How Long Before I See Payment for My NY Injury?

Many of us are under the impression that if we slip and fall on someone else’s property in New York, the owner of the property is responsible for any losses suffered. However, New York law proves far more complex than that.

Detailed premises liability laws in New York work to establish when you are responsible for another’s injuries and losses – and when you’re not.

Here’s what you need to know about slip and fall cases in New York, including the length of time you can expect recovering damages for injuries to take.

Premises Liability Law in New York

Each year, many New York residents and visitors sustain injuries due to the conditions of private and public property.

Property owners are required by New York law to provide grounds free of potential and obvious dangers that can harm guests and patrons. This constitutes a property owner’s “duty of care”. Despite duty of care statutes, not all injury cases will hold property owners responsible for damages.

An attorney must establish in court that the owner was aware of the danger and neglected to address it with reasonable measures. Even if the danger couldn’t be ameliorated, a warning should’ve been posted.

Common Premises Liability Cases

Many premises liability cases on the news involve slip and falls, but that’s not the only viable injury to note on someone else’s property. Premises liability cases often involve the following calamities:

• Exposure to toxic substances
• Elevator accidents
• Ice and snow accidents
• Sidewalk falls
• Missing or damaged stairway railings
• Accidents involving swimming pools
• Animal attacks or dog bites
• Negligent security
• Falls in parking lots
• Accidents on construction sites
• Escalator accidents
• Inadequate lighting
• Defective road signs

NY Duty of Care

So, what is the duty of care? In premises liability law, the duty of care is defined as the duty the owner of a property has to maintain it in a safe condition and reasonably prevent accidents.

Once proven that duty of care should apply in your case, you can establish that negligence played a role in the injurious incident. Because the property owner breached that duty of care, you could receive damages.

Courts often examine a few factors to establish negligence. These include:

• If the property owner knew about the unsafe condition
• If the owner knew about the hazard but did not address it
• If the owner didn’t take reasonable steps to maintain the property

The Statute of Limitations in New York

New York allows only a limited amount of time after sustaining an injury to file a premises liability case. This window ranges from just three months to three years after the date of the accident.

The statute of limitations hinges on where the case occurred: private or government-owned property?

How Long Will a Case Take?

It’s possible to settle a slip and fall case in New York within a few months, but sometimes it can take much longer. If a settlement cannot be reached, the case must go to trial – and that can last considerably longer.