What are my rights if I am laid up and out of work due to a broken arm from a fall on the ice at my apartment complex?
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What are my rights if I am laid up and out of work due to a broken arm from a fall on the ice at my apartment complex?
I saw on the news yesterday that it is the responsibility of homeowners in the area to make sure that their driveways and sidewalks are clear. The management company is supposed to shovel and salt but they don’t do a very good job. Would I be out of line to ask my landlord to file a claim against her homowner’s insurance for medical bills (I am uninsured) and lost wages?
Asked on January 22, 2014 under Personal Injury, Illinois
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
You can ask, but if they refuse to compensate you voluntarily, you'd have to sue in order to try to force them to provide compensation.
In terms of whather you might be entitled to compensation: while homeowners, landlords, etc. are supposed to keep walkways, etc. clear, they are not required to be perfect about it: they just have to do a "reasonable" job. "Reasonable" in this context generally means to do as much as other, similar property owners would. Therefore, even if their snow-clearing job could have been better, if it was adequate and more or less as good as other property owners do, it is not likely they would be found liable in court.
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