In Ontario, if you have an accident on somebody else’s property, you may be able to claim compensation from the occupiers liability insurer of the building or piece of real estate on which you were injured. The occupier (i.e., whoever owns or rents the premises) has a duty to maintain the premises safe for the people who enter. If you are injured by their actions or omissions (negligence), they could be held liable for your injuries.
Who Is Responsible For Your Injury?
Finding the responsible party can be a very complicated process. That’s why it’s important to contact us right away. The faster you contact us, the faster we can determine if you have a case, and the faster we can move to gather evidence to prove your case and file claims within the strict deadlines. If you miss the deadlines you could lose rights.
Our Toronto occupiers liability lawyers can help you:
- Identify the cause of your injuries;
- Identify who is responsible for your injuries, whether they are the owner, landlord, tenant, manager or a third-party contractor such as cleaning staff or a construction company;
- Identify how much responsibility each party has over the premises — for example, whether the cleaning staff are responsible for making sure slippery floors are properly cleaned;
- Determine whether the responsible parties acted reasonably to keep the premises safe;
- Determine whether the negligent property owners or occupier should have known that their actions would result in injury;
- Determine whether you did your part in keeping yourself safe;
- Identify any special characteristics of the unsafe premises, since empty lots, hospitals, private homes, schools and sports centres all have different levels of expectations for safety.
Make sure that deadlines are adhered to, especially if your injury happens on property belonging to the City of Toronto.
Many people are not aware of the details of occupier’s responsibility. For example, they assume that individual homeowners are responsible for clearing their own sidewalks, but in fact normally homeowners are not liable for accidents on the sidewalk unless the sidewalk forms part of the driveway or the homeowner has done something to attract liability. Not knowing who is liable can cost you the opportunity of going after the party who could compensate you for your injuries.
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