Tennessee Premises Liability Laws

The owner of a home, commercial location, or other area is legally responsible for reducing or eliminating hazards on their property that could harm others or for warning of such risks. This falls under Tennessee premises liability laws. Property owners must take reasonable care to protect those who come onto their property for lawful reasons. Here is more about what this means and what you can expect from these laws from an experienced Nashville premises liability lawyer at Selvidge Injury Law.

How Tennessee Premises Liability Laws Work

Under Tennessee’s premises liability laws, property owners are liable for any injuries occurring on their property. More specifically, the owner has a duty to exercise “reasonable care” to protect anyone who visits their property from “unreasonable risks of harm.”

If someone is legally on the property and suffers injuries due to the owner’s lack of care, the owner may have to pay for the losses the victim suffered. Reasonable care refers to either:

• Removing the hazard
• Warning against the dangerous condition

This applies if the owner is aware of the risk present or should be aware of that risk.  In these situations, the victim has the right to seek a claim against the at-fault party for losses they can document that came from the accident, and therefore the negligence of the property owner.

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Types of Premises Liability Matters in Tennessee

Numerous types of risks exist on property, but the most common types of premises risks include:

• Dog or other animal attacks
• Fires
• Toxic exposure
• Swimming pool accidents
• Slips and falls
• Trip and falls
• Trampoline accidents
• Negligent security matters

In these examples, the owner should have known about a risk and failed to take precautions to prevent injury. If you were attacked by a dog, reach out to our experienced dog bit attorneys in Nashville for a free case evaluation.

Premises Liability Claim Requirements

To file a premises liability claim, victims must overcome some of the most common challenges to these cases. That includes:

• Assumption of risk. If the visitor to the property knew of the risk, either voluntarily putting themselves at risk or knew there was a risk in doing so, the victim may not seek compensation.
• Open and obvious. Another potential way insurance companies may deflect in these cases is to claim that the danger was an open and obvious risk, and therefore the visitors should have seen and avoided it.
• Enough time to rectify the situation. Another component of this rule is determining if the property owner had enough time after learning of the risk to take action to prevent injuries. If something just happened and the property owner would not have had a reasonable about of time to warn or remedy the hazard, they might not be found to be liable. 
• Trespassing. Victims who visit a location where there are clear warnings about trespassing may find it harder to seek compensation for their case.
• Comparative negligence applies. Another component of Tennessee premises liability laws is that the state’s modified comparative fault applies, meaning that if the plaintiff is more than 50% at fault, they cannot seek legal action to recover damages.

If you have injuries resulting from a premises liability claim, it is wise to work with an experienced, local attorney to guide you in recovering compensation. Your lawyer will find the evidence necessary to protect your right to fair compensation.

Statute of Limitations in Premises Liability

It is also important to know that the normal Tennessee statute of limitations applies to personal injury cases like this. It gives you just one year to take legal action.

Call us at (615) 864-0343 to set up a free consultation with our skilled personal injury lawyers at Selvidge Injury Law. Let our Tennessee premises liability lawyer guide you in recovering fair compensation.