Winter conditions in Missouri and Illinois can create serious hazards for pedestrians. You can sue after an injury sustained after slipping and falling on ice, depending on the circumstances of the fall. Both Missouri and Illinois have specific rules that can determine when a property owner may be liable, how weather conditions can impact your claim, and what compensation may be available to you.
Your Legal Options After a Slip and Fall on Ice
Legal Option 1: Filing a Premises Liability Claim Against the Public Property Owner
When a fall occurs where visitors are invited, such as a store, park, or community walkway, the owner or manager may be responsible if unsafe conditions contributed to the injury.
Duty of Care
Public property owners owe visitors a duty of care, and they must take reasonable steps to keep walkways and common areas safe. They are expected to watch for hazards, remove ice within a reasonable time, and warn visitors about any dangerous conditions they are aware of or should have discovered through regular inspections. When owners fail to meet this duty, they can be held liable for resulting injuries. Keep in mind that filing a claim against a city or municipality for a fall on a city-maintained street or park can come with additional rules such as shorter deadlines, damage caps, and special notice requirements.
Pedestrians and public property owners have different legal relationships depending on how the property is used or intended to be used. Visitors are generally classified into two categories: invitees and licensees. Invitees receive the highest duty of care because their presence is expected and encouraged.
An invitee is someone who is invited or enters the property for a purpose that benefits the owner, such as shopping, attending an event, or using a service. Invitees are owed the highest duty of care because the property owner expects and encourages their presence on the premises. For example, if you walk into a store to buy groceries and slip on ice near the entrance, the store may be responsible if it failed to salt, shovel, or warn about the hazard.
Even if you are not invited or expected on the property where you sustain a fall, you may still be able to file a claim as a licensee. A licensee is someone who is allowed on the property for their own purposes, not the owner’s benefit. For example, if you walk through a store’s parking lot as a shortcut and slip on ice, the store may still owe you a duty of care. While the duty is lower than what is owed to customers, the store can still be responsible because it is reasonable to expect that members of the public will walk through the lot.
When a fall occurs, the owner or manager may be held liable. Examples include:
- Failing to salt or shovel walkways
- Poor lighting that hides icy patches
- Broken gutters or drainage issues are causing unnatural accumulation
- Not placing warning signs in dangerous areas, such as uneven spots in a parking lot
In Illinois, the Natural Accumulation Rule shields property owners from liability for injuries resulting from “natural” snow or ice. A property owner is generally not responsible for slip-and-fall accidents if the ice or snow results from natural weather conditions and is not created or worsened by their actions or negligence. However, an owner can be held liable if their actions lead to an “unnatural accumulation” of snow or ice, or if they negligently attempt to remove the natural ice and snow.
Examples could include:
- A grocery store chain has a broken gutter above the front walkway. During the winter, snow on the roof often melts and drips directly onto the ground. When the water freezes and forms ice, a hazard is created. If a customer slips and injuries themselves the next morning when entering the store, the store could be liable. This is considered an unnatural accumulation because the ice formed from a building defect rather than natural weather conditions.
- A car dealership has several large potholes in its parking lot that allow melted snow to collect in a low area near the customer entrance. When temperatures drop, the pooled water freezes and forms a large ice patch. A visitor slips while crossing the frozen area. This is also considered an unnatural accumulation, as the dealership has neglected to fix the divots in the lot.
In Missouri, liability is broader. Property owners may be responsible if the ice results from an unnatural accumulation or from conditions that could have been prevented with proper care. This can include:
- Poor maintenance
- Artificial or man-made conditions
- Previously reported hazards
Legal Option 2: Filing a Premises Liability Claim Against Landlords vs. Tenants
Landlords have a legal duty to maintain common areas in a reasonably safe condition for tenants and their visitors. The common areas can include sidewalks, parking lots, building entrances, and any walkway used by multiple tenants. Because these areas are under the landlord’s control, they are responsible for inspecting them, removing snow and ice, fixing drainage issues, and warning tenants about known hazards.
