You slipped and fell on a city sidewalk. Maybe you tripped over an uneven surface at a public park, fell on a wet floor in a government building, or were injured somewhere else owned or maintained by a government entity.
Your first thought might simply be, “Someone needs to fix this.” But when the property belongs to a government entity, figuring out whether you have a claim can be different from a typical slip and fall.
Utah has specific rules for claims against government entities, including special notice requirements and deadlines. So if you’ve been injured on public property, there are a few things worth knowing early on.
Why Is a Slip and Fall on Public Property Different?
When you fall at a privately owned business, you generally know who owns the property. A grocery store, for example, has a business and an insurance company that you can identify.
Public property can be different because government entities have legal protections that private property owners don’t have. Utah’s Governmental Immunity Act generally protects government entities from lawsuits, but the law also creates exceptions for certain injuries caused by dangerous or defective conditions on public property.
That doesn’t mean the government is off the hook when someone is injured on public property. If a government entity was responsible for maintaining an area and a dangerous or defective condition caused your fall, there may be a claim. The important questions are what caused your fall, who was responsible for that condition, and whether the circumstances meet Utah’s requirements for bringing a claim.
Who Is Responsible for the Property?
Before you can determine whether you have a claim, you need to know who owned or maintained the area where you fell.
Sometimes that’s easy. A fall inside a city building may clearly involve the city. A fall at a public park may point to the city or county. Other situations aren’t quite so obvious. You might fall on a sidewalk outside a government building, in a parking lot, or at a public facility where it’s not immediately clear which entity is responsible for maintaining the area.
A property may be publicly accessible without being publicly owned. A shopping center, for example, is open to the public but is still private property. And even when you’re on government property, different entities may have responsibility for different parts of the property.
Determining ownership and maintenance responsibility is part of investigating the claim. It can also help determine which rules and notice requirements apply.
What Should I Do After a Fall?
If you’re able to do so safely, take pictures of what caused you to fall and the surrounding area. A picture of a cracked sidewalk or wet floor is useful, but pictures that show where that condition was located can provide important context, too.
Report the fall to the person or office responsible for the property, and make a note of when and how you reported it. If anyone witnessed what happened, get their contact information if possible.
Then, focus on your health. Get medical attention when you need it, follow your provider’s recommendations, and keep records of your treatment and related expenses.
Don’t worry if you weren’t able to do all of these things immediately after the fall. You may have been hurt, shaken up, or simply trying to get home. Do what you can to preserve information about what happened.
There’s a Deadline You May Not Know About
This is an important difference between a public-property claim and a typical slip and fall.
In Utah, a claim against a government entity generally requires a written notice of claim. That notice generally must be filed within one year after the claim arises, and it has specific requirements about what information needs to be included and where it needs to be delivered.
There are also additional timing rules after the notice is filed, including a deadline for bringing a lawsuit. Under current Utah law, a claimant generally cannot file an action until 60 days after the notice of claim is filed, and the action generally must be commenced within two years after the claim arises.
These deadlines can be easy to miss because they aren’t the same as the deadlines that apply to every personal injury claim. If you think a government entity may be involved in your fall, it’s important to find out what deadlines apply to your situation rather than assuming you have the same amount of time you would have for a private-property claim.
What If I’m Not Sure Whether I Have a Claim?
You may know exactly what happened when you fell but still have no idea whether the circumstances are enough to support a claim.
If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall on public property in Utah, we’re happy to talk through what happened with you and help you understand what may apply to your situation.