Who’s Liable for Slip and Falls on Ice and Snow?

Negligent property owners can be held liable if you were injured by a slip and fall on ice or snow. Learn how to get the compensation you deserve.

Winter weather brings cold, snow, and ice to most of the United States. Poor weather is one of the most common causes of slip and fall accidents.

Falls are also a common cause of injuries, with more than 800,000 people hospitalized each year with severe injuries like head trauma or a broken hip.¹

Businesses and homeowners must keep their properties safe. If they don’t and you’re injured by a fall on a snowy or icy walkway, you can pursue compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and emotional distress.

Liability for Falls on Ice and Snow

Property owners have a legal duty of care (obligation) to keep their premises safe and hazard-free. This duty includes keeping walkways, driveways, parking lots, and other outdoor common areas clear of ice and snow.

Injuries can also result from slipping and falling on slush tracked into buildings creating wet and slick floors. Building owners should have appropriate mats and wet floor signs positioned at entrances to help prevent falls.

Accumulated ice or snow is a dangerous condition. Black ice can be especially hazardous. When owners allow dangerous conditions to exist on their property, they may be liable, meaning responsible, if the condition leads to harm.

The most common types of property owners are:

  • Commercial establishments like retail stores, hotels, apartment complexes, and other non-government businesses
  • Residential properties include privately owned homes, condominiums, duplexes, and townhomes
  • Government properties are run by federal, state, or local governments and include post office buildings, motor vehicle departments, tax offices, and courthouses

A property owner’s legal duty of care extends to two specific categories of pedestrians. They are invitees and licensees.

Invitees are people who give the property owner a material benefit. For example, shoppers in a supermarket, guests at hotels, mail delivery personnel, and others who are not primarily social guests are invitees.

Licensees are people who are visiting the property for social reasons. For example, neighbors, children, party guests, and friends who are social guests are licensees.

Individuals who have no legitimate reason to be on the property, like burglars or trespassers, usually can’t ask for compensation if they’re injured while up to no good.

Proving the Property Owner’s Negligence

The burden is on the injury victim to prove a property owner is liable for your injuries.

After a slip and fall on ice or snow, you must show:

  1. The property owner was aware or should have been aware of the icy or snowy conditions.
  2. The property owner neglected to take reasonable steps to remove or treat the snow or ice.
  3. The property owner’s negligence was the direct cause of your injuries.
  4. Your injuries are real and verifiable.

There are no hard and fast rules about how much ice or snow there must be to determine a property owner’s negligence. The same applies to how much time a property owner has to remove the ice or snow before becoming liable.

Slip and fall accidents can have different circumstances. Ice can form in a matter of hours and melt just as quickly, or it can build up and become a lurking danger. In most cases, it comes down to what actions are “reasonable” for the property owner to take.

When the icy sidewalk is in front of a private home, it’s reasonable to expect the homeowner to clear the walk sometime during daylight hours. If the icy walk is in front of a business that opens early, it’s reasonable to make sure the walk is safe before the store opens.

Example: Snowy Walk at a Private Home

It snowed overnight. At 7:00 in the morning, Mike was determined to get all the newspapers on his route delivered before school. Despite the snow, he was using his bike to make his rounds. As Mike rode his bike up the walk to a customer’s home, he slipped and fell on an icy patch, breaking his collarbone as he fell hard on his shoulder.

In this case, the homeowner probably isn’t legally liable for Mike’s injuries. The homeowner may not even have been aware that it snowed overnight.

The homeowner wasn’t negligent because it’s reasonable for most homeowners to wait until daylight before shoveling fresh snow. In most towns, the rules about snow removal only require residential walks to be cleared during daylight hours.

The same winter storm, with a different set of circumstances, can provide excellent grounds for a personal injury claim or lawsuit.

Example: Customer Injured on Icy Walk

Barb’s Bagel Shop opens every morning at 7:00 a.m. Located near the train station, Barb always had a morning rush of commuters who came in to grab a bagel and coffee before boarding the 7:30 train into the city.

