What to Do After a Slip and Fall Accident in New York

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that falls account for nearly 3 million emergency department visits among older adults each year.

Falling is one of those things that happens in an instant and then occupies the rest of your day, sometimes the rest of your year.

One moment you’re walking through a grocery store or down a sidewalk, and the next you’re on the ground, embarrassed, in pain, and trying to figure out what just happened and what to do next.

And in New York, certain legal deadlines start the moment you fall, in some cases just 90 days, so if you’re reading this because it just happened to you or to someone you love, take a breath. 

The steps below are meant to be practical, not overwhelming, and they apply whether the fall happened an hour ago or a few days ago.

What Are the First Steps to Take After a Slip and Fall?

If you’re still at the scene or it just happened, here’s the order that protects both your health and your ability to bring a claim later.

Step	Why it matters
Stay still if you suspect a serious injury	Moving too soon can worsen spinal or head injuries
Report the fall to the property owner or manager	Creates an official record close to the time it happened
Photograph the hazard and surrounding area	Spills get cleaned, hazards get fixed, often within minutes
Get contact information from witnesses	People are easy to find now, harder to track down later
See a doctor, even if you feel okay	Some injuries take hours or days to show symptoms
Keep the shoes and clothing you were wearing	May become relevant if footwear or contact marks are disputed
Avoid giving a recorded statement to an insurer	Adjusters are trained to ask questions that limit payouts

You don’t have to do all of this perfectly. But the more of these steps you can manage, the less room there is for a property owner or insurance company to argue later that the fall didn’t happen, or didn’t happen the way you remember it.

Should You See a Doctor Even If You Feel Fine?

Yes, and this is worth taking seriously even if you’re tempted to wave it off. Some of the most consequential injuries from a fall, including concussions, herniated discs, and soft tissue damage, don’t announce themselves right away.

You might walk away feeling shaken but otherwise okay, only to wake up the next morning unable to turn your neck or think clearly.

Getting checked out does two things at once. It catches injuries before they get worse, and it creates a same-day medical record tying your injury to the fall.

Insurance companies look closely at the gap between the accident date and your first doctor’s visit, and a long gap gives them an opening to argue something else caused your symptoms.

Go to an emergency room right away if you have severe pain, dizziness, confusion, numbness, or trouble walking, or if you suspect a fracture.

If your symptoms feel minor, still see a doctor within a day or two and describe everything, including things that might not seem connected, like a headache or stiff neck.

How Do You Properly Report a Slip and Fall Accident?

Reporting the fall correctly, and to the right party, is one of the steps people most often get wrong, usually because they’re in pain or don’t want to make a scene.

Here’s how it works depending on where you fell.

At a business. Ask for a manager and request a written incident report before you leave. Get a copy if offered, or at minimum write down the name and title of whoever you spoke with along with the date and time.

On residential property. Notify the homeowner, landlord, or building superintendent directly. Their homeowner’s or renter’s insurance will typically need to be looped in before a claim can move forward.

On government property. This includes city sidewalks, public schools, parks, and municipal buildings, and the rules here are noticeably stricter.

Under New York General Municipal Law § 50-e, anyone bringing a claim against a public entity must serve a sworn, written Notice of Claim within 90 days of the fall, stating what happened, when, where, and how.

Miss that window, and the claim is typically barred entirely, no matter how serious the injury or how obvious the city’s negligence.

Because this deadline moves so much faster than people expect, it’s worth figuring out who actually owns the property where you fell as soon as you reasonably can.

Whatever the setting, try to report the fall the same day. Time works against you here. The longer the gap, the easier it becomes for the other side to question whether the fall happened the way you describe.

What Evidence Should You Collect After a Slip and Fall?

Evidence from a fall has a short shelf life. Spills get mopped up. Broken steps get repaired. Security footage gets recorded over, sometimes within days.

The earlier you can gather the following, the stronger your case tends to be.

• Photos and video of the hazard, the lighting, the weather if you were outside, and your own footwear
• Names and phone numbers of anyone who saw you fall or saw the hazard beforehand
• A copy of the incident report, or the name of whoever took it
• A written request that any nearby security footage be preserved before it’s overwritten
• Every piece of medical paperwork, including discharge notes, imaging, physical therapy records, and bills
• The clothing and shoes you were wearing at the time
• A simple written log of your symptoms, missed work, and anything you can no longer do easily

One thing worth saying plainly: be careful about social media. Insurance adjusters routinely look through claimants’ posts for anything that could be used to suggest the injury isn’t as serious as described.

A photo of you smiling at a birthday party doesn’t mean you’re not in pain, but it can be twisted to imply exactly that.

What Should You Do If You Slip and Fall in a Store?

Store falls have their own rhythm, because most retailers have cameras, trained staff, and insurance programs built specifically around this kind of claim.

Tell an employee or manager right away and ask for a formal incident report before leaving. Many retail chains require staff to fill one out whenever a customer reports a fall, so don’t hesitate to ask.

Photograph the hazard quickly, since stores tend to clean up spills or remove damaged displays within minutes of being told about them.

Ask whether the store has security footage of the area and put your request to preserve it in writing if you can, even just a follow-up email.

Many chains overwrite footage on a 30 to 90 day cycle, and a verbal request alone is easy for a company to claim it never received.

Avoid signing anything beyond the incident report itself, and avoid giving a detailed statement to a corporate insurance representative who may call you in the days afterward.

