Can I Recover Damages After a Contractor Ruptured a Gas Line?

 Posted on December 07, 2023 in Personal Injury

If a contractor ruptured a gas line on your property due to negligence or improper procedures, you likely have grounds to seek financial damages. Suffering property destruction, injury harm, lost income, and other serious gas line rupture consequences merits legal accountability. An Illinois lawyer can help you determine what you need to know about recovering losses after an incident caused by a contractor’s mistakes.

Assess the Damage and Document Evidence

In the immediate aftermath of a ruptured gas line, focus first on safety. Evacuate the area, contact emergency services, ventilate the property, and address any medical issues. Seeking any necessary medical care for injuries or potential asphyxiation should be the top priority. Once the situation is stable, carefully survey and photograph all damage before repairs commence. 

Capture images of the actual rupture area, debris patterns, and property or possessions destruction. Also collect and preserve related bills, inspection reports, contract copies, and communications with the contractor company as evidence to demonstrate negligence. Having all this documentation in hand will significantly help prove your case later.

Proving Contractor Fault is Key

To have a strong claim for damages, you must prove the contractor’s direct actions and oversight caused the gas line rupture. An attorney can help you build a case showing precisely how the contractor failed. This could involve neglecting to locate lines properly before digging, ignoring key safety protocols, overlooking building code violations that increased risk, utilizing faulty or inappropriate equipment, or acting negligently in other demonstrable ways. Gathering compelling evidence like photos, documented repairs, expert witness analysis, and eyewitness testimony will back up allegations of substandard and harmful construction practices.

Consider All Avenues for Compensation

In injury or negligence cases like this, several parties can share liability. Your attorney will thoroughly assess every entity that owes you reimbursement, whether that is the individual contractor themselves, their company, manufacturers or distributors of potentially faulty equipment, utility companies, or other stakeholders somehow involved. 

Depending on case specifics, relevant insurance policies, permits and licensing factors, percentages of probabilistic negligence assigned, and many further legal factors also come into play when determining shared blame and rightfully owed compensation.

Contact a Decatur, IL Personal Injury Lawyer

Your options likely include pursuing damages by filing personal injury and property damage claims or lawsuits against responsible parties through settlement negotiations or court judgments. With a Springfield, IL personal injury attorney representing your case every step of the way, you can have a potentially better outcome. Do not let a negligent contractor expense leave you covering costs alone. Call Kanoski Bresney at 888-826-8682 for a free consultation.