One tactic that insurance carriers or at-fault parties may use to try to limit how much money you recover for your premises liability claim is to say that you caused your own injury. While this may affect how much compensation you can receive, it is important to understand that Florida operates under what is called a “pure comparative negligence” system. This means that individuals can recover compensation regardless of how much fault they had for a premises liability incident, even if they are up to 99% at fault.
For an example of how this would work for an actual premises liability claim, let us set up a theoretical scenario. Suppose Jack walked into his bank, slipped and fell on a spill, and sustained $20,000 worth of medical bills and other expenses. If Jack could show that the bank employees knew about this spill but failed to clean it up before he arrived, he would likely be able to recover compensation for his losses. However, what if there is evidence that Jack was looking at his phone right before the incident occurred, and the bank argues that Jack should have seen this spill?
In this scenario, it is entirely possible that a jury would find Jack partially responsible for the incident. For this particular scenario, let us assume that the jury finds Jack 20% responsible. This means Jack would receive $16,000 instead of the full $20,000 to account for his percentage of fault.
It is crucial to have a skilled premises liability lawyer in West Palm Beach by your side who can combat any allegations of partial fault from the other parties involved. An attorney will conduct a complete investigation into the incident and vigorously push back against the other parties in order to obtain maximum compensation for their client.
