If Someone Slips on Ice Outside Your House, Can You Be Held Liable?

You’re sitting inside enjoying the fire, sipping on some cocoa when suddenly you hear a loud noise and an agonizing scream. You go outside to check and see what happened, only to see that someone has slipped and fallen while walking past your house.

“The ice on your driveway is the reason I have fallen! I will be contacting my lawyer about this!” is what you hear from the victim of the fall—are you really to blame?

Property owners have a responsibility to maintain a relatively safe environment to prevent people from being injured on their property. What happens when someone is hurt due to ice outside of your home?

A Closer Look at Weather-Related Liability

When it comes to premises liability, there are many different rules and regulations that come into play. Just because someone falls in your driveway doesn’t mean you’re liable, similar to how ice being present doesn’t undoubtedly imply you were careless.

As the property owner, there must be clear evidence that you were aware of the hazards and chose not to correct them for the fault to be in your field.

Duty of care – a requirement that a person act toward others and the public with the watchfulness, attention, caution, and prudence that a reasonable person in the circumstances would use. If a person’s actions do not meet this standard of care, then the acts are considered negligent, and any damages resulting may be claimed in a lawsuit for negligence.

To be held liable for an injury on your property, the injured party must prove that duty of care was shown and that it was violated in some aspect. In addition, they must provide that their duty of care wasn’t violated, because as a Philadelphia resident it’s common news that you must be careful walking outside, due to hazardous conditions.

Natural Accumulation

In many states, there is the natural accumulation rule which states that you can’t be held liable for hazards (ice/snow) and can only be held liable if there’s clear evidence you provoked the danger. Snowfall is considered an “act of God” and is something that you as a property owner, can’t be held liable for.

If you found yourself being threatened by the victim of a slip and fall case on your property, don’t hesitate to seek help! There are laws in place to prevent being held liable if the injury was due to another’s negligence.

Call us today at (267) 457-5570 and get assistance and guidance.

Categories
Related Posts
Put Us On Your Side
Name(Required)

I confirm I want to opt-in and receive news and marketing communication.
Text Marketing Terms and Conditions: We are using a text messaging platform, which is subject to the following terms and conditions. By opting-in for our text marketing and notifications in, you agree to these terms and conditions. By entering your phone number, you agree that we may send you text notifications and text marketing. You acknowledge that consent is not a condition for any purchase. This data will be used for sending you targeted marketing messages and notifications. Upon sending the text messages, your phone number will be passed to a text messages operator to fulfill their delivery. If you wish to unsubscribe from receiving text marketing messages and notifications reply with STOP to any mobile message sent from us or use the unsubscribe link we provided you with in any of our messages. You understand and agree that alternative methods of opting out, such as using alternative words or requests will not be accounted as a reasonable means of opting out. Message and data rates may apply. For any questions please text "HELP" to the number you received the messages from. You can also contact us for more information. If you wish to opt out please follow the procedures above.