One minute, you are grabbing milk or looking at clothes. The next minute, you are on the floor in pain. Maybe you slipped on a puddle or tripped over a box in the aisle. Your first thought is probably about your health. Your second thought is likely about the cost of your medical bills and how you will pay them if you cannot work.
Knowing what happens when you are injured in a New York store helps you protect your rights from the very beginning. Stores have a legal responsibility to keep their floors and walkways safe for everyone. When they fail at this duty, you should not have to pay the price for their mistakes.
Is the store responsible for your injury
Retailers have a duty of care. This is a legal way of saying they must keep the store safe for shoppers, delivery drivers, and workers. In New York, anyone who controls a property has to use reasonable care. They need to fix hazards that they know about or should have known about.
A store is usually liable if it was negligent. This happens when they leave a spill on the floor for too long or fail to fix a broken handrail. If the hazard was foreseeable, the store should have stopped it before someone got hurt. This responsibility covers more than just the shopping aisles. It also includes the parking lot, the bathrooms, the dressing rooms, and the sidewalks leading into the building. Even if you were partly at fault for the fall, the store may still have to pay for a portion of your damages.
Common hazards that lead to accidents
Negligence in a retail space can look like many different things. Most people think of wet floors from a leaky roof or a spilled drink. While those are common, many other dangers exist. You might trip over debris left in the middle of a walkway. You could get hit by heavy boxes falling from a high shelf.
Other dangers include malfunctioning elevators, broken shopping carts, and dim lighting in stairwells. During winter, icy entrance ramps are a major problem. If a store has a shared parking lot with other shops, a specific management company might be the one at fault. No matter the cause, the store must fix these issues in a reasonable amount of time. If they wait too long and you get hurt, they are likely responsible for your losses.
How to check your injuries at the scene
The first thing to do is a quick body scan. Do not try to jump up right away. Adrenaline can hide pain, and moving too fast can make some injuries worse. Check for dizziness or sharp pain in your back and neck. If you cannot move or if you think a bone is broken, stay still and call 911.
If you can walk, do it slowly. Do not tell people you are fine. Many people say they are okay because they feel embarrassed about falling. This is a mistake. If you say you are unhurt and then go to the doctor two days later, the insurance company will use your words against you. They will claim you were not actually hurt in the store. Keep your comments about your health to yourself until you talk to a medical professional.
Gathering evidence on the floor
You need to act like a reporter. If you are too hurt to do this, ask a friend or a witness to help you. Take photos of exactly what caused you to fall. If it was a spill, look for footprints or track marks in the liquid. This helps prove the spill was there for a long time. Take pictures from far away to show the whole area and close up to show the hazard.
Check if there were any warning signs nearby. If there were no yellow cones, make sure your photos show that. If other people saw you fall, get their names and phone numbers. These people are nonparty witnesses. Since they do not know you and do not work for the store, their story is very powerful in court. Judges and juries trust disinterested witnesses because they have no reason to lie.
Dealing with store management and incident reports
You should tell the manager about the accident before you leave. They will usually ask you to fill out an incident report. Stick to the facts. Tell them what time it happened and what caused the fall. Do not guess about things you are not sure of. Most importantly, do not sign anything that looks like a waiver or a release.
Some stores try to get you to sign a paper that says you will not sue them. They might act like it is just a standard form, but it can take away your legal rights. Always ask for a copy of the report for your own records. If they refuse to give you a copy, take a photo of it with your phone. Also, take a photo of the employee you spoke with so you can identify them later.
Why you need a doctor right away
Even if the pain is small, go to a doctor or an urgent care center. Some of the most serious injuries do not show up immediately. Brain injuries, internal bleeding, and spinal damage can take days to feel. A doctor can find these problems before they get worse.
Going to the doctor also creates a paper trail. This medical record links your injury to the store accident. Without this record, the store will argue that you got hurt somewhere else. This documentation is a huge part of what happens when you are injured in a store and you decide to file a legal claim.
Protecting yourself from insurance adjusters
Expect a phone call from an insurance company very soon. They might act friendly and tell you they want to help. Their real goal is to pay you as little as possible. They might ask for a recorded statement. You should say no. You are not required to give a recorded statement to the store’s insurance company.
Do not accept a quick check. These early offers are almost always lower than what your case is worth. Once you take the money and sign their papers, you can never ask for more. If your injury ends up needing surgery or months of physical therapy, that small check will not be enough to cover your costs.
The legal timeline in New York
You do not have forever to file a claim. In New York, the statute of limitations for these cases is usually three years from the date of the accident. While three years sounds like a long time, you should not wait. Evidence disappears quickly. Stores often delete their security camera footage after 30 days.
A personal injury lawyer can send a preservation of evidence letter to the store. This legal notice tells the store they must save the video and the incident report. If they delete the video after getting this letter, they can face serious trouble in court. Starting your case early gives your lawyer the best chance to find the truth.
How much is your injury claim worth
The value of your case depends on several factors. A lawyer looks at your medical bills and your lost wages from missing work. They also look at out-of-pocket costs, like damaged clothes or travel to the doctor. The severity of the injury plays a big role, too. A broken bone is usually worth more than a bruise.
Pain and suffering are also included. This covers the physical pain and the emotional stress the accident caused you. If the store were 100 percent negligent, you could receive the full value of these damages. If you were partly to blame, your payout might be reduced by your percentage of fault. A lawyer helps you calculate these numbers so you know what a fair settlement looks like.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer for your case
Going through a legal battle alone is hard when you are trying to heal. Large retail chains have teams of lawyers dedicated to stopping claims. Hiring a dedicated injury lawyer levels the playing field. Your lawyer will handle the paperwork, talk to the adjusters, and find the witnesses.
Most injury lawyers work on a contingency fee. This means you do not pay them anything upfront. They only get paid if they win your case and get you money. This allows you to get high-quality legal help without worrying about more bills.
If you are dealing with the aftermath of a store accident, contact The Silbowitz Firm at (516) 375-6692. We offer a free consultation to talk about your accident and explain your options. You deserve to have someone on your side who understands the law and will fight for the compensation you need to get your life back on track.