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As a visitor or tenant on a property, the property owner has a legal obligation to protect your safety. The property owner must act in a reasonable manner to prevent injuries – including providing adequate security to prevent crimes.
If you were injured due to negligent security in Augusta, Georgia, you may have the right to bring a lawsuit against the property owner for failing to protect you. Contact Nicholson Revell LLP to find out how our injury attorneys can help with your case.
Negligent security refers to a property owner failing to provide adequate security for visitors and tenants. In personal injury law, a person is negligent if his or her careless actions cause harm to others. Every property owner in Georgia has a duty to employ reasonable security measures and practices. The amount of security that is reasonable depends on the foreseeable risk of crime at the property.
If a business is in a high-crime area, for example, the business owner will have a duty to provide enough security to keep visitors reasonably safe from criminals. If a property owner does not provide the same amount of security that another prudent person would in the same or similar circumstances, the property owner is guilty of negligent security.
Negligent security is a dangerous type of wrongdoing because it exposes tenants and property visitors to the risk of injury by third parties. A lack of adequate security can increase the risk of crimes committed on a property, such as burglaries and physical assaults. Common examples of negligent security in Augusta are:
Many different actions or failures to act can constitute negligent security if another property owner would have done something differently to prevent a crime. Negligent security can contribute to incidents such as violence, physical assault, sexual assault, robbery, burglary, mugging, property damage, vandalism, and graffiti.
The negligent property owner may be liable for injuries related to these crimes, meaning the owner is responsible for paying for a victim’s losses.
Negligent security cases fall under the umbrella of premises liability law. Premises liability law deals with a property owner’s responsibility to protect individuals who have permission to be on a property. These responsibilities essentially come down to three main tasks:
Negligent security is a type of premises liability lawsuit because it claims the owner or controller of a property carelessly failed to protect visitors by providing adequate security. You may have grounds to file a negligent security claim if you were a residential tenant, a student at a dorm, a customer at a business, or someone else injured by a crime while lawfully on a property.
As the party seeking damages in Georgia (the plaintiff), it is your burden to prove your case. In personal injury law, plaintiffs have the burden to show that a defendant is more likely than not responsible for the injuries in question. You or your lawyer must prove five elements for a negligent security lawsuit:
Proving a negligent security case requires clear and convincing evidence. A lawyer can help you gather this evidence by hiring experts and thoroughly investigating the incident. Your lawyer may be able to prove foreseeability using crime maps of the area, for example. Other examples of evidence include police reports, eyewitnesses, video surveillance footage, and photographs.
Litigating a negligent security case takes knowing Georgia’s premises liability laws. It also requires you to negotiate with the property owner’s insurance company for fair compensation for your losses. Unfortunately, insurance companies often use tactics to devalue claims.
Before you accept a settlement offer, contact an attorney to make sure it is an adequate amount for your past and future losses. A lawyer can properly assess your claim and help you negotiate with an insurance claims adjuster.
One of the key reasons to hire a lawyer for a negligent security case is to increase your chances of obtaining maximum financial compensation. Although no amount of money can make up for a serious crime committed against you, financial compensation could help you and your family move forward.
A successful premises liability claim in Georgia could reimburse you for medical costs associated with your physical injuries, pain and suffering, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, lost wages, property repairs, legal expenses, and more. Discuss the value of your claim with our attorneys today.
You deserve to feel safe while on someone else’s property in Augusta, Georgia. If a property owner committed negligent security by failing to take adequate security measures, an attorney from Nicholson Revell LLP can help you seek justice and financial compensation. Discuss your case in detail during a free consultation with one of our lawyers today.