Whether you are playing a sport, throwing axes, joining a gym, or attending certain events you may be asked to sign a waiver. These waivers, often seen as a form or agreement that you sign before you can have fun, carry significant legal implications. For your best interests it is essential to understand what a waiver is designed to accomplish, as well as how they can affect your ability to seek compensation if you are injured. Understanding how a waiver works is important for anyone to know before signing them, our Salt Lake City personal injury attorneys aim to clarify exactly this in this article, and help you understand every aspect of waivers.
What are Waivers?
A waiver is a type of legal document where one party (you) voluntarily relinquishes their rights to make a claim against another party in the event of an injury or loss. In simpler terms, a waiver is a document that waives a company’s liability if you are injured or if you suffer any losses. These documents are typically used by establishments that may have a higher potential to be injured, such as an ax throwing range, or a shooting range. These documents are designed to help these businesses limit their liability for any accidents that occur in their facilities.
The Purpose of Waivers
A waiver is designed in order to achieve these key objectives:
Risk Acknowledgment: The purpose of a waiver is to get you to acknowledge the risk that is associated with the activity that you are engaging in. By signing a waiver, you are now acknowledging that you fully understand the risks that are involved and you are assuming these risks voluntarily after they were told to you.
Liability Limitations: Waivers are used to help protect a business or an organization from legal claims and lawsuits. By signing a waiver your acknowledgment of risk can completely waive a company’s liability of any injuries that were caused.
Legal Protections: These forms also help to provide an additional lawyer of legal protection for any business. This added protection can help reduce the potential financial burden that defending against a personal injury claim might bring.
How Waivers Can Limit Your Ability to Seek Compensation
Whenever you sign a waiver you significantly impact your ability to pursue compensation for injuries sustained during this activity. This is how signing a waiver impacts your potential injury case:
- Waiver Provisions: A waiver is designed to typically include provisions that explicitly release the business or organization from liability for injuries resulting from ordinary negligence. Signing a waiver that includes this information can make it challenging to claim compensation for injuries that you may have received.
- Assumption of Risk: By signing a waiver, the signature acts as your acknowledgment that you both understand and accept the inherent risks of the activity that you are taking part in.
- Enforceability: A court can decide whether or not a waiver can be upheld. If a waiver is clear and unambiguous in its wording and has been voluntarily signed, then it will most likely hold up in court. However, the enforceability of waivers can vary by jurisdiction and the specific circumstances of the case.
Can You Still Make a Claim Having Signed a Waiver?
Despite how the protections that waivers offer to businesses, the waivers themselves are not always ironclad. There are sometimes situations where you will be able to seek compensation for your injuries, even if you have signed a waiver:
- Gross Negligence or Willful Misconduct: Gross negligence refers to the reckless disregard for the safety of lives or others. Waivers are typically unable to protect a business from injury claims that are caused by either gross negligence, willful misconduct, or intentional harm. If your injuries were caused by these behaviors, then you may have grounds to file a personal injury claim despite having signed a waiver.
- Unforeseen Hazards: If the injuries resulted from a hazard that was not disclosed or were reasonably foreseeable, then the waiver may not be enforceable. A business must adhere to a duty of care, meaning that they have created a safe environment for all of their patrons. Failing to create a safe environment for customers can result in liability for injuries.
- Ambiguity or Fraud: If the waivers writing is ambiguous, misleading, or obtains your signature through any ambiguous means, then a court may deem the waiver to be invalid.
Waivers are a part of businesses that help keep them protected from any unfortunate mishaps or accidents that occur inside of their business or organizations. However, waivers are not absolute shields against a personal injury claim. While signing a waiver can possibly limit your ability to seek compensation for certain types of injuries, it does not eliminate your rights completely.
If you or someone you know has been injured at a business where you have signed a waiver, it is important that you understand how waivers work. If your injuries are severe, reach out to one of our Salt Lake City personal injury lawyers to discuss your case. Our personal injury lawyers are well versed on waiver laws, and will be able to help you find out if you have a case. If you or someone you know has been injured, give us a call for a free consultation, here at LifeLaw we value you, we value life.