The morning after the same winter storm, a regular customer named Carol came by at 7:00 a.m. to get her usual coffee and bagel. As Carol walked to the front door, she slipped on the icy sidewalk in front of the bagel shop, breaking her hip as she slammed onto the frozen pavement.

In this case, Barb was negligent for not treating the sidewalks before her Bagel Shop opened for business. She knew or should have known that she’d have lots of foot traffic first thing in the morning, and a reasonable person would know that icy walks pose a risk of slipping that could cause a customer to fall and get hurt.

Government offices that open after a winter weather event have the same duty as other businesses to ensure their walkways, parking lots, and entrances are safe for pedestrians.

If the same snowfall fell on a parking lot at the post office, injured pedestrians would have good reason to seek compensation from the government.

Claims against government agencies like the post office are different than filing a claim against a private business owner. Your claim will be denied if you make a mistake or miss a deadline, and you won’t be allowed to start over.

Don’t risk losing your right to compensation. Contact a personal injury attorney to discuss an injury claim against the government.

Good Evidence Makes a Strong Claim

If you’re hurt because of a property owner’s negligence, you have a right to compensation for your damages.

Slip and fall damages can include:

  • Medical and chiropractic bills
  • Out-of-pocket expenses for prescriptions, crutches, bandages, etc.
  • Lost wages, including sick days and vacation time used during recovery
  • Pain and suffering

Unless you fell on government property, your injury claim will normally be made to the property owner’s insurance company.

When you’re hurt from slipping on ice or snow, it may seem obvious to you that the property owner was negligent, but the insurance company won’t take your word for it. It’s up to you to convince the insurance company their insured was to blame for your injuries.

You’ll need to collect solid evidence to support a successful insurance claim or injury lawsuit.

Photographs and Video

Take as many pictures as you safely can of the icy area where you fell. Try to capture a panoramic view, including the adjoining property where ice and snow were already cleared away. You want to make sure there’s little doubt the slippery condition exists.

The ice and snow will probably be gone within hours, either removed by the property owner or from melting. Once the ice is gone, you’ve lost the opportunity to gather important visual evidence for your injury claim.

Witness Statements

Gather names and contact information from anyone who saw you slip and fall, or who can verify the dangerous icy conditions that led to your injury. If they will agree, take a video of each witness’ statement.

Friends and family members can provide a statement, but independent witnesses are better. Because independent witnesses have no personal or financial interest in the outcome of your claim, their testimony has much greater weight and credibility with insurance adjusters.

Medical Bills and Records

Medical bills and treatment records are vital to a strong claim. They create the link between the slip and fall and your injury.

Be sure to tell every medical provider who treats your injuries exactly when, where, and how you slipped and fell on ice or snow. It’s important for the cause of your injuries to be included in your medical records.

Who Should Handle Your Premises Liability Claim?

If you’ve recovered from minor injuries and didn’t miss much work, you may decide to handle your own insurance claim. You have the right to seek legal advice from a personal injury lawyer at any point in the claims process.

You can calculate a fair settlement amount by totaling your medical bills, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and lost wages. Then, add one or two times that amount for pain and suffering.

Send a written demand for compensation with copies of your medical records and bills, lost wage statement, witness statements, and other evidence to support your claim.

When an Attorney Can Help

If the property owner won’t give you their insurance information, you were injured on government property, or your claim is otherwise complicated, you’ll need an experienced personal injury attorney to get the compensation you deserve.

Traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, back injuries, and other serious injuries are complex, high-dollar claims. Insurance companies are known for offering lower settlements to claimants who aren’t represented by an attorney.

Don’t let the insurance company call the shots. Most law firms offer a free consultation to slip and fall victims and their loved ones. There’s no cost to finding out what a skilled attorney can do for you.

Slip and Falls on Ice and Snow Questions