What to do After a Slip and Fall Accident

Get Medical Attention First

Your health comes before the claim. Falls can cause fractures, torn ligaments, head injuries, spinal injuries, and other conditions that are not always obvious in the first minutes after an accident. If you struck your head, cannot bear weight, have severe pain, numbness, dizziness, confusion, or other concerning symptoms, seek appropriate medical care promptly.

Medical records also create a contemporaneous account of the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment that followed the fall. That can later matter if an insurer disputes whether the accident caused the injury or argues that treatment began too late to be connected to the event.

Report the Accident and Create a Record

Tell the store, landlord, property manager, building employee, security desk, or other responsible person that the fall occurred. Give a factual account of what happened and identify the location. If an incident report is created, ask how you can obtain a copy or at least note who prepared it and when.

Reporting the accident is not the same as proving negligence. Its value is that it establishes that the event was brought to the property’s attention and may help identify employees, witnesses, cameras, or maintenance records connected to the location.

Document the Exact Condition That Caused the Fall

If you can do so safely, photograph and video the condition before it changes. A spill may be cleaned, ice can melt, a mat can be moved, a broken step can be repaired, and warning cones can appear after an accident. Wide-angle photographs should show the overall area, while closer images can capture the condition itself.

Also document lighting, weather, warning signs, floor mats, stairs, handrails, nearby displays, the path you were walking, and your shoes. Do not stage or alter the scene. The goal is to preserve what actually existed when the fall occurred.

Identify Witnesses and Who Controlled the Property

Get names and contact information for anyone who saw the fall, saw the hazard before the fall, heard employees discuss it, or knows how long the condition existed. Witnesses can become difficult to locate later.

It is also important to identify who owned, leased, occupied, maintained, cleaned, or controlled the area. A commercial property may involve an owner, tenant, managing agent, maintenance company, or snow-removal contractor. Responsibility depends on the facts and legal relationships, not simply on the name displayed at the property.

Preserve Shoes, Clothing, and Other Physical Evidence

Keep the shoes and clothing you were wearing in substantially the same condition. Do not discard or extensively clean items that could become relevant to how the accident occurred. Keep photographs of visible injuries, mobility aids, braces, damaged personal property, and other physical consequences of the fall.

Save medical bills, pharmacy receipts, transportation expenses, wage records, work notes, and other documents that may later help explain the financial effect of the injury.

Protect Surveillance and Maintenance Evidence

Many premises-liability cases turn on evidence controlled by the property. Surveillance video may show the hazard forming, how long it existed, employee inspections, warning signs, cleanup efforts, and the fall itself. Maintenance logs, inspection sheets, cleaning records, work orders, prior complaints, and incident reports can also matter.

Those records are not necessarily kept forever. A prompt preservation request can be important, especially where video systems overwrite footage automatically. This is one reason serious cases should be investigated before waiting to see whether symptoms eventually improve.

Be Careful With Insurance Statements and Social Media

An insurer or claims administrator may contact you soon after the accident. Be accurate and avoid guessing about facts you do not know, including how long the condition existed or the full extent of an injury that is still being evaluated. Before giving a voluntary recorded statement or signing broad authorizations, understand who is requesting it and what rights the document gives them.

Social-media posts can also create avoidable disputes about symptoms, activity levels, or the circumstances of the fall. Do not misrepresent your condition, but do not assume a private post is irrelevant to a claim.

Understand New York Filing Deadlines

New York CPLR § 214 — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/214 generally requires many personal-injury actions to be commenced within three years. That general rule should not be treated as a universal deadline. Claims involving municipalities, public corporations, or the State can involve different notice and filing requirements.

For many tort claims against public corporations, General Municipal Law § 50-e requires a notice of claim within 90 days after the claim arises. Different rules can apply depending on the defendant, so identifying every potentially responsible party early is important.

When a Legal Review Becomes Important

A legal review becomes more important when the injury is serious, the property owner disputes the condition, surveillance footage needs to be preserved, several entities may control the property, a public entity is involved, or an insurer is asking for statements or releases.

Marks Law Group handles serious premises-liability claims through its Nassau County slip and fall practice, with an emphasis on early investigation and evidence preservation. The objective is not simply to show that a fall occurred, but to determine whether the evidence supports legal responsibility for the condition that caused it.

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