When discussing fault or liability for someone’s injuries, people typically look at those directly involved in a situation. In a car crash, the instinct is to place the blame on one of the drivers involved. In a work injury, people tend to assume that either the employee or the company that employs them must have done something wrong.
Frequently, who is at fault will be obvious when someone gets hurt, making liability for someone’s injuries and other losses easy to prove. However, there are situations that involve third-party negligence which result in far more complicated compensation claims. These are just a few of the indicators that a claim of third-party negligence may be warranted after someone gets hurt.
Poor property maintenance and other overt negligence
If a sales professional meets with a potential client at a local coffee shop and poor cleaning practices result in that salesperson suffering a slip and fall, neither their employer nor the client is to blame for their injury. The fault would why with the business for not maintaining safe premises.
Any situation that may constitute negligence on the part of a third party could lead to a third-party claim. Negligence may seem like an ephemeral or subjective term, but there is a clear legal standard for negligence. If a reasonable person would agree that the situation was unsafe, then it may constitute negligence.
There are many kinds of negligence, such as poor facility maintenance, that can lead to third-party claims. One of the most common involves companies that produce consumer goods.
Defective products
One of the biggest sources of third-party liability has to do with dangerous or defective products. Businesses that release consumer goods to the public have to insure that they meet certain safety standards when designing and manufacturing those products.
Cutting corners in the design process might mean overlooking obvious risks to consumers, while failing to invest in adequate quality control for incoming materials and finished products might lead to entire production batches that don’t do what the company claims safely.
Defective airbags or hood latches in vehicles could be to blame for car crashes occurring. A power tool that shorts out could electrocute a worker or lead to them dropping a tool from a significant elevation and hurting one of their co-workers. When someone injured in a crash or at work can connect what happened to a defective product, they may be able to pursue a third-party liability claim.
Understanding that consumers can file a claim against a third party for defective products or other negligent behavior can help those hurt in a car crash or at work seek justice for the negligence of an outside party.