Slip and Fall on Ice: When Property Owners Are Liable

A Colorado property owner can be liable for a slip and fall on ice when they knew, or should have known, about the ice and failed to use reasonable care, if you were there as a customer or other invitee (C.R.S. § 13-21-115(4)(c)). Social guests must show the owner actually knew about the danger. Your own share of fault reduces the award, and most claims must be filed within two years (C.R.S. § 13-80-102).

What decides whether an owner is liable for an icy fall in Colorado?

1. 1. Why you were there: customer or tenant, social guest, or trespasser.
2. 2. Who controlled the spot where you fell: owner, tenant, manager, or a public entity.
3. 3. What the owner knew, or should have known, about the ice.
4. 4. How long the ice had been there, and whether the weather made it predictable.
5. 5. What the owner did about it: shoveling, salt, sand, mats, or a warning.
6. 6. What you did: your footwear, your path, and whether you were watching.

A patch of ice doesn't look like much until your feet go out from under you. One second you're walking into a store on Main or an apartment lot off Florida Road. The next, you're on the ground, stunned, holding a wrist that won't bend. Durango's winters make these falls common. Common doesn't mean harmless, and it doesn't mean nobody is responsible. The numbers back that up. An estimated 1.9 million U.S. adults report a fall injury in any three-month span, and ice or snow caused 6.2% of those falls (Timsina et al., PLoS ONE, 2017).

Does it matter whether I was a customer or a guest?

Your status as a visitor matters a lot. The Colorado Premises Liability Act sets a different duty for each kind of visitor, and the judge decides which one you were (C.R.S. § 13-21-115(6)).

• • Invitees include customers, clients, and others there on shared business or because the public is invited. They can recover for dangers the owner knew or should have known about.
• • Licensees include social guests. They can recover only for dangers the owner actually knew about.
• • Trespassers can recover only for harm the owner caused willfully or deliberately.

Most icy-entrance cases involve invitees: shoppers, restaurant guests, patients walking into a clinic, tenants and their visitors in shared walkways. That is the strongest position, because “should have known” covers ice the owner never saw but would have found with a reasonable check. One exception applies. On land taxed as agricultural or vacant, the invitee standard drops to dangers the owner actually knew about (C.R.S. § 13-21-115(4)(c)(II)).

Isn't ice just part of a Colorado winter?

Ice is part of winter, but the statute doesn't carve winter out. C.R.S. § 13-21-115(4)(c) asks whether the owner used reasonable care to protect invitees from dangers they knew or should have known about. Nothing in it exempts snow or ice. What courts and juries look at is whether the response was reasonable for the conditions. A dusting that fell twenty minutes ago is one thing. A sheet of ice by the front door that has refrozen every night for a week is another.

Why does Durango's melt-and-refreeze cycle matter for my claim?

Durango winters often melt by day and freeze by night. That pattern is predictable, and predictable dangers are harder to excuse. When an owner shovels but leaves meltwater to run across the walk and refreeze into smooth ice, the problem looks less like bad luck and more like a condition they helped create. It shows the owner had time to act and a reason to expect the ice. A downspout that dumps water onto a walkway is a classic example.

Who is responsible for an icy sidewalk outside a business?

Control matters as much as ownership. Colorado's act defines a “landowner” broadly, to include a person in possession of the property and anyone legally responsible for its condition (C.R.S. § 13-21-115(7)(b)). So a tenant business, a property manager, or an apartment company that runs the walkways can be the responsible party. If the fall happened on a public sidewalk or city property, different rules apply, and a written notice of claim is due within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. § 24-10-109). Miss it, and the claim is barred.

Does my own footwear or path reduce my claim?

Your own footwear and path can reduce a slip-and-fall award. The Premises Liability Act applies Colorado's comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. § 13-21-115(3)). If a jury finds you 20% at fault for flat-soled shoes on a clearly icy lot, a $90,000 award becomes $72,000. At 50% or more, you recover nothing (C.R.S. § 13-21-111). That's why the insurer will ask about your boots before it asks about the salt.

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With my nurse's hat on, the icy fall that worries me most isn't the obvious broken wrist. It's the head strike where the person gets up, laughs it off, and drives home. If your head touched the ice, get checked that day.

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What should I do right after slipping on ice?

1. 1. Photograph the ice before anyone salts it, with something in frame for scale.
2. 2. Photograph your shoes and the weather, including any melt streaks or downspouts.
3. 3. Report the fall to the manager and ask for a copy of any incident report.
4. 4. Get names and numbers from witnesses and employees.
5. 5. Get medical care the same day, especially after any hit to the head.
6. 6. Write down the time, and whether the walk had salt, sand, mats, or a warning sign.
7. 7. Ask a lawyer to request the store's snow logs and camera footage.

If you fell on ice in Durango or anywhere in La Plata County, our slip and fall practice can help you sort out who controlled the walkway and what they should have done. Our comparative negligence guide explains how shared fault works, and a free consultation with our personal injury practice is the easiest place to start.