Indiana Premises Liability Attorney

Getting hurt on someone else’s property can feel confusing and frustrating. You may know something wasn’t safe, but that doesn’t automatically mean the property owner is legally responsible. In Indiana, a fall or injury becomes a legal case only when it can be shown that the owner knew, or reasonably should have known, about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it. That standard is higher than most people expect.

At the same time, you are usually not dealing directly with the property owner. You are dealing with an insurance company, and their job is to evaluate claims and limit what they pay when possible. Adjusters often look for explanations that shift some of the blame onto you, suggesting you were distracted, wearing the wrong shoes, or simply not paying attention. These arguments are common, and they are designed to reduce the value of a claim.

At Wyant Law, our role is to level that imbalance. We investigate what actually caused the injury, gather objective evidence, and make sure the insurance company evaluates your claim based on facts rather than assumptions. As your Indiana premises liability lawyer, we handle the legal process so you can focus on recovering.

If you are unsure whether you have a case or just want clear answers about your options, call us at 317-683-0333.

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Why Choose Wyant Law?

If you search for injury lawyers online, you will see dozens of firms. Many are massive operations with offices in five different states. Others are lead-generation sites that simply sell your information to the highest bidder.

Wyant Law is different. We are built on local roots and direct client relationships.

Local History in Fishers

We have been serving this community since our founding in 2005. Our office is located at 11397 Lantern Road in Fishers. We live here, we work here, and we understand the local court systems in Hamilton County.

Experienced Leadership

Our founder, Christopher D. Wyant, graduated from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 2005. With nearly two decades of experience, he understands how Indiana judges and juries view premises liability cases.

Christopher was selected as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers from 2014 through 2020. This is a distinction limited to no more than 2.5% of attorneys in the state. Additionally, our firm maintains an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Direct Attorney Attention

We operate as a focused firm with a small, dedicated team. In many large billboard firms, you meet a senior partner once, and then your case is handed off to a junior associate or a case manager.

At Wyant Law, you get personal attention. We focus our practice on personal injury and premises liability. We have deep experience in the specific statutes and insurance tactics that will impact your case.

No Win, No Fee

You should not have to worry about legal bills while recovering from an injury. That is why we work on a contingency fee basis.

• You pay nothing upfront.
• You pay no hourly fees.
• You owe us nothing unless we recover compensation for you.

If there is no settlement or verdict in your favor, you do not pay attorney’s fees. It is that simple.

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What Compensation Is Available for Property Injuries in Indiana?

In Indiana, compensation typically falls into two categories.

Economic Damages

These are the objective, verifiable financial losses you have incurred. They are usually easy to prove with receipts and invoices.

• Medical Expenses: This covers the ambulance ride, ER visit, surgeries, medication, and physical therapy. It also includes future medical costs if your injury requires ongoing care.
• Lost Wages: If you missed work to recover, you are owed that money.
• Lost Earning Capacity: If your injury is severe enough that you cannot return to your old job and must take a lower-paying position, you can be compensated for the difference in future earnings.

Non-Economic Damages

These damages are subjective. They cover the human cost of the accident.

• Pain and Suffering: Compensation for the physical agony and discomfort caused by the injury.
• Mental Anguish: The anxiety, depression, or fear that follows a traumatic event.
• Loss of Enjoyment of Life: If you can no longer pick up your grandchildren, play golf, or garden because of your injury, the law recognizes this as a compensable loss.

What If I’m Partially At Fault? Can I Still Recover Compensation?

You can still seek compensation as long as you are not more than 50% responsible for the accident, however, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you are found to be 20% at fault, your award is reduced by 20%.

If you are found to be 51% at fault, you receive zero.

This is why insurance adjusters work so hard to find evidence that you were distracted. Pushing your fault from 40% to 51% saves them the entire cost of the claim. Our job is to ensure the blame is fairly allocated.

How We Prove Your Premises Liability Claim in Indiana

Not every fall is the owner’s fault. To win a case, we have to look at your legal status on the property and the nature of the hazard.

Your Status on the Property

Indiana law changes the duty of care (responsibility) an owner owes you based on why you were there.