When Responsibility Belongs to the Landlord
The landlord is responsible when:
- The icy condition is in a common area
- The landlord has taken on the duty to clear the area in which the fall occurred through action or written agreements
- Tenants previously reported the hazard
- The landlord created or worsened the dangerous condition through building maintenance, such as leaking gutters or poor drainage
For example:
- At an apartment complex, a stairwell that leads only to one tenant’s unit is typically cleared by the landlord’s snow removal contractor. After a winter storm, ice forms on the steps and is not treated with salt. The tenant uses the stairwell, slips, and is injured. Because the landlord regularly handled snow and ice removal for this non-common area, the landlord may have assumed the duty to maintain its safety. In this situation, the landlord could still be held responsible for the tenant’s injuries.
- At an apartment building, a shared stairwell often freezes during the winter because water from a loose gutter above the landing runs down. Even after the issue is reported to the property landlords, the gutter is never repaired, and the area remains unsalted. When a resident slips and is injured one morning, the landlord may be liable. This is because the stairwell was considered a common area under the landlord’s control, they had notice, and the hazard resulted from poor maintenance.
When Responsibility Shifts to the Tenant
Responsibility may shift to the tenant when:
- The fall happens inside the tenant’s unit
- The tenant controls the area where the injury occurred
- The tenant created the hazard
- The lease clearly gives maintenance responsibility to the tenant for that specific area
Understanding who controls the area where the fall occurred helps determine whether the landlord is legally responsible.
For example:
- An individual renting an apartment with a private back patio fails to remove snow and ice after a storm. The lease clearly states that the tenant is responsible for removing snow and ice from the patio. If someone steps outside, slips, and is injured, the landlord is unlikely to be responsible for the injury. Since the patio is a private area under the tenant’s control and the lease assigns maintenance duties to the tenant, the responsibility lies with them.
- A tenant has a private stairwell that is used only by that unit and is not part of the apartment complex’s common walkways. The lease stipulates that the tenant is responsible for maintaining a clean and safe area. After a snowfall, the tenant does not clear the porch, and ice forms overnight. A guest visits the next day, walks onto the porch, slips on the ice, and is injured. Because the porch is a non-common area under the tenant’s control, the landlord is unlikely to be held responsible for the guest’s injuries. Responsibility would shift to the tenant since they were the ones required to maintain the area.
This same idea can apply to homeowners. If a homeowner controls the property and fails to clear snow and ice, they can be responsible if a guest slips and is injured. The duty to keep the area reasonably safe falls on the person who controls and maintains the property, whether they are a homeowner or a tenant.
Legal Option 3: Filing a Claim Against a Snow or Ice Removal Contractor
A contractor may be liable for any injuries that result from their work, creating or allowing dangerous conditions to form if a business, apartment complex, or property owner hires a snow or ice removal company. Contractors are expected to perform their services with due care and diligence that is relied upon by the property owner. When a contractor fails to do this, and someone is injured, they may be legally responsible for the fall.
Examples of Contractor Negligence
- Failing to salt or apply ice melt as required
- Only clearing part of a walkway and leaving dangerous, untreated areas
- Ignoring service requests after a refreeze
Scenario: A shopping center hires a snow removal contractor to clear the parking lot and walkways after a winter storm. The contractor plows the lot but does not salt the main sidewalk leading to the stores, despite the contract requiring both plowing and salting. When the untreated walkway freezes and a customer slips while approaching the entrance, the contractor may be liable. Since the contractor failed to perform the work they were hired to do, and the icy condition resulted from incomplete snow removal, the contractor may be responsible for the customer’s injuries.
How Property Owner Negligence Comes Into Play
To succeed in a slip and fall claim involving ice, certain elements must be proven. These elements help show whether the property owner is legally responsible for the injury. You must show that the property owner had a duty to keep the area reasonably safe, they knew or should have known of the danger, failed to do so, and directly caused the fall and subsequent damages. Negligence becomes essential when a property owner fails to take reasonable steps to maintain a safe area. In cases with snow and ice, the unsafe condition could have been prevented, and the property owner may be responsible for the fall.
