Legal Options After Being Injured at a California Storage Facility
Storage facilities serve an essential purpose in our lives, providing space for belongings during moves, downsizing, or simply when we need extra room. However, these properties can harbor serious safety hazards that put customers at risk of injury. If you suffered harm while using a California storage facility, you have legal rights that deserve protection, and understanding your options can make a significant difference in your recovery.
California law holds storage facility operators responsible for maintaining safe conditions on their properties. At Younglove Law Group, our attorneys have successfully represented numerous clients injured on commercial properties throughout Orange County and Riverside County. With over 20 years of combined experience and more than $50 million recovered for injured clients, we understand the complexities of premises liability claims and fight to hold negligent property owners accountable.
Understanding Premises Liability at Storage Facilities
Storage facilities present unique dangers that differ from other commercial properties. Property owners and operators owe customers a duty of care to maintain reasonably safe conditions and warn about known dangers that cannot be immediately corrected.
The Duty of Care Standard
California law requires storage facility operators to exercise reasonable care in managing their properties. This duty includes regularly inspecting the premises for hazards, maintaining safe conditions in all areas customers access, repairing dangerous conditions promptly once discovered, and warning customers about hazards that cannot be immediately fixed.
Knowledge Requirements
The facility operator must have had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition. Actual knowledge means the operator knew about the hazard. Constructive knowledge means the condition existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have discovered it. For example, if a defect existed in the parking lot for months, the facility should have discovered it through regular inspections.
Causation and Comparative Fault
The dangerous condition must have caused your injury. This requires showing that the hazard directly led to your accident rather than some other factor. Medical records, witness statements, and photographs of the scene help establish this causation. California follows a comparative fault system, meaning you can recover damages even if you were partially at fault, though your recovery will be reduced by your percentage of responsibility.
Steps to Take After a Storage Facility Injury
The actions you take immediately after an injury can significantly impact your ability to recover compensation. Following these steps protects your health and preserves evidence for your claim.
- Seek immediate medical attention: Even if your injuries seem minor, some serious conditions may not produce immediate symptoms. Medical records from your first treatment establish that your injury resulted from the accident and document the severity of your condition.
- Report the incident formally: Insist that storage facility management create a written incident report and request a copy for your records. This report documents that the facility had notice of the accident and provides an official record of the event.
- Document the accident scene: Take photographs of the hazardous condition that caused your injury, your visible injuries, the surrounding area, and any warning signs or lack thereof. Collect contact information from any witnesses who saw what happened.
- Preserve all evidence: Keep the clothing and shoes you wore during the accident. Save any receipts or documentation showing you were an authorized customer at the facility. If the equipment malfunctioned, request that the facility preserve the defective item for inspection.
- Avoid recorded statements: Insurance adjusters often use statements to minimize claims or twist your words to suggest you were at fault. You have no legal obligation to provide a statement beyond basic information about the accident before consulting an attorney.
These immediate actions create a strong foundation for your claim and prevent the facility from disputing key facts about how your injury occurred.
Damages Available in Storage Facility Injury Claims
California law allows injured parties to recover various types of compensation designed to address both economic losses and the personal impact of their injuries. Understanding available damages helps you appreciate the full value of your claim.
Economic Damages
Economic damages compensate for tangible financial losses including medical expenses for emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery, medication, physical therapy, and ongoing care. You can recover both past medical bills and future treatment costs if your injuries require continued care. Lost wages cover income you missed due to medical appointments, recovery time, and reduced capacity to work. If your injuries permanently affect your earning ability, you can claim reduced future earning capacity.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages address subjective harms like pain and suffering from your injuries, emotional distress caused by the accident, loss of enjoyment of life activities, and disfigurement or permanent disability. These damages often represent a significant portion of serious injury claims, as they compensate for profound impacts on your quality of life that cannot be measured in bills and receipts.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages become available in cases involving particularly egregious conduct. If the storage facility operator knew about dangerous conditions but deliberately ignored them, or showed reckless disregard for customer safety, the court can award punitive damages to punish this behavior and deter similar conduct by other property owners.
Why Storage Facilities Often Fight Injury Claims
Storage facility operators and their insurance carriers frequently dispute legitimate injury claims, making it essential to have experienced legal representation. Understanding their common tactics helps you prepare for the challenges ahead.
