Iowa is a wonderful place to operate a small business. With so many small towns that still value the classic mom and pop store, or larger areas that value the creativity of a new food or experience, there’s a space for everyone.
But you need to be aware of the unique risks that Iowan business-owners face. It’s the only way to ensure you’re ready to operate for many years to come.
Winter Weather Creates a Uniquely Iowa Liability Window
Love or hate Iowa winters, there’s no denying that they’re pretty consistent in terms of their ability to make life a lot harder for a couple months. While Northern Iowa gets the brunt it it, even those toward the south can expect around 30” between winter and early spring.
In the state, local businesses have a responsibility to clear snow and ice from their premises. Sidewalks, entryways and parking lots all need to be safe for employees and customers to walk on, and there’s only a brief window after a storm in which you need to get that work done. You’ll need to keep salts or melting agents on-hand for hard ice, since tricky spots will still cause you to be liable.
Slip and fall accidents may sound low on the scale of potential issues, but customers and employees can be badly injured depending on how they fall. Get a general liability policy quote to ensure you’re covered against slip and fall accidents, but don’t be complacent about clearing up after a snowstorm.
Duty of Care Varies by Person
Under Iowa law, there’s a fundamental difference between the kind of people walking onto your premises, and you’re not equally liable for all of them. This is because there’s a legal distinction between invitees, licensees, and trespassers – known as a hierarchy of status.
Trespassers are lowest in this hierarchy, unless they’re children. Child trespassers and invitees have the highest status, with licensees in the middle. The status of the individual making a claim against your business for, say, tripping over a box left in the middle of an aisle, will be taken into account by the court.
This will change the reasonable preventative measures you should have been expected to take to prevent the incident.
The Comparative Fault Rule
Let’s say a customer walked into your store and injured themselves – say, a shelving unit fell on top of them. If the customer was minding their business and the shelving unit simply buckled under its own weight, then you are responsible. But, at times, it may be found that the business and the customer are both at fault. Perhaps the shelving unit was not bolted down properly, but the customer was being unsafe by climbing on the lower shelves to reach something higher up. Perhaps they stopped to talk to another patron, and leaned their entire body weight up against it.
In these instances, you’re not solely responsible for the incident, but Iowa’s comparative fault rule means that you could still be held liable for damages, provided your responsibility for the incident doesn’t drop below 50%.