What Types of Damages Can Be Recovered in a Premises Liability Case?

You don’t expect your next trip to the grocery store for the weekly shopping to land you at the CAMC General Hospital ER. All it takes is one spill in the store aisle to have you sprawled out on your back writhing in pain. In that scenario, your instinct might be to blame yourself for not watching where you were going. However, any store, restaurant, movie theater, or other venue that you patronize is obligated to use reasonable care to keep its premises safe. If they fail in those obligations, they could be held liable in a premises liability claim.

A premises liability claim can arise from a slip-and-fall accident, an assault that inadequate security allowed, or another injury caused by an unsafe property condition. In those situations, the property owner or tenant can be held responsible for the victim’s damages if they failed to keep the property reasonably safe. A property owner and their insurance carrier will push back against those claims and attempt to shift the blame to the accident victim. That is why you need to get an experienced Charleston premises liability attorney involved in the claim. Your attorney will also help you calculate your damages.

Economic Damages: Recovering Financial Losses

The foundation of your premises liability claim will be your economic damages. These are measurable financial losses that directly result from your accident. In other words, you can back most of these losses with a receipt, bill, pay stub, or invoice.

Your economic damages include the following:

Medical Expenses:

• Emergency treatment
• Hospitalization
• Surgery
• Diagnostic testing
• Prescription medications
• Physical therapy
• Rehabilitation

Future Medical Care:

• Anticipated expenses for ongoing treatment
• Additional surgeries
• Assistive devices
• Long-term care

Out-of-pocket Expenses:

• Necessary transportation to medical appointments
• Medical equipment
• Other reasonable injury-related costs

Home Modifications:

• Expenses for wheelchair ramps
• Accessible bathrooms
• Any other necessary accommodations resulting from a permanent disability

Your damages can also include income lost while recovering from injuries and attending medical appointments. If those same injuries result in disabilities that limit your ability to return to work or earn in the future, you may be entitled to compensation for your loss of earning capacity.

Non-Economic Damages: Compensation for Personal Suffering

Not every consequence of a serious injury has a specific dollar value. Your non-economic damages address the physical, emotional, and personal effects of an accident. How has the accident impacted your quality of life? These damages may include:

• Pain and suffering: This covers your physical discomfort, chronic pain, and limitations caused by the injuries.
• Emotional distress: As a result of the accident, you could develop anxiety, depression, fear, and psychological trauma.
• Loss of enjoyment of life: This refers to your inability to participate in hobbies, recreational activities, and other meaningful aspects of daily living.
• Permanent impairment or disfigurement: The injury may cause lasting effects such as disabilities, scarring, and other physical changes.
• Loss of consortium: If you’re married, your spouse may have a separate claim for the impact of your injury on your marriage.

Unlike economic damages, non-economic losses cannot be calculated simply by adding expenses. Insurance adjusters sometimes estimate them by multiplying the medical bills by a set number, but that shortcut is a negotiating habit, not a rule of West Virginia law. If your case goes to trial, the jury decides what amount is fair based on factors such as injury severity, recovery time, long-term prognosis, and how much the injuries interfere with everyday life.

Punitive Damages: When a Property Owner’s Conduct Is Especially Reckless

Punitive damages differ from economic and non-economic damages because their primary purpose is to punish particularly egregious misconduct and discourage similar behavior. Under West Virginia law, punitive damages may be awarded only when you can present clear and convincing evidence that the property owner acted with actual malice toward you or with a conscious, reckless, and outrageous indifference to the health, safety, and welfare of others. For example, a store owner who watched several customers fall on buckled pavement at the entrance over a period of months and still chose not to fix it might cross that line.

West Virginia generally limits punitive damages to four times the compensatory damages awarded or $500,000, whichever is greater. Keep in mind that punitive damages are not available in every premises liability case, and they typically come from a jury’s verdict rather than an insurance company’s settlement offer.

How West Virginia Comparative Negligence Affects Your Recovery

What happens if you are partially responsible for your accident? West Virginia follows a modified comparative negligence rule, which allows injured individuals to pursue damages as long as their share of fault does not exceed 50%. If you are found partially responsible, your final compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. Let’s say a jury values your damages at $100,000 and finds you 20% at fault. In that case, you would recover $80,000, but at 51% you would recover nothing.

How Hendrickson & Long, PLLC, Can Help

Our attorneys understand how insurance companies may argue that you contributed to your injuries by ignoring posted warning signs about hazardous conditions or walking through clearly marked restricted areas. We know that these circumstances do not automatically establish negligence. Our mission is to find the evidence that supports your version of the story. We are dedicated to helping our clients recover fair compensation for their injuries.

If you’ve suffered an injury because of a property owner’s negligence, you owe it to yourself to explore all available options for seeking a remedy. Reach out to our firm to schedule a free consultation today. Let’s find out together what should happen next.