People get injured in all sorts of places, including places of worship. If you or someone close to you has been injured at a church, mosque, synagogue, temple, or other religious place, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, our skilled Miami premises liability attorneys can scrutinize the facts of your accident and help you understand your legal rights and options.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that slip, trip, and fall accidents account for 15 percent of all accidental deaths in the United States, which puts them in second place behind auto accidents. Unfortunately, these accidents can happen at places of worship due to a variety of hazardous conditions on the property, such as uneven surfaces, slick surfaces due to spilled liquids or recent cleaning, trash or debris on the floor, poor lighting that can lead to poor visibility, having no handrail present when it was needed, and loose floorboards, rugs, or mats, especially on stairs.
Places of worship are not immune from lawsuits. Most of these places operate like a business with a hierarchy consisting of officials, employees, and a number of volunteers. As a result, most worship houses carry liability insurance.
Places of worship have a legal responsibility to keep their property safe and free from dangers. In fact, officials running worship houses must do everything that is reasonably necessary to prevent accidents and injuries to anyone invited onto the premises. If you have been injured due to a dangerous condition, or an owner’s or employee’s negligence, you may be able to file a claim against the place of worship. Negligence takes place when a person’s injury is a result of a place of worship’s failure to use the level of care that another place of worship would have used under the same or similar circumstances. For example, if church officials knew that a floorboard was loose on the staircase but did not fix it or block it off so that parishioners would not use it, the church would be liable for any injuries in a trip and fall accident caused by the loose floorboard. It is important to note that the burden of proof in these cases is on the plaintiff to establish that the place of worship’s negligence was a direct cause of their foreseeable injury.
In some cases, individuals may be injured in motor vehicle collisions. Vans and other vehicles owned by religious institutions often take people to other services, deliver meals, and partake in other activities. Due to the potential for accidents, liability insurance generally covers all vehicles.
If you have been injured at your place of worship, you need to speak to a seasoned Miami premises liability attorney who can help. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, we are committed to getting our clients the compensation they deserve for their harm. Premises liability cases can be tough to establish, but having the right attorney on your side can make all of the difference in your case. Call us at 1-877-499-HURT (4878) or reach out to us online today.
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