A slip and fall accident can be described as a type of premises liability claim, or also a personal injury claim, in which someone slips and falls on the premises of a property owner, leading to an injury. Whether your accident was a slip and fall or even a trip and fall, a premises liability claim may only exist if negligence was the direct cause of your fall and subsequent injuries.
According to the Legal Information Institute (LII), negligence is the failure to provide ordinary care under the law as someone else would when faced with the same circumstances. If you or a loved one is wondering how you would describe a slip and fall accident, remember that negligence could be the direct cause of your slip and fall on someone else’s property.
Acting as an Invitee, Licensee, or Trespasser
While you may have been injured on property that was not yours, you must also consider if you were legally allowed to be on the property when you suffered from the slip and fall. If you were considered an invitee at the time of your slip and fall, this would mean you had direct permission from the property owner to legally be there.
You may have also been a licensee, which is typically considered as being a social guest. If you were considered either an invitee or a licensee at the time of your slip and fall, the property owner would owe you a duty of care had they known of the danger on their property in advance that you personally had not been made aware of. For example, this could include a property owner failing to place a “wet floor” sign next to a puddle of water or failing to simply clean up the spill in a timely fashion to avoid an accident.
If you were trespassing at the time of your slip and fall accident, you may not be entitled to file a premises liability claim. This is because if you may not have been legally allowed to access the property at the time of your injury, that property owner does not owe you the same duty of care as they would if you were an invitee or a social guest.
Statute of Limitations to File a Slip and Fall Injury Claim
According to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003, the statute of limitations to file a premises liability claim against a negligent property owner is two years.
Essentially, this means you may have up to two years to take legal action against a property owner when suffering from a slip and fall injury. Should you look to file a claim against a property owner for your injuries, it will likely be based under the existence of negligence, which will require evidence and proof.
If you fail to file a claim within Texas’ statute of limitations laws for premises liability, you may be forfeiting your legal recourse option.
Texas’ Comparative Fault Legislation
As stated under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, Texas abides by a comparative fault law which can relate to victims of a slip and fall accident when they also are somewhat responsible for their injuries. Should you look to pursue legal action against a property owner for their negligence, you must also consider your own percentage of fault, if any.
Under this Texas law, a claimant may not recover any damages if their percentage of responsibility is greater than 50%. For example, if you were running on someone else’s property while talking or texting on the phone when you slipped and fell, the defendant may suggest that you were also at fault for your injuries. If a jury found you to be more than 50% at fault for the accident, you would not be entitled to receive any compensation for your slip and fall.
Contact Our Office to Learn How a Slip and Fall Accident Attorney Can Pursue Compensation on Your Behalf
If you are wondering how you would describe a slip and fall accident, consider it as an act of being injured on someone else’s property when you were legally allowed to be there and were not made aware of the danger. Slip and fall injuries are rather common in the U.S., as the National Floor Safety Institute found that slip and fall injuries account for over 1 million hospital emergency room visits each year.
Our slip and fall accident lawyers may be able to fight for compensation on your behalf. If you have recently suffered from a slip and fall injury on someone else’s property, complete a free case review today with Loncar Lyon Jenkins by calling our law firm at +1 214 747 0422.
