Home Owner’s Negligence

Home owners can be held for responsible for injuries caused to guests on their property under certain circumstances. Typically, if the home owners fail to keep their home and surrounding property in a reasonably safe condition and a guest is harmed, they can be sued. Besides conditions on the property, a home owner can also be sued if there are dangerous activities occurring on the property and the home owner does not do anything to stop the activity. The following are examples of home owner negligence cases that we have handled in Kentucky and Indiana:

1. Joy C., a marketing and sales executive in Louisville, Kentucky was visiting a friend’s house located off Bardstown Road that was having construction done on his driveway and the walkway leading to his front porch. The woman entered the home through the front door and was in the house for several hours helping to set up for a party, and later in the evening, was escorted out the front door by the home owner. There were no lights on in the outside area, and she fell in the construction area, fracturing her ankle. There were no warnings given to her as she was escorted out the front door or any lighting that would have allowed her to have an adequate view of the dangerous circumstances. There was no attempt to resolve the claim by State Farm Insurance Company prior to the lawsuit being filed. After several months of litigating the claim, the case was settled at mediation about three months before the trial was to begin in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
2. Gregory P., a nine-year-old boy from Seymour, Tennessee was an invited guest on the property of a home owner in Knoxville, Tennessee. While present in the backyard, the boys were playing on a trampoline. They placed the trampoline close to a swing set. When the nine-year-old jumped off the trampoline close to the swing set, a ring on his finger caught on a bolt on the swing set, tearing off his right ring finger. The boy was transported by ambulance the University of Tennessee Emergency Room, and he was subsequently flown to Louisville to be treated by Kleinert & Kutz. Fortunately, the doctors were able to re-attach the amputated part of his right finger. He underwent significant physical therapy and had thousands of dollars in medical bills. Allstate Insurance Company refused to settle the case prior to the lawsuit being filed in Sevierville, Tennessee. After the lawsuit was filed, the case was settled prior to the trial occurring in Tennessee.
3. Christina L., a seven-year-old girl in Pulaski County, Kentucky was injured while riding in an ATV on another person’s property. The driver of the ATV was driving too fast for the conditions, and the young girl was thrown off the ATV, breaking her right arm. The insurance company for the home owner’s would not make any settlement offer before the lawsuit was filed in Somerset, Kentucky. After the lawsuit was filed, the case was settled at mediation after several months of litigation in Pulaski County, Kentucky.
4. Hayden V., a seven-year-old in Floyd County, Indiana was injured while playing on a trampoline at a home owner’s house. The adults at the house were not present in supervising up to five children that were playing on the trampoline at the same time. The seven-year-old boy was knocked off and bounced off of the trampoline and onto the ground and suffered severe fractures to his right arm. He ended up treating with an orthopedist and undergoing physical therapy for several months. Westfield Insurance Company settled the claim prior to the lawsuit being filed in Georgetown, Indiana.