Unnatural Accumulation Versus Natural Accumulation of Ice and Snow
Whether a landowner is liable for an injury caused by someone falling on ice or snow depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. Like most areas of civil liability, the rules governing liability for falls on snow or ice are designed to be fair and reasonable. The rule makers attempt to balance the rights of the landowner against society’s interest in holding its members responsible for wrongful or negligent acts.
The general rule is that a landowner does not have a duty to remove natural accumulations of snow and ice. The Snow and Ice Removal Act (745 ILCS 74/0.01 et seq.) immunizes landowners against liability for falls on natural accumulations of ice and snow. This means, if a fall occurs as a result of a natural accumulation of ice and snow, the landowner will not be liable for the injuries caused by the fall.
A landowner owes a duty of reasonable care to prevent unnatural accumulations of ice and snow on his premises if he knows, or reasonably should know, of the condition.
The general rule of no liability for falls on natural accumulations of ice and snow recognizes that a contrary rule would create an unreasonable burden of vigilance upon a landowner to guard against falls on natural accumulations of ice and snