What to Do If You’re Injured in a Store or Restaurant in Florida

A quick trip to the grocery store. Dinner out with your family. A stop at the mall. These are ordinary moments — until a wet floor, a broken step, or a falling display rack turns them into an emergency.

Injuries in stores and restaurants happen more often than most people realize, and Florida’s high volume of retail traffic, tourism, and hospitality businesses makes premises liability one of the most common types of personal injury claims in the state. If you’ve been hurt at a business, what you do in the minutes, hours, and days after the incident can have a profound impact on whether you recover the compensation you deserve.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to protecting yourself — and your legal rights — after being injured in a Florida store or restaurant.

Step 1: Get Medical Attention — Immediately

Your health comes first. If your injuries are serious, call 911 or have someone take you to the nearest emergency room without delay.

Even if you feel “okay” in the moment, do not skip medical evaluation. Many injuries — soft tissue damage, concussions, internal injuries, and spinal trauma — may not produce obvious symptoms right away. Adrenaline masks pain. Swelling and stiffness from a fall may not fully set in until the next morning.

Seeking prompt medical care matters for two reasons:

• Your wellbeing — some injuries worsen rapidly if left untreated
• Your legal case — a gap between your accident and your first medical visit gives insurance companies ammunition to argue your injuries weren’t serious, or weren’t caused by the incident at all

See a doctor the same day if at all possible. Document every symptom, no matter how minor it seems.

Step 2: Report the Incident to the Manager — Before You Leave

Before you walk out of the store or restaurant, notify the manager on duty and request that a formal incident report be completed.

This is important for several reasons. The incident report creates an official, contemporaneous record of what happened, when it happened, and the conditions at the scene. It puts the business on notice of the injury, which matters for your legal claim. And it documents the dangerous condition before it can be cleaned up, repaired, or denied.

When the manager completes the report:

• Ask for a copy before you leave — you are entitled to one
• Make sure the report accurately describes what happened, where it happened, and the hazard involved
• Do not minimize your injuries or say “I’m fine” — simply state that you were injured and will be seeking medical attention
• Do not sign anything beyond a standard incident report — never sign a release or liability waiver at the scene

If a manager refuses to complete a report or denies that anything happened, document that refusal. Note the manager’s name, the time, and exactly what they said.

Step 3: Document Everything at the Scene

If you are physically able to do so, gather as much evidence as possible at the scene before anything changes.

Use your phone to photograph and video:

• The exact location where you fell or were injured
• The hazard that caused the accident — wet floor, spilled liquid, broken flooring, uneven surface, missing handrail, poorly stacked merchandise
• Any warning signs — or the notable absence of warning signs
• Your visible injuries
• The surrounding area, including lighting conditions and any obstructions that may have contributed

Look for surveillance cameras. Stores and restaurants typically have extensive camera systems. Note where cameras are positioned relative to where your accident occurred. Your attorney can later send a legal preservation letter demanding this footage be retained — but time is critical, as many systems overwrite footage within 24 to 72 hours.

Check for conditions that contributed to the hazard:

• Was the floor recently mopped without adequate warning?
• Was a refrigerator or display unit leaking?
• Was merchandise stacked unsafely?
• Was the lighting inadequate?
• Was there a known recurring hazard the business had failed to address?

All of these details matter later.

Step 4: Collect Witness Information

If anyone saw what happened — other customers, employees, or bystanders — get their contact information before they leave.

Eyewitnesses can corroborate your account of how the accident occurred and confirm that the hazard existed. Under Florida law, your ability to win a premises liability case often turns on proving that the business knew or should have known about the dangerous condition. A witness who saw the spill sitting there for 20 minutes before you fell, or who heard employees talking about the broken tile, can be critical to your case.

Collect:

• Full name
• Phone number
• Email address

Even a brief conversation while you’re waiting for the manager can yield important information about how long the condition had existed and whether any employees had been nearby.

Step 5: Preserve All Evidence After You Leave

Once you get home, your evidence-gathering isn’t over.

• Keep the clothing and shoes you were wearing at the time of the accident. Do not wash them. They may show physical evidence of the substance you slipped on, and the condition of your footwear may become relevant if the business tries to blame your shoes for the fall.
• Write down everything you remember about the incident as soon as possible — while your memory is fresh. Include the time, location, what you were doing, exactly where the hazard was, whether there were any warning signs, what employees said, and the names of anyone you spoke with.
• Begin an injury journal. Starting the day after the accident, keep a daily record of your pain levels, physical limitations, sleep disruption, emotional distress, and any ways the injury is affecting your daily life, work, or relationships. This documentation becomes powerful evidence of your pain and suffering damages.
• Save all medical records and bills. Request copies of every record — emergency room notes, physician visits, imaging results, physical therapy records, prescriptions — and keep them organized.
• Track all out-of-pocket expenses related to the injury: transportation to appointments, over-the-counter medications, assistive devices, home modifications, and any services you had to hire because you couldn’t perform them yourself.

