Backyard pools are a staple for most Florida homeowners. With the year-round good weather, you can enjoy hours of entertainment right in your backyard. It’s great to have friends and family over to share in your pool fun. However, what happens if someone gets injured in a backyard swimming pool? Who is liable? Do they have a claim for their injuries? In the state of Florida, swimming pools are considered part of your property and therefore are covered under premises liability.

What Is Premises Liability?

Premises liability is a legal term for any who is liable for the condition of a premises or property. As a homeowner, you are responsible for the upkeep of your home. This includes your backyard swimming pool. You must offer a reasonable amount of care and safety and warn visitors of hazards when having people on your property. However, in Florida, this is limited to the people you invite to your property. There is an exception in the state of Florida. Under Florida Statute 768.075, it does not cover trespassers, only people who have permission to be on your property. Children are exempt from this as they do not have the ability to make safe rational choices. Instead, Florida homeowners are supposed to express a reasonable amount of care to help avoid unauthorized children from accessing their pool.

What Is A Reasonable Amount Of Care?

Reasonable amount of care is another legal term that essentially means your responsibility to provide reasonable safety measures. For example, imagine you have a downed power line by your pool. Everyone knows that electricity and water create a serious hazard for electrocution. Any reasonable person would then remove the power line, before inviting people over to swim. This reasonable amount of care shows that you did attempt to remove this hazard. When applied to premises liability, this can often fall into the grey area. That’s why it is important to always have an accident injury attorney to help navigate the nuanced specifics of the law.

Determining Liability In A Swimming Pool Accident Injury Case

Determining liability in any accident injury case rests on a few basic tenets:

  • You must prove there was an injury.
  • You must prove the property owner had a duty of care.
  • You must prove that the property was negligent in their duty of care.
  • You must prove their negligence resulted in the injury.

Though this sounds simple, legally it can be very complex. You will need to collect evidence of the injury, evidence of negligence, and evidence for liability. This requires a lot of documentation, knowledge of the law, and can be very overwhelming when you need to focus on healing.

How A Personal Injury Attorney Can Help

If you are injured in a backyard pool, it can be a little tricky. Most of the time we are injured at a friends or family’s house, so it’s hard to want to bring a claim against them. However, you are not bringing a claim against them, you are bringing a claim against their insurance company. This claim will be used to help pay for the injuries that you sustained during the incident. An attorney can help by ensuring that you get the compensation you need, while also helping navigate the complexities of the law and your relationship.

At Justice Pays, the team of Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez, and Walsh are used to navigating complex personal injury cases. We have decades of experience protecting swimming pool accident injury victims in Sarasota. We can help you determine liability, negligence, and get the compensation you need to treat your injuries. Give us a call at 1-941-954-1234 for a free case review and to learn more about your rights after a swimming pool accident.