More often than not, when people sue for premises liability after getting injured on someone else’s property, it is usually private property. But in no way does it mean that government agencies maintain public properties better than persons who own private property.
All it means is that it is not that simple to file a premises liability claim against a government entity in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California. In fact, there are quite a few bureaucratic hoops one needs to jump through in order to recover damages in a premises liability claim against the government.
In premises liability claims for injuries on private property, on the other hand, the process of recovering compensation is pretty straightforward: file a claim and prove negligence on the part of the owner of the private property.
If a government entity’s negligence was responsible for your injuries, you cannot sue the government for general negligence as is the case with private property owners, explains our Los Angeles premises liability attorney at the Law Offices of Howard Kornberg.
Obstacles in filing a premises liability claim against the government
Before bringing a premises liability claim against the government, it must be allowed by a specific statute. In addition to that, the statute of limitations for such claims is much shorter compared to claims against private property owners.
There are many obstacles you can face when filing a premises liability claim against government entities in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California. If your injuries were caused by a dangerous condition on public property, these are the elements you must prove in order to receive compensation for your injuries and damages:
- The government entity owns or controls the property where you were injured;
- The government entity owed you a duty of care;
- The duty of care was breached when you sustained your injuries because there was a dangerous condition at the time of the accident;
- There was a reasonably foreseeable risk that you or any other visitors would get injured because of that dangerous condition;
- The dangerous condition was created as a result of the owner’s negligence, wrongful act, or omission to act; or the entity was aware of the condition and failed to fix it in a reasonable amount of time.
Time frames to bring a premises liability claim against government entities
When it comes to suing a government entity for premises liability, there are very specific time frames to bring a claim. While it is highly advised to be legally represented by an experienced premises liability lawyer in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California, to bring a claim against the government entity, you must:
- File the claim against the entity within six months of the accident;
- Wait for a response from the government within 45 days (if the claim was denied, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit within six months of the written denial of your claim).
While there are exceptions to the general rule, these statutory requirements must be followed in almost all premises liability cases against the government. Speak to our Los Angeles premises liability attorney to find out your best legal plan to prove the dangerous condition, establish the government’s fault, and successfully imitate litigation to recover damages.
Contact the Law Offices of Howard Kornberg for a free case evaluation. Call our offices at 310-997-0904 or complete this contact form today.
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