A Customer Slipped and Fell in My Shop. What Should I Do?

A customer slipped and fell in my restaurant. What do I do first?

Take care of the person first. Ask if they are hurt, offer to call paramedics, and do not move someone who may have hit their head or hurt a hip. Being kind costs you nothing and it is the right thing to do. What you want to avoid is saying anything that accepts blame, because fault is a legal question your carrier and their adjuster will sort out, and a rushed apology in front of witnesses can be quoted back at you months later.

Then preserve what happened before it disappears. Photograph the floor from several angles while the hazard is still there, including the spill, the mat, the lighting, and anything the customer was carrying or wearing on their feet. Save the security video the same day, because most systems overwrite themselves in a week or two and a lost clip is often the difference between a claim your carrier can defend and one they simply pay.

Write an incident report before the shift ends, while memories are fresh. Record the date and time, exactly where it happened, what the person said, what they were doing, the names and phone numbers of any employees and customers who saw it, and when the area was last cleaned or inspected. Get the customer's name and contact information, and tell them your insurance company will follow up. Then call your broker or carrier, even if the person walked away saying they were fine.

Does my general liability insurance cover a customer's fall?

Yes, that is the core of the coverage. The bodily injury part of a general liability policy responds when a customer is hurt on your premises because of something you did or failed to fix. It pays the medical bills and any settlement or judgment up to your limit, and it pays for the defense lawyer separately in most forms, which matters because legal fees on even a modest claim can run into real money.

Most policies also carry a small medical payments limit, often somewhere between five and ten thousand dollars, that works differently. Med pay covers immediate medical expenses without anyone having to prove you were at fault. Used early, it can close out a minor fall quickly and keep a customer from calling a lawyer, so it is worth asking your broker what your med pay limit is before you need it.

A typical small business carries a one million dollar per occurrence limit with a two million dollar aggregate for the year, and those are the numbers most commercial leases and vendor contracts require. Whether that is enough depends on your foot traffic and what happens on your floor. A restaurant with a patio, a salon with wet tile, or a shop with steps at the entry has more exposure than a quiet office, and a commercial umbrella sitting above the liability policy is an inexpensive way to raise the ceiling.

Am I automatically at fault if someone falls in my shop?

No. California law asks whether you used reasonable care, not whether the floor was perfect. A business has a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe, and liability usually turns on whether you knew about the hazard or should have known about it and had a reasonable chance to fix or warn about it. A drink spilled thirty seconds before the fall is very different from a leak that dripped in the same spot for a week.

That is why your cleaning and inspection routine is really a legal document. If your staff walks the floor on a schedule, signs a log, and puts out a wet floor sign every time, you have evidence that you were paying attention. If nobody can say when the floor was last checked, the law's should have known standard tends to fill that silence in the customer's favor, because a reasonable inspection program would have caught it.

Comparative fault also matters in California. If the customer was looking at their phone, stepped over a cone, or wore shoes with no tread, a share of the responsibility can shift to them and reduce what is owed. You do not decide any of that yourself, though. You document what you saw, hand it to your carrier, and let the adjuster and the lawyers weigh it.

What mistakes turn a small fall into a big claim?

The most common one is paying out of pocket. An owner writes a check for the emergency room visit, hoping it ends there, and then a lawyer appears six months later for the surgery. Now the carrier is late to the file, the payment looks like an admission, and the goodwill bought nothing. Report it, let the med pay limit do this job, and keep your own money out of it.

The second is late notice. Policies require prompt reporting, and carriers can push back on a claim they learn about a year after the fall, when the video is gone and the witnesses have quit. Because California gives an injured person two years to file, the gap between the fall and the letter is often long. Report every fall, including the ones where the customer waves you off, so your carrier has a file open from day one.

The third is having the wrong policy or no policy at all. A general liability policy that excludes the thing you actually do, a limit your landlord's lease outgrew years ago, or a lapse between renewals all show up at the worst possible moment. So does missing coverage next door to the fall, such as liquor liability if drinks were served, or professional liability if the injury involved a service rather than the floor.

Get a free liability review, in English or Vietnamese

A short review before anything happens is worth more than a scramble afterward. We look at your general liability limits, your medical payments limit, whether your lease or your vendor contracts require more than you carry, and whether an umbrella makes sense for the traffic through your door.

As an independent brokerage in Fountain Valley, we work with many carriers, so we can compare how different companies price and handle customer injury claims for restaurants, nail salons, auto shops, and retail stores, and explain the fine print in plain language. We can also help you set up a simple floor inspection log that stands up later.

We help business owners across Westminster, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Huntington Beach, and all of Orange County. Reach out for a free business liability review and quote, in English or Vietnamese, and know what your policy would do before someone falls.

Frequently asked questions

Should I pay a customer's medical bill myself after a fall?

Generally no. Paying out of pocket can look like an admission of fault and leaves your carrier out of the loop if the injury turns out to be serious. Report the fall instead and ask your broker about the medical payments limit on your policy, which is designed to cover immediate bills without a fault finding.

Does general liability insurance pay for a slip and fall?

Yes. The bodily injury section of a general liability policy covers customer injuries on your premises, pays medical costs and any settlement up to your limit, and in most forms pays defense costs separately. Most small businesses carry a one million dollar per occurrence limit.

How long does a customer have to sue my business in California?

Two years from the date of the injury for most personal injury claims. That is why a fall in the summer can produce a demand letter the following year, and why you should report every incident right away and save the video and the incident report even when the customer says they are fine.

Am I liable if the customer was not paying attention?

Not necessarily. California uses comparative fault, so a customer who ignored a warning sign or was distracted can carry part of the responsibility, which reduces what your policy owes. Liability still depends on whether you knew or should have known about the hazard and had time to fix it.

What should an incident report include?

The date, time, and exact location, what the customer said and what they were doing, photos of the hazard and the surrounding area, the names and phone numbers of employees and witnesses, when the floor was last cleaned or inspected, and the customer's contact information. Save the security video the same day.