Tennessee Slip and Fall & Premises Liability
In a Tennessee slip-and-fall (premises liability) claim, you must show the property owner created the dangerous condition or had actual or constructive notice of it and failed to fix or warn. Premises liability is largely common law, not a single statute. Comparative fault and the strict one-year deadline both apply.
By Find Local Law Editorial Team · Last reviewed: May 25, 2026
Researched and drafted with AI assistance and verified against primary sources (statutes, Judicial Council forms, and official court websites). This is general information, not legal advice.
This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a Tennessee attorney promptly — the one-year deadline applies.
A slip-and-fall (or trip-and-fall) is a premises liability claim. In Tennessee, premises liability is largely judge-made common law rather than a single statute, so don’t expect one code section to define it.
The owner’s duty
A property owner or occupier owes a duty of reasonable care to keep the premises reasonably safe and to warn of or fix dangerous conditions. But you can’t recover just because you fell — you have to prove the owner was at fault.
The notice requirement (the key element)
The hardest part of most slip-and-fall cases is notice. You generally must show the owner either:
- Created the dangerous condition (for example, an employee left a spill), or
- Had actual or constructive notice of it before your injury.
Constructive notice means the hazard existed long enough — or recurred often enough — that a reasonably careful owner should have discovered and addressed it. Proving how long a spill or hazard was present is often the crux of the case.
Comparative fault and the deadline
Tennessee’s modified comparative fault applies — if you were partly to blame, your recovery is reduced, and at 50% or more you recover nothing. And the standard one-year deadline (T.C.A. § 28-3-104) applies. To get matched with a local Tennessee premises-liability attorney, connect with a lawyer.
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Start your free intakeFrequently asked questions
- What do I have to prove in a Tennessee slip-and-fall case?
- Beyond the usual negligence elements, you generally must show the property owner either created the dangerous condition or had actual or constructive notice of it before your injury — and failed to fix it or warn you.
- What is 'constructive notice'?
- It means the hazard existed long enough (or recurred often enough) that a reasonably careful owner should have discovered and addressed it — even if they didn't have actual knowledge.
- Can my own carelessness reduce my recovery?
- Yes. Tennessee's modified comparative fault applies — if you were partly at fault (for example, not watching where you walked), your recovery is reduced, and at 50% or more you recover nothing.
Sources
Related guides
- Tennessee Bus Accident Claims Bus accident claims in Tennessee depend on who owns the bus. Private carriers are ordinary negligence claims. But claims against a public bus (city transit, a school bus) fall under the Governmental Tort Liability Act (T.C.A. § 29-20-101 et seq.), which has strict deadlines, caps recovery ($300,000 per person / $700,000 per accident), and bars punitive damages.
- Tennessee Car Accident Claims Tennessee is an at-fault state, so the driver who caused a crash (through their insurer) is responsible for the other party's damages. Claims are ordinary negligence cases governed by the strict one-year filing deadline (T.C.A. § 28-3-104) and modified comparative fault. Drivers must carry at least 25/50/15 liability coverage.
- Tennessee Medical Malpractice (Health Care Liability) Tennessee calls medical malpractice a 'health care liability action,' and it has strict, distinctive procedural traps: you must give each provider 60 days' written pre-suit notice (T.C.A. § 29-26-121) and file a certificate of good faith with the complaint (§ 29-26-122). The one-year deadline applies, with a three-year statute of repose as the outer limit (§ 29-26-116).
- Tennessee Motorcycle Accident Claims Motorcycle crash claims in Tennessee are negligence cases under the same one-year deadline and comparative-fault rules as other vehicle accidents. Tennessee has a universal helmet law (T.C.A. § 55-9-302) requiring all riders and passengers to wear a helmet, and how helmet use affects a claim is a fact-specific comparative-fault question.
- Tennessee Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Claims Many Tennessee nursing home abuse and neglect claims are classified as 'health care liability actions,' meaning the pre-suit notice (T.C.A. § 29-26-121) and certificate-of-good-faith (§ 29-26-122) requirements may apply. Whether a specific claim falls under those rules is fact-specific, and conduct may also support abuse/neglect theories.
- Tennessee Pedestrian Accident Claims A pedestrian hurt by a driver's negligence in Tennessee can bring a claim under the same one-year deadline and comparative-fault rules as other accidents. Drivers must yield to pedestrians lawfully in a crosswalk, while pedestrians crossing outside one generally must yield — and a pedestrian's own fault can reduce or, at 50% or more, bar recovery.
- Related area: Workers' Compensation in Tennessee