A lawyer at Brown & Crouppen can help evaluate how the icy condition formed, determine whether negligence was involved, and explain your legal options if the fall could have been prevented.
How Weather Conditions Can Impact Your Claim
Property owners are not expected to remove ice while a storm is actively happening, and winter conditions can change quickly as temperatures rise and fall. Claims often depend on whether the owner had a reasonable amount of time to address the hazard after the weather changed or if they had notice. Refreezing, sudden temperature drops, and ongoing precipitation can all affect the time a property owner has to respond.
How to Determine Fault in a Slip and Fall on Ice Accident
In both Illinois and Missouri, comparative fault comes into play in slip and fall lawsuits. This means a jury can divide responsibility for the accident between the injured person and the property owner, which directly affects the damages awarded.
Illinois (Modified Comparative Negligence): A plaintiff may recover damages even if they are partly at fault, but only if they are 50% or less responsible. If they are 51% or more at fault, they recover nothing.
Missouri (Pure Comparative Fault): A plaintiff may recover damages even if they are more than 50% at fault. However, the total recovery is reduced by their percentage of fault.
Example:
An individual is walking through a store while looking at their phone. They slip on ice that accumulated through an unnatural accumulation of ice and are injured. At trial, the jury found the customer was 20% at fault due to distraction, but the store was still found negligent for not cleaning up the spill.
- If the verdict is $100,000, the plaintiff recovers $80,000 after a 20% reduction.
- In Illinois, if the jury instead found the plaintiff 51% at fault, the plaintiff would recover nothing.
- In Missouri, even if the plaintiff were found 80% at fault, they could still recover 20% of the damages ($20,000).
Photos & Videos
Ice can melt, refreeze, or be cleared quickly, making early documentation crucial. Taking photos or videos of the scene can capture exactly what the walkway looked like at the time of the fall. Images of the ice itself, nearby gutters or downspouts, snow piles, footprints, or untreated walkways can be valuable. Suppose your fall occurred at a business or other location with surveillance. In that case, an attorney can send a preservation letter to the property owner, requiring them to retain any surveillance footage of the incident. These images can show the condition of the property at the exact time of your fall.
Lease and Policies
Understanding the relationship between the injured party and the property owner is crucial to establishing their duty of care. A lease can outline the agreement of responsibility regarding snow and ice. Company policies can also help establish what steps the property owner was supposed to take. Written procedures for snow removal, salting, inspections, and responding to reported hazards can indicate whether the owner adhered to their own safety standards.
Incident Reports
If your fall happened at a business, an internal incident report was likely created. These reports can document what the staff observed, when they became aware of the hazardous condition, and the actions they were expected to take. Incident reports, along with cleaning logs or inspection records, may help demonstrate whether the business followed proper safety procedures or failed to address the icy area promptly.
Available Compensation After a Slip and Fall on Ice
Economic Damages
Examples of economic damages include:
- All medical bills
- Future medical expenses for ongoing treatment
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earning capacity, if you’re unable to return to your job
Non-Economic Damages
Examples of non-economic damages include:
- Pain and suffering from the injury and recovery
- Emotional distress, anxiety, and depression caused by the accident
- Loss of normal life and the ability to engage in your typical hobbies and activities
Get Help from A Personal Injury Attorney at Brown & Crouppen
When dealing with a slip and fall accident claim on ice, it is crucial to consult with an experienced attorney who can guide and advise you through the claim. Early legal intervention can help protect your rights and improve your chances of compensation. Choosing a lawyer is a crucial decision that should not be made without careful consideration.
Our legal team is here to help you learn more about your legal options and evaluate the strength of your slip & fall claim. We care about our community and have dedicated our practice to helping injury victims recover justice, accountability, and compensation.
Get started today with your free case evaluation online or by calling us at (314) 501-9510. Our St. Louis and Kansas City personal injury lawyers have helped clients recover over $1 billion in settlements and verdicts. And remember, there are no upfront costs or legal fees – we only get paid if you win.
