Many homeowners don’t realize that they can face liability issues if a child trespasses on their property in Illinois and gets injured. Despite the fact that they trespassed, the homeowner still needs to take into account whether or not they took the necessary steps to protect the child against an attractive nuisance that they have on their property. Here’s more information about attractive nuisances and determining whether or not the homeowner is liable.
What is a nuisance liability
Many homeowners have nuisance liabilities on their property. This can include things like a treehouse, swimming pool and a swingset. You may have to deal with premises liability issues if you haven’t done all that you can to ensure that children who trespass don’t get hurt on your property. This means doing things like putting a fence around your pool or keeping your gates closed so that children can’t easily access these items in your backyard.
Why homeowners can be liable if a child trespasses
Despite the fact that homeowners aren’t generally liable if an adult trespasser gets hurt, it is different for a child. A homeowner needs to protect children at all times even if they didn’t give them permission to be on their property. This means making sure that certain items are difficult for children to access at all times.
Just because you own a home or don’t have children, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be worried about how attractive items can be to trespassers age 12 or younger. Many homeowners do face liability issues because a child unknowingly came into their yard and got injured on their property. Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to lessen the likelihood of this happening to you.