If you own a business in Connecticut, it’s a good idea to consider purchasing commercial insurance. Commercial Insurance protects the business from most forms of damage, whether they’d be of a physical or a civil (lawsuit) nature. Civil protections are important at all times of the year, but especially in the winter because New England is known worldwide for the amount of snow and ice that we see every year. All it takes is one slip & fall accident outside your business to warrant a liability civil event. White Oak Insurance LLC in Milford, CT has many options for business owners and commercial insurance. We will take a look at the difference in a business owner’s liability between negligence and reasonable duty of safety.
Reasonable Duty Of Safety
A business has an RDOS (Reasonable Duty Of Safety) to uphold not only to their customers but to the populace at large. This RDOS comes into place during the winter in terms of snowfall and ice buildup around the business on public walkways and entryways. A business can’t be expected to clear snow and ice during a heavy snowfall event or blizzard. There is a reasonable legal expectation of the appearance of snow and ice around a business during a heavy precipitation event. So, if someone walks in a blizzard and slips and falls in front of the business, there is no legal expectation that there shouldn’t be snow and ice in front of the building, therefore, lawsuits would be hard to win in court.
Negligence
Let’s take that same scenario and instead of walking in front of the business during the blizzard, the same person walked in front of the business a week later in good weather. The snow and ice haven’t melted away yet and there’s an abundance of it just outside the front door of the business. The business had a reasonable amount of time to remove the snow and ice and elected not to. Therefore, there is a legal expectation that the snow and ice should have been removed. If this same person slips and falls under these different circumstances, that person would have legal standing to file a lawsuit against the business for criminal negligence that can cause injury. Commercial Insurance would mitigate the out-of-pocket costs for the business under this scenario.
To Learn More
Contact White Oak Insurance LLC in Milford, CT today to learn more about commercial insurance.
