Can you sue (and win) if...?

Question

Let's say there is a terrible storm brewing, and your friend has his garage door open (it's to a business). You're on his property helping out with some things, and the wind rips the garage door off and it hits you. Do you have a case? Could you sue for medical expenses, etc? The injuries required much time in the hospital.

A similar situation happened to an acquaintance, and I was just wondering if she can sue...what I wonder about is...what can anyone do about the wind ripping a door off of it's hinges? Just curious.

Answer 1

i don't think so.

you can't cue mother earth.

it's a natural occurrence.

UNLESS.

the door was not secured or on properly.

than yes, probably.

Answer 2

I think you can !

Answer 3

I believe there is a personal injury case here, however, did a raging storm rip the garage door off, or was it due to the poor maintenance of the facility? It would depend - like everyone else is saying, if it's an 'act of God' and the building manager could not have prevented it, it might be hard to win anything.

Answer 4

Anyone can sue anyone else for any reason.  Will you win for something like this?  Doubtful.  It's an act of God.

Answer 5

I think so.

Answer 6

With your facts, this is a winable case.  She can get medical costs and pain and suffering.

Answer 7

The business owner's nsurance probably does not cover this "act of God", but your friend would make a claim anyway.

The owner wasn't negligent having the door open if no one could reasonably foresee that it would be ripped off and injure someone.  So suing--I think that's a loser.

Answer 8

Yes you can, but it would be easier to report it to his home owners insurance company.

Answer 9

Yes, but usually only if they don't have public liability insurance or refuse to give you the info so you can file a claim.

If it was caused by the owner's negligence and you could prove that, you would have a much stronger case and could receive a lot of cash, but this sounds like a freak accident, unpreventable.

Answer 10

Almost certainly not. The friend has no control over the weather and is not responsible for your injuries, so his or her insurance has nothing to do with it. The victim's own health insurance is the only good bet, as nobody is responsible for "acts of god", unless they did something to increase the danger, but health insurance should pay regardless of how the injury occurred.

Simply leaving a garage door open in a wind storm doesn't sound like it was the legal "causation" of your injuries, even if your neighbor had any responsibility for your safety.

Answer 11

If you can prove some negligence on the part of the person, then he could be liable.  I don't know why people think that the mere fact that you are on someone else's land makes the landowner a guarantor of your safety.  That is not the state of the law in any country in the world.