018 | Premises Liability |

Property owners in Georgia may wonder where the liability lies if a worker is injured on their property. To answer this question, they should, first, be familiar with how various entrants are classified under premises liability law. There are trespassers, for example, who have no right to be on a property but who, nevertheless, cannot be willfully injured by the property owner.

Then there are licensees, who are simply social guests at the home. Property owners have a duty of care to let them know of any dangers, like slip and trip hazards, that they would not be able to detect on their own. Again, licensees cannot be willfully injured.

A third category is concerned with invitees. Workers who are hired to perform a job in or around the home fall under this category, and property owners have a duty to provide a safe working space for them.

The only way that invitees have a valid premises liability claim is if they can prove that the property owner did not provide a reasonably safe space, did not warn them of any dangers or deliberately injured them. If a worker comes over to clean the gutters, for instance, and sets up the ladder without any assistance or advice from the homeowner and falls off it, the homeowner is not liable.

When there are grounds for a premises liability claim, victims will want a lawyer to assist them. An attorney can find out if the other party actually owns the property or simply rents it out as this can impact the case. The lawyer can hire third parties to conduct an investigation into the case and determine the exact extent of the injuries, showing them all to be accident related. Victims can have their attorneys speak on their behalf at the negotiation table.

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