Discovering which insurance policies apply when you suffer an injury at a business, home or amusement park can be difficult. Often, more than one organization or individual will have legal liability for maintaining an unsafe premises or for failing to take appropriate actions to protect visitors from harm. For instance, a burn suffered at a restaurant could be due to insufficient oversight of staff by management or due to improper work done by the contractor who installed gas lines or electrical wiring. Similarly, a near-drowning in a rental property’s pool could be due to the property owner’s decision to ignore building codes or due to a resort lifeguard’s inattention. Figuring this out often requires partnering with a personal injury who has extensive experience handling premises liability cases to do the research necessary to identify the responsible party and hold them accountable.
Notee, too, that in Virginia, the injured person must also be free from what is called contributory negligence or contributing fault. If an insurer, judge, or jury finds that injured person materially contributed to causing harm to him or herself, no settlement or monetary award will be granted. Hiring a Virginia personal injury lawyer will give you a legal ally who will argue against accusations of contributory negligence.