What Happens If You Slipped and Got Injured While Shopping at a Store

Getting injured while shopping at a store doesn't mean the store is automatically responsible. After a slip and fall in a store, the store can be at fault if its own carelessness put the hazard there, or if the hazard sat long enough that a store paying attention should have found it. It comes down to whether the store knew, or should have known.

Wondering whether the store owes you anything is fair, not an overreaction. If you were injured in a fall while shopping in South Carolina, the team at Armada Law Injury Attorneys can help you figure out what comes next.

The Store Is Only at Fault If Something They Did or Did Not Do Caused Your Fall

It's easy to assume the store is responsible any time someone is injured there, but these examples show when the store may, or may not, be at fault:

South Carolina slip and fall law is stricter than the law in some other states. Our courts have said a store can't be held responsible for a fall on something on the floor unless you can prove the store created the hazard, or that it knew or should have known the hazard was there.

What Happens If You Got Injured in the Entrance or Parking Lot?

If your fall happened before you even reached the inside of the store, the responsible party may not be the store:

• The property owner or landlord may be responsible. Parking lots and sidewalks are often the landlord's, not the store's.
• An outside contractor may be responsible. Many properties hire separate companies for maintenance, ice treatment, and landscaping.
• The store usually still controls its own doorway. Entrance matting and the walkway right outside the doors normally belong to the store.

Who controlled the spot where you fell changes whose insurance a slip and fall claim goes to, so it's worth sorting that out early.

How Do You Prove That the Store Should Have Known About the Hazard?

There are several ways to prove the store should have known about the hazard, and most of that evidence is gone within minutes of you leaving the store. Photograph all of the following:

• Cart tracks or footprints through the spill.
• Dried, crusted, or darkened edges on a liquid spill.
• How far the spill spread, and what it came from.
• The empty aisle where a wet floor sign should have been.
• The sightlines around the spot.

Most chain stores also keep sweep logs showing when an aisle was last walked and checked, and a gap in those logs can carry as much weight as a photograph. That record usually isn't easy to get without one of our slip and fall lawyers asking for it.

What to Do in the First 48 Hours After a Slip and Fall in a Store

You should always try to get your fall documented before you leave the store, even if you feel fine right after. Documenting it there is what gives you the evidence to pursue a claim later:

• Ask for a manager, and ask for a written incident report. Get a copy or a reference number before you leave. A manager should handle this, so don't rely on another employee to write it up.
• Take photos before anything gets cleaned up. A spill is usually mopped within minutes.
• Get contact information for anyone who stopped to help. That customer is often the only neutral witness there will ever be.
• Ask the store in writing to preserve the security video. Name the time and location, then follow up by email.
• See a doctor within a day or two even if you feel fine. Say plainly that you fell at a store, so the cause is in your medical record.
• Keep the shoes and clothes you were wearing, unwashed. They can show what was on the floor and how you landed.
• Don't give a recorded statement yet. Wait until you understand the extent of your injuries.

Doing all of that doesn't mean you've decided to sue anybody, and most people who fall in a store aren't trying to. It protects you if symptoms show up later.

Do You Have to Sue the Store?

Not always. If you were injured in the fall, or the fall made a prior injury worse, you should try to get at least your medical bills covered. Most stores carry a business liability policy with a medical payments piece that pays a customer's medical bills regardless of fault, and it's worth asking about directly.

Under the standard business liability form, those expenses generally have to be both incurred and reported to the insurance company within one year of the fall, though policies vary. South Carolina gives you three years to file a lawsuit, so the no fault path can close two years before the courthouse door.

This won't cover time off work, pain and suffering, or changes to your everyday routine. If your injuries needed more than one visit to a doctor, it's best to contact one of our slip and fall lawyers, who can explain your legal options and the best path forward.

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Why the Store Stopped Returning Your Calls

If the store goes quiet after you file a report, that usually doesn't mean anyone is ignoring you. Once an incident report is filed, it moves to the company's insurance company and out of the hands of store employees.

It's common for an adjuster to call within days. Three things are worth slowing down on:

• Providing a medical authorization with no limits. It can open your entire medical history, which lets an adjuster argue that your injury was already there before you fell.
• Signing a release or settlement paper. It usually closes the claim for good, even if you find out later that the injury was worse than it looked.
• Being told the store has no insurance. Don't take that at face value, and ask one of our lawyers to check before you accept it.

You can ask for everything in writing and say you're not ready to give a statement. Neither one hurts your claim, and both help you if a first offer arrives early.

What If Part of It Was Your Fault?

In South Carolina, being partly responsible reduces what you recover by your share, and it only ends the claim if you were more than half at fault.

Stores commonly raise the same arguments to shift that percentage onto the shopper:

• You were looking at your phone.
• Your shoes had worn out soles or no grip.
• A wet floor sign was out and you walked past it.
• You were moving fast or carrying something that blocked your view.

It's important to know that none of these automatically end a claim. Being partly responsible doesn't mean you have nothing.

How Long Do You Have to Act in South Carolina?

In most cases, a South Carolina slip and fall claim gives you three years to file a lawsuit. However, several shorter clocks run out first:

• Store security video. Usually recorded over on a routine cycle unless somebody asks in writing to save it.
• The medical payments window. Commonly one year from the fall.
• Witnesses. People move, change numbers, and store staff turns over.
• Your medical timeline. A long gap before your first doctor visit gives the insurance company its argument.

If you fell at a store owned by a city, county, or state entity, the deadlines are shorter. Our South Carolina slip and fall attorneys can help you secure that evidence before it's gone.

What If the Injury Did Not Seem That Bad at First?

Some of the most serious fall injuries don't announce themselves on day one, which is why “I felt fine, so I didn't report it” is an expensive decision. We often see these injuries show up later:

• Back and disc injuries
• Tailbone and lower spine injuries
• Concussion symptoms
• Shoulder and wrist injuries

A fall that makes a prior injury worse still counts. Plenty of people never report a fall because it was humiliating, and that's the most common reason a real claim never gets documented.

You Don't Have to Figure Out What Comes Next by Yourself

You don't have to know whether you have a case before you reach out. Tell us what happened in the store and we'll tell you where you stand. A conversation with our team comes at no cost and with no commitment, and we want to make sure you have enough information to protect your future. Let the team at Armada Law Injury Attorneys help you understand the best path forward. Call us at 833-332-3128 or reach out through our contact form.