Step 6: Be Careful What You Say — To the Business and Its Insurer

After a store or restaurant injury, you will almost certainly be contacted by the business’s insurance company. Be very careful.

Do not give a recorded statement to the business’s insurer without first speaking to an attorney. Insurance adjusters are trained to ask questions in ways designed to minimize your claim or build a case that you were at fault. Anything you say — including seemingly harmless statements like “I should have been watching where I was going” — can be used against you.

Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence law, if you are found to be more than 50% at fault for your own accident, you cannot recover any compensation. Even if you are found partially at fault but under 50%, your damages are reduced proportionally. Insurers know this, and they will work hard to shift blame onto you.

Similarly, avoid posting about the accident on social media. Insurers routinely monitor claimants’ accounts for photos, check-ins, or statements that can be used to dispute the severity of your injuries.

Step 7: Understand Florida’s Premises Liability Law

Florida law requires that property owners and businesses maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition for customers and visitors. When they fail to do so and someone is injured, they can be held legally liable.

However, Florida’s premises liability standard requires more than simply showing that a hazard existed. You must demonstrate that the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and failed to act.

• Actual knowledge means the business knew about the hazard — for example, an employee created the spill or was told about it.
• Constructive knowledge means the business should have known about the hazard because it existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have discovered it, or because it was a recurring condition the business should have been monitoring.

This is why evidence about how long the hazard existed — captured in surveillance footage, witnessed by bystanders, or documented in maintenance logs — is so critical to your case.

Step 8: Contact a Florida Personal Injury Attorney

Florida’s premises liability law is specific and technical, and businesses and their insurers have experienced legal teams working to minimize or deny your claim from the moment the incident is reported. You deserve the same level of advocacy.

An experienced Florida personal injury attorney can:

• Immediately send legal preservation letters to secure surveillance footage before it’s overwritten
• Obtain maintenance logs, inspection records, and prior incident reports from the business
• Investigate whether similar accidents have occurred at the same location
• Work with medical experts to document and project your full damages
• Handle all negotiations with the insurer on your behalf
• File suit and take your case to trial if the business refuses to offer fair compensation

Florida’s statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of your injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. While two years may seem like a long time, the most important evidence — especially surveillance footage — disappears within days. Do not wait.

Common Causes of Store and Restaurant Injuries in Florida

Florida’s climate, heavy foot traffic, and hospitality industry contribute to a wide range of premises liability accidents, including:

• Slip and fall on wet or slippery floors — from spills, mopping, tracked-in rain, or leaking refrigeration units
• Trip and fall on uneven surfaces — broken tiles, damaged flooring, raised thresholds, or uneven pavement in parking lots
• Falling merchandise — improperly stacked shelving or display units that collapse onto customers
• Inadequate lighting — dark aisles, parking lots, or stairwells that obscure hazards
• Broken or missing handrails — on steps and staircases inside or outside the business
• Food contamination injuries — illness caused by improperly prepared or stored food
• Parking lot accidents — poorly maintained lots, inadequate lighting, or negligent security in high-crime areas
• Inadequate security — in Florida, property owners can be liable for criminal acts against customers when foreseeable harm was not reasonably prevented

What Compensation May Be Available

If you are injured in a Florida store or restaurant due to the business’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for:

• Medical expenses — past and future, including emergency care, surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, and ongoing treatment
• Lost wages — income lost during your recovery period
• Diminished earning capacity — if your injuries permanently affect your ability to work
• Pain and suffering — physical pain and emotional distress caused by the injury
• Loss of enjoyment of life — if the injury limits your ability to participate in activities you previously enjoyed
• Out-of-pocket expenses — costs incurred as a direct result of the injury

Injured in a Florida Store or Restaurant? We Can Help.

Being hurt at a business through no fault of your own is frustrating, painful, and often financially devastating. You shouldn’t have to fight the business’s insurer alone.

At Mark Schiffrin P. A. , we understand Florida’s premises liability laws and know how to build cases that hold negligent businesses accountable. We handle every aspect of your claim — from evidence preservation to trial — so you can focus on your recovery.

Contact Mark Schiffrin P. A. today for a free, no-obligation consultation.