Content reviewed by:
Alex Shulman
You may be able to recover money for your medical bills, lost wages, future care, pain and suffering, and, in rare cases, punitive damages if someone else’s carelessness caused your injury on their property. Your spouse may also have a separate claim for loss of consortium. What you collect depends on proof of fault and proof of each loss.
The damages you can recover in a New York premises liability case depend on how the injury changed your life. A wet lobby floor and a broken elevator can lead to very different claims. At Shulman & Hill Injury Lawyers, our premises liability lawyer in New York looks at two things in every claim: who was at fault and what the injury cost you.
What Do You Have to Prove Before You Can Recover Damages?
Getting hurt on someone else’s property does not mean you get paid automatically. You generally have to show that someone had a duty to keep the property safe, failed to do so, and caused your injury. That party could be an owner, a landlord, a tenant, or an elevator repair company, based on who controlled the hazard.
In many cases, you also have to show the party caused the hazard or knew about it, which the law calls notice. Actual notice means they knew. Constructive notice means the hazard was easy to see and sat there long enough that a careful owner would have found and fixed it.
Shulman & Hill uses its own in-house investigators for this step. Photos, video, repair records, and witness statements can show how long a hazard sat there. Without that proof, the question of damages may never come up.
What Economic Damages Can You Recover in a New York Premises Liability Case?
Economic damages repay the money an injury costs you. They cover bills you have already paid and costs you are likely to face later. Depending on your injury, these damages may include:
- Medical bills: Emergency care, hospital stays, surgery, scans, medication, and follow-up visits.
- Lost wages: Pay you missed while you could not work or had to leave work for treatment.
- Future care: Surgery, therapy, home help, or equipment a doctor says you will likely need later.
- Lost earning power: Income you may lose in the years ahead if the injury limits the work you can do.
- Out-of-pocket costs: Rides to appointments, changes to your home, and other costs the injury caused.
Future losses need more than a guess. A doctor, a care planner, or an economist may estimate what care will cost over time and what that money is worth today. At Shulman & Hill, we often see future care become the largest part of a claim when an injury is permanent.
Can You Recover Money for Pain and Suffering?
Yes. Pain and suffering is a loss that has no bill or receipt. It can cover pain, stress, scars, and the loss of things you used to enjoy, like cooking for your family or playing a pickup game on the weekend.
There is no set formula. A jury looks at how serious the injury is, how long it lasts, and how much it changes your daily life. Appellate courts can lower or raise an award that strays too far from what courts allowed for similar injuries.
Your own words matter here. A short journal of pain levels, missed events, and tasks you can no longer do can help a jury see the loss, and Shulman & Hill may use those notes alongside your medical records.
Can Your Spouse Claim Loss of Consortium?
Your husband or wife may have a separate claim called loss of consortium. It covers what your spouse lost because of your injury, such as companionship, help around the house, emotional support, and intimacy.
This claim has limits. You must have been married when the injury happened, and the claim is generally not available to unmarried partners or to children. It also depends on your case: if your claim fails, your spouse’s claim usually fails too.
Shulman & Hill may include a consortium claim when an injury changes a marriage in real ways, such as a spouse becoming a full-time caregiver. Your spouse’s own account of daily life before and after the injury often carries real weight.
When Are Punitive Damages Available?
Punitive damages punish a defendant rather than repay you. They are rare in premises liability cases. Ordinary carelessness, like failing to mop up a spill, is not enough.
Courts generally require reckless conduct or a knowing disregard for other people’s safety. One example might be a landlord who ignores repeated written warnings about a broken elevator door and keeps the elevator running. Even then, a jury decides whether the facts justify punishment.
State law generally bars insurance from paying punitive damages, so any award usually comes from the defendant. Shulman & Hill reviews whether the facts support this claim before raising it, since a weak punitive claim can distract from the losses you can prove.
What Evidence Shows the Value of Your Damages?
Proof of fault and proof of damages are separate jobs. An incident report shows when and where you were hurt, but it does not show what your injury cost. Evidence that may support your damages includes:
- Medical records showing your diagnosis, treatment, work limits, and expected recovery
- Bills and receipts for every injury-related expense
- Pay stubs, tax returns, and employer letters showing lost income
- Photos and journal notes tracking visible injuries and changes in your daily routine
- Doctor opinions about future care and permanent limits
Insurance companies often argue that an injury came from an older condition. Honest medical records can show the difference between an old problem and a new injury or one the fall made worse. Shulman & Hill has recovered more than $1 billion for clients, and building this kind of paper trail is a core part of how we prepare a claim.
How Does Shared Fault Affect Premises Liability Damages in New York?
The state follows pure comparative fault. If you were partly to blame, your award goes down by your share of the fault, but you can still recover something. For example, if your damages total $100,000 and a jury finds you 20% at fault, you would generally receive $80,000.
No general cap limits premises liability damages in New York. Still, a court may cut your award by amounts that health insurance or other sources already paid. The size of the defendant’s policy can also affect what you collect.
Insurers sometimes push a larger share of blame onto the injured person to cut what they pay. Shulman & Hill uses scene evidence and witness accounts to challenge fault numbers the facts do not support.
Get Answers About Your Property Injury Claim
The damages in a premises liability case in New York depend on two things: proof that someone else was at fault and proof of what the injury cost you. Medical bills and lost wages are only part of the picture. Future care, pain and suffering, and your spouse’s losses may add up to far more than the bills on your kitchen table.
Shulman & Hill works on contingency, so you pay no fee unless we win. Contact Shulman & Hill today for a free case review and find out what your claim may be worth.