You’re not obligated to provide one on the spot, and it’s reasonable to say you’d like to speak with someone first before answering detailed questions.

How Long Do You Have to File a Claim in New York?

This is where timing catches people off guard, because the deadline depends entirely on who owns the property.

Type of property	Deadline	Legal basis
Private property (homes, most businesses)	3 years from the date of the fall	CPLR § 214
Government property (sidewalks, schools, public buildings)	90 days to file a Notice of Claim	GML § 50-e

If your fall happened on a sidewalk owned by the city, in a public school, or anywhere else under government control, the 90-day window is the one that matters, and courts rarely grant exceptions when it’s missed.

Even when the standard three-year deadline applies, waiting carries real costs.

Witnesses move on, memories fade, and the physical evidence of the hazard often disappears long before a claim ever gets filed.

What Does It Take to Prove a Slip and Fall Case?

New York premises liability law comes down to four questions.

Did a dangerous condition exist?

Did the property owner know about it, or should they reasonably have known?

Did they fail to fix it or warn people about it? And did that failure actually cause your injury?

The second question, whether the owner knew or should have known, is usually where these cases are won or lost.

A spill that sat on the floor for an hour while employees walked past it suggests the store had every opportunity to catch it.

A spill that happened thirty seconds before you walked through it is a much harder case to make, because the law doesn’t expect property owners to catch every hazard the instant it appears.

This is exactly why the documentation matters as much as it does. Photos show what the hazard looked like.

Witnesses establish how long it had been there. Medical records connect your injury to that specific moment.

Without that, the case often becomes your word against the property owner’s, and that’s a difficult place to argue from.

What Happens If the Property Owner Tries to Blame You?

It happens often, and it can feel discouraging to hear that you were somehow at fault for getting hurt.

The good news is that New York doesn’t punish you for that the way some states do.

Under CPLR § 1411, New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule, which means you can still recover compensation even if you were partly responsible for the fall.

Your award is simply reduced by your percentage of fault.

If a jury decides you’re 20 percent responsible because you were looking at your phone, your recovery is reduced by 20 percent, not wiped out entirely.

What If You Fell Because of Snow or Ice?

Winter creates some of the most common slip and fall scenarios in New York, and liability here often comes down to timing.

Property owners generally have to clear snow and ice within a reasonable period after a storm ends.

A fall that happens during an active storm is harder to pursue, since the law recognizes that owners can’t realistically keep pace with snow that’s still falling.

Sidewalk responsibility also depends on where you are. In New York City, the property owner next to the sidewalk is generally responsible for keeping it clear.

Other towns and cities split that responsibility differently.

If you fell on ice, photograph it as soon as you can, including whether it looks freshly fallen or packed down and refrozen, since that detail can help show how long the hazard had existed.

What Damages Can You Recover in a Slip and Fall Case?

If negligence can be proven, compensation typically falls into a few categories.

• Medical expenses, from the initial ER visit through physical therapy, surgery, or ongoing care
• Lost wages, covering income already missed and, in more serious cases, projected future earnings
• Pain and suffering, which accounts for the physical and emotional toll of the injury

New York doesn’t place a general cap on pain and suffering damages in standard injury cases, so the final number depends heavily on the severity of the injury and how thoroughly it’s documented.

Summing It Up

What you do in the hours and days after a slip and fall has a real effect on both your recovery and your ability to hold a negligent property owner accountable.

Get medical attention promptly, report the fall to the right person, photograph the hazard before it disappears, and hold onto every piece of paperwork connected to the incident.

If the fall happened on government property, remember that the 90-day Notice of Claim deadline runs far faster than most people expect, and missing it can end a claim before it ever has a chance to start.

If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall in New York, the decisions you make now matter.

Porter Law Group works on a contingency fee basis, so there’s no upfront cost and no fee unless we recover compensation for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I report a slip and fall accident in New York?

Report it to whoever is responsible for the property, such as a store manager, landlord, or building superintendent, before leaving the scene if you can. Ask for a written incident report. If the property is government owned, you also need to serve a sworn Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law § 50-e.

What evidence should I collect after a slip and fall?

Photograph the hazard before it’s cleaned up, get contact information from witnesses, keep the clothing and shoes you were wearing, request the incident report, and hold onto all medical records connecting your injury to the fall.

What should I do if I slip and fall in a store?

Report it to a manager immediately, get a copy of the incident report, photograph the hazard quickly, and ask in writing that the store preserve any security footage. Avoid giving a detailed statement to the store’s insurance representative without speaking to a lawyer first.

How long do I have to file a slip and fall lawsuit in New York?

Generally three years from the date of the injury under CPLR § 214. If the fall happened on government property, you instead have 90 days to file a Notice of Claim.

Can I still recover compensation if I was partly at fault for my fall?

Yes. New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule under CPLR § 1411, so you can recover damages even if you were significantly at fault, with your award reduced by your percentage of responsibility.

Do I have to give a recorded statement to the insurance company?

No, beyond what your own insurer’s policy may require. You’re not obligated to give a recorded statement to the property owner’s insurance company, and it’s often better to let an attorney handle those conversations.

Should I see a doctor even if I feel fine after falling?

Yes. Injuries like concussions and soft tissue damage often don’t show symptoms right away, and a medical visit close to the date of the fall helps establish the connection between the accident and your injury.

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Contact Porter Law Group Michael S. Porter, J.D.

Phone: +1 833-767-8379

Email: info@porterlawteam.com