Who has responsibility for the bad wiring that shocked and injured me at a hotel? | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

Several individuals and businesses could have insurance liability after a guest suffers a serious electric shock in a hotel room in Virginia or North Carolina. To figure out which insurance policies apply, a personal injury lawyer will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident to determine exactly how and why his client received a shock serious enough to send the client to the hospital.

Faulty wiring could be the result of improper construction, shoddy maintenance, or a failure to inspect rooms for damage and needed repairs. In each of those scenarios, claims could conceivably be filed against a contractor and the individual hotel’s management. If a chain demonstrates a pattern of neglecting the safety of travelers, that entire organization may owe a duty to pay the medical bills of and other forms of compensation to the person who suffered the electric shock.

If the shock came from a dangerous or defective product supplied by the hotel, the hotel’s management and the company that made the product could have insurance liability. Lamps, coffeemakers, televisions and hair dryers present electric shock dangers, and all come standard in hotel rooms.

To succeed with a claim, the injured hotel guest must present evidence that he or she did not cause the shock by damaging wires or misusing items in the room. One reason to hire a Virginia or North Carolina personal injury lawyer to pursue an electric shock claim is that the hotel management will argue that the guest caused his or her own injury.