Owing to the nature of Ontario’s winter weather, the wintertime season ushers in the acceptance of specific personal injury claims. Those are the claims for an injury, claims from someone that has suffered as the result of an injury. Any single one of those claims might come from someone that got hurt by slipping and falling on the ice.
Ontario’s legal system provides fall victims with a way to get compensated for their injuries.
According to the law, the property owners have a duty of care towards those that get invited onto their property. Businesses should provide mats for visitors. Walkways should be kept free of ice and snow.
• The law puts certain owners at risk, for being sued by the victim of a slip and fall incident.
• Those that own a retail store, a lodging facility or a government business
• Those that own a residential property
• Those that own a government property: a courthouse, a DMV facility, a post office, or a government office.
The 2 types of visitors in each of those facilities
Some of the visitors are customers. The property owner derives a financial benefit from any one of those visitors/customers.
Others are visiting a given facility for recreational or social purposes.
Legal requirements to be met by victim that intends to sue a property owner
• Must show that property owner had a duty of care.
• Must show that the property owner breached his or her duty of care.
• Must link sustained injuries to negligence shown by the owner of a given property.
Certain actions qualify as a breach; others do not
Failure to arrange for removal of freshly-fallen snow does qualify as a breach. Failure to remove ice that formed at night early in the morning does not constitute a breach. The property owner cannot keep the night temperatures from dropping. Ice that forms at night should be removed as early as possible.
Certain actions qualify as careless and neglectful; others do not.
A homeowner that has allowed formation of a puddle on the sidewalk in front of his or her home could be charged with performance of negligent behavior. If a group of young kids’ dam-up a gutter on residential property, and if the resulting puddle freezes, the property owner cannot be charged with negligence.
Victims must learn the identity of the person that committed the neglectful behavior. A victim’s ability to win a personal injury case rests on the strength of the evidence. Medical records become a source of facts about a given injury. An Injury Lawyer in Vaughan can help a slip and fall victim to obtain the relevant medical records. Lawyers can also focus on the significance of evidence.