• Invitee: You were invited for the owner’s benefit (e.g., a customer in a store, a client in an office). Owners owe invitees the highest duty of care. They must actively inspect for dangers and fix them.
• Licensee: You were there for your own benefit or social reasons (e.g., a guest at a friend’s house). The owner must warn you of known dangers, but they don’t necessarily have to inspect the property to find hidden ones.
• Trespasser: Generally, owners owe no duty to trespassers, other than not to intentionally harm them. Exceptions exist for children, under the attractive nuisance doctrine.

Proving Notice

Most cases depend on this one thing: proving notice. We can do this in one of two ways:

• Actual Notice: An employee saw the spill or caused it.
• Constructive Notice: The hazard existed for so long that a reasonable owner should have discovered it. If a spill was sticky and had cart tracks through it, it implies it was there for a long time.

How Long Do I Have to File a Premises Liability Claim in Indiana?

According to Indiana Code § 34-11-2-4, the statute of limitations for personal injury is generally two years. This means you have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit.

However, in practice, you cannot wait that long. Security footage at stores is typically overwritten within 30 days, and witnesses move away or forget details. Physical changes, such as fixing a broken step, can destroy evidence. The legal deadline is two years, but the evidence deadline is immediate.

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Where Do Accidents Commonly Occur in Fishers and Hamilton County?

While an injury can happen anywhere, our practice sees patterns in where these incidents occur locally.

Commercial and Retail Zones

Areas with high foot traffic, such as Hamilton Town Center or the retail strips along 116th Street, are frequent sites for accidents. Spills in food courts, uneven pavement in parking lots, and cluttered aisles in big-box stores are common hazards.

Winter Weather Hazards

Indiana winters are harsh. The freeze-thaw cycles wreak havoc on concrete and create sudden potholes and cracks. Furthermore, property owners have a responsibility to clear snow and ice within a reasonable timeframe. When businesses cut costs by ignoring their parking lots during a freeze, black ice forms, leading to serious slip and fall injuries.

Recreational Areas

With our proximity to Geist Reservoir, we also see injuries related to rental properties and private docks. These can involve structural failures, such as rotted wood collapsing, or trip hazards on poorly maintained walkways near the water.

Dealing with the Insurance Company

Insurance carriers are financial institutions. They take in premiums and pay out claims. To remain profitable, they must ensure they do not pay out more than necessary. This structural reality influences how they handle your claim.

Common Hurdles in the Claims Process

• The Recorded Statement: Shortly after the accident, an adjuster may call you, sounding very friendly, asking for a recorded statement to clear things up. They are trained to ask questions that pin you down to a specific version of events before you have gathered all the facts or realized the full extent of your injuries. A casual comment like “I’m feeling okay today” can be used months later to argue that your back pain isn’t related to the fall.
• The Lowball Settlement: You might receive a settlement offer very quickly, sometimes within days. This is calculated to look like a lot of money upfront but rarely covers future medical needs. Once you sign that release, you cannot come back for more money if you need surgery a year later.
• Cognitive Bias: Adjusters review hundreds of claims and they naturally develop a skepticism to filter out fraud. Unfortunately, this bias means they typically view legitimate accidents through a lens of suspicion. They look for patterns that confirm their belief that the victim was clumsy. We counter this by providing objective data, such as medical records, weather reports, and maintenance logs, that facts cannot be argued with.

Types of Premises Liability

Premises Liability FAQs

Common legal questions about Premises Liability in Indiana

Don’t Let a Property Owner’s Negligence Derail Your Life

Recovering from a serious fall or injury is a full-time job. You are dealing with pain, scheduling appointments, and managing your household. You should not have to fight a corporate legal team or an insurance conglomerate at the same time.

Indiana law gives you powerful rights to compensation, but those rights rely on evidence that can disappear quickly. You need a partner who understands the local terrain and how to handle the system.

At Wyant Law, we handle the investigation, the paperwork, and the negotiations so you can focus on getting back on your feet. We are ready to help you pursue the maximum compensation available.

Call us today at 317-683-0333 to discuss what happened and review your case.

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