Covington Personal Injury Blog

You want to think most of your employees and customers are reasonable people and wouldn’t want to cause any harm. However, that’s not always the case. Just take a look at this man in New Jersey, who faked slipping on some ice to get insurance money. Luckily, security footage shows the man staged the fall by throwing the bag of ice on the floor before he “fell over.”

They say a slip and fall is one of the oldest methods in the book for fraudsters and plenty of people still do it. Factoring in medical bills, treatments and potentially lost wages, the property owner and their insurance company are looking paying $40,000 or more.

Owning rental properties like apartment buildings is a fine way to bring in extra income or even sustain yourself financially. You may be a hands-off landlord, entrusting the care and upkeep of your apartments to people you hire, or you may be personally involved in the daily operations of your properties. Either way, you have many responsibilities toward your tenants.

A primary right of your tenants is to live in an apartment that is safe. You may do all you can to provide that safety, including installing adequate lighting and, perhaps, cameras or secure entrance systems. In this way, you do your part to keep danger out. However, it is not always easy to protect your residents from hazards that come from inside their own units, especially the danger of fire.

The term “You can’t fight city hall” implied that citizens were not allowed to sue a municipality, parish or government agency because they had sovereign immunity. If there were egregious errors on their part, they would occasionally consent to be sued so suitable reparations could be made. However, this is no longer the case.

Now municipalities and agencies can be held accountable in a court of law if the potential lawsuit involving personal injury, premises liability, or other circumstances. This is at the federal level as well as here in Louisiana – the Louisiana Government Claims Act outlines the rules, exceptions and requirements necessary.

As a property owner, you know there are certain things you must do to protect your clients, visitors or tenants from harm. For example, having appropriate fire escapes and smoke detectors can save lives in the event of a fire. You may also take special care to avoid hazards that would cause someone to slip or trip and take a bad fall. Above all, you carry adequate insurance in case such an accident occurs despite your precautions.

If you do find yourself facing a slip-and-fall claim from a visitor to your property, you will not want to simply accept the claim and pay the compensation since this could result in higher insurance rates and damage to your company's reputation. Instead, you will want to investigate the circumstances to ensure that the plaintiff has a valid claim.