Facilities often argue that customers assumed the risk of injury by choosing to use the storage unit. However, California law recognizes that customers do not assume risks created by the facility’s negligence. You have a right to expect reasonably safe conditions, and assumption of risk does not absolve operators of their duty to maintain safe premises.
Insurance companies may claim that you were partially or entirely at fault for your injury. They might argue you were not paying attention, wore inappropriate footwear, or ignored visible hazards. While comparative fault can reduce your recovery, it does not eliminate your claim if the facility’s negligence substantially contributed to your injury.
Facilities sometimes dispute the severity of your injuries or claim they resulted from a pre-existing condition rather than the accident. Thorough medical documentation and expert testimony can overcome these arguments by clearly linking your current condition to the storage facility accident. Some operators deny having notice of the dangerous condition, but proper investigation often reveals that hazards existed for extended periods or that reasonable inspection would have discovered the danger.
The Role of Security in Storage Facility Liability
Security failures at storage facilities deserve particular attention because they can lead to serious harm. California law imposes specific obligations on property owners regarding security based on the foreseeability of criminal activity on their premises.
Facilities located in high-crime areas or with a history of incidents must implement reasonable security measures. These can include adequate lighting throughout the property, functioning security cameras monitoring common areas and entry points, controlled access systems that limit entry to authorized customers, and security personnel during high-risk hours.
When storage facilities fail to provide adequate security despite known risks, they can be held liable for harm that occurs on their property. This liability extends beyond simple negligence to include claims for negligent security. Our firm has successfully pursued these claims when facility operators ignored obvious security needs.
Proving negligent security requires demonstrating that criminal activity was foreseeable based on the facility’s location, prior incidents, or neighborhood crime statistics. We work with security experts who analyze the facility’s measures and explain how reasonable security would have prevented or deterred the act that harmed you.
How Insurance Coverage Affects Your Claim
Understanding the insurance landscape helps set realistic expectations for your claim. Storage facility operators typically carry commercial general liability insurance that covers customer injuries, but policy limits and coverage disputes can complicate recovery.
Most facilities maintain substantial insurance policies because they recognize the risks their properties present. However, insurance companies earn profits by paying out as little as possible on claims. They employ adjusters trained to minimize settlements and attorneys who aggressively defend their insureds.
Coverage disputes sometimes arise when insurers claim that certain circumstances fall outside policy coverage. These disputes can delay your case and require legal action to force the insurance company to honor its obligations. Our attorneys have extensive experience resolving coverage issues and holding insurers accountable.
In cases where damages exceed the facility’s insurance limits, additional recovery options may exist. Some facilities have umbrella policies providing extra coverage. Property owners may have separate insurance from facility management companies. Identifying all available insurance sources maximizes your potential recovery.
Building a Strong Premises Liability Case
Successfully recovering compensation for your storage facility injury requires thorough case development and compelling evidence. Our attorneys approach each case systematically to build the strongest possible claim.
We conduct comprehensive investigations of the accident scene, documenting hazardous conditions and identifying code violations or safety failures. We obtain maintenance records, inspection reports, and incident logs that reveal whether the facility knew about dangers or failed to address them. We interview witnesses who saw your accident or can testify about ongoing hazardous conditions at the facility.
Expert witnesses play a critical role in premises liability cases. We work with engineers who can identify code violations and explain how proper maintenance would have prevented your injury. Safety experts analyze the facility’s procedures and demonstrate where they fell short of industry standards. Medical experts connect your current condition to the accident and explain your need for ongoing treatment.
Our firm also investigates the facility’s history of similar incidents. If other customers suffered injuries due to the same hazard, this pattern demonstrates that the facility knew or should have known about the danger. This evidence strengthens claims that the operator’s negligence was not an isolated oversight but rather a pattern of disregard for customer safety.
Contact Younglove Law Group for Help With Your Storage Facility Injury Claim
At Younglove Law Group, our attorneys have recovered more than $50 million for injured clients throughout Orange County and Riverside County, and we bring this experience to every premises liability case we handle. We understand the tactics insurance companies use to minimize claims and have the resources to build compelling cases that demonstrate the full extent of your damages. Our firm handles all personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no legal fees unless we recover compensation for you.
Do not let a storage facility’s negligence leave you struggling with injuries and financial burdens. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with an experienced California premises liability attorney who can evaluate your claim and fight for the compensation you deserve.
