Can you sue if the injury was caused by poor lighting?

A burned-out bulb in a parking garage or a dim stairwell might seem like a minor inconvenience until it causes a serious fall. If you suffered an injury because a property lacked adequate lighting, you may have the basis for a premises liability claim in New Hampshire.

The property owner’s duty of care for safe premises

Under New Hampshire law, property owners owe a general duty of reasonable care to people who enter the premises. This duty encompasses a range of responsibilities, including identifying and correcting hazards like inadequate, broken or missing lighting that could foreseeably lead to an accident.

The elements of negligence you need to prove

A premises liability claim typically requires you to establish the following:

• The property owner had a duty to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition
• The owner knew or should have known about the hazard (poor lighting)
• The owner did not take action to remedy the issue
• The hazard was a direct cause of your injury
• The injury resulted in actual damages, such as medical bills or lost wages

Because property owners can fix hazardous conditions such as burned-out lights in minutes, immediately documenting the scene is critical to preserving the evidence needed to prove your claim.

The New Hampshire rules that can affect your case

New Hampshire follows a modified comparative fault system, which means if you share some responsibility for the accident, it can proportionally reduce your total compensation. Furthermore, if a court determines you were 50% or more at fault, it would prevent you from recovering any damages.

The state also imposes a deadline on personal injury claims. So, you must typically file your lawsuit within three years of the date of injury, and failing to meet this deadline could permanently eliminate your ability to seek compensation.

It is also worth noting that New Hampshire does not have a specific statute governing lighting standards on private premises. Courts typically evaluate these cases under common law principles and may consider local building codes or municipal ordinances as evidence of what a reasonable lighting standard should look like in a given setting.