What can I do about a slip and fall case on my store parking lot?

Tell your insurance company. Tell the landlord's insurance company and relax.

Generally, you would not be responsible for harm suffered on your land by a trespasser if that harm results from a natural condition, like snow or ice. (If you dig a hole in the ground on your parking lot and leave it not covered and without protective barriers and warning signs and good lighting, you will be liable if a passer-by falls into that hole, because it's an artificial dangerous condition) In this case, however, the injured person might claim that he intended to shop at your store and came to your parking lot for that purpose. If he makes such a claim, and you cannot prove that it is not true, you will be held liable for his injury. Talk to your insurance carrier they have experience dealing with these matters, and it will ultimately be up to them whether to pay or to contest the claim.

1. Don't you have liability insurance? 2. You probably weren't negligent anyway; what did you do wrong? He doesn't have a good claim just because it's your property.

Call your insurance carrier or an attorney immediately.

You need to turn the claim over to your insurance company and let them handle sending a letter to him that he is not covered because he was not a customer [I am not sure that will be a successful defense because he will claim he was or was about to be, you have a duty to those reasonably forseeable to use the lot, etc.]. If the lot is shared with other businesses or not owned and operated by you, you might have no liability. The insurance adjuster will be more familiar with you state laws than I.

Your responsibility depends on a variety of factors including whether you or someone else is responsible for incidents that occur in the parking lot. Any leases or other contracts and/or whether you, your employee and/or your agent engaged in conduct or some other error that caused the incident. I have defended retail store companies against many lawsuits involving slip and falls.

I don't think the sign will help you. However, what you do is pass the claim onto your insurance company and let them handle it. That is why you are paying for it. Take advantage of it.

Turn it over to your premises liability carrier and let them worry about it. That's what you bought the policy for. Tell them everything you know. If your policy has a medical payments provision in it, it may pay for the medical bills only, regardless of liability.

In order to make a claim against a property owner (including stores, parking lots, apartments, etc) the injured party has to show that the owner knew or should have known of the hazard, had an opportunity to correct it, and failed to take action. So, he would have to prove that the you knew of the ice, had time to salt or sand it, and did not do so. The fact that he was not a customer has nothing to do with liability, though if you have "med-pay" coverage, that might not apply. More importantly, you must report this to your insurance company immediately and co-operate in full with the investigation, etc. If a claim is made, they will handle it. If you are sued, they will pay for a lawyer to defend you. This will apply even if the claim is bogus. Do not for a minute think that you are protecting yourself or your insurance company by handling this yourself. If your insurance company disclaims on the grounds that you did not timely report the incident, you will be stuck with significant legal bills that could end up costing more than paying the claim, bogus or not.