Slip & Fall law faqs

Who is responsible if you slip or trip and fall on someone else's property?

Thousands of people are injured each year—some very seriously—when they slip or trip and fall on a dangerous floor, a flight of stairs, or a rough patch of ground.  If you have been injured in this way, first consider that it is a normal part of living for things to fall or to drip on a floor or the ground, and for smooth surfaces to become uneven.  

Some things put in the ground—a drainage grate, for example—serve a useful purpose.  So, someone who owns or occupies property cannot always be held responsible for immediately picking up or cleaning every slippery substance on a floor.  Nor is a property owner always responsible for someone slipping or tripping on something that an ordinary person should expect to find there or should see and avoid.  We all have an obligation to watch where we are going.

There is no precise way to determine if someone else is legally responsible for something on which you slip or trip.  Each case turns on whether the property owner acted carefully so that slipping or tripping was not likely to happen—and whether you were careless in not seeing or avoiding the thing you fell on. 

How is a property or business owner's liability determined?

To be legally responsible for the injuries suffered from slipping or tripping and falling, the owner of the premises or the owner's employee:

• Must have caused the spill, worn or torn spot, or other slippery or dangerous surface or item, to be underfoot
• Must have known of the dangerous surface but did nothing about it, or
• Should have known of the dangerous surface because a "reasonable" person taking care of the property would have discovered and removed or repaired it.

The third situation is the most common, but is also less clear-cut than the first two because of those pesky words "should have known."  Liability in these cases is decided by common sense.  The law determines whether the owner or occupier of property was careful by deciding if the steps taken to keep the property safe were reasonable.

What is considered reasonable care of property?

In determining a property owner's "reasonableness," the law determines if there were regular and thorough efforts to keep the property safe and clean.  The following questions may be asked to determine if a property or business owner is liable for the slip or trip and fall injuries:

• If the trip or slip occurred due to a torn, broken, or bulging area of carpet, floor, or ground, or wet or loose area; had the dangerous spot been there long enough so that the owner should have known about it?
• Does the property owner have a regular procedure for examining and cleaning or repairing the premises?  If so, what is it and what proof does the owner have of this regular maintenance?
• If you tripped over or slipped on an object someone had placed or left on or in the floor or ground, was there a legitimate reason for the object to be there?
• If there once had been a good reason for the object to be there but that reason no longer exists, could the object have been removed, covered, or otherwise made safe?
• Was there a safer place the object could have been located?   Could it have been placed in a safer manner, without much greater inconvenience or expense to the property owner or operator?
• Could a simple barrier have been created or warning given to prevent people from slipping or tripping?
• Did poor or broken lighting contribute to the accident?

If the answer to one or more of these questions is yes, there may be a good claim for compensation.  

How does the law determine that my carelessness contributed to the accident?

In almost every slip or trip and fall case, you must decide whether your carelessness contributed to the accident.  There are some questions you should ask yourself about your own conduct—an insurance adjuster will almost certainly ask them after you file your claim.

• Did you have a legitimate reason for being where the dangerous ground was that the owner should have anticipated?
• Should a careful person have noticed the dangerous spot and avoided it, or walked carefully enough not to slip or trip?
• Were there any warnings that the spot might be dangerous?
• Were you doing anything that distracted you from paying attention to where you were going, or were you running, jumping or fooling around in a way that made falling more likely?

You do not have to prove to an insurance adjuster that you were careful.  But, think about what you were doing, and describe it clearly, so that an insurance adjuster will understand that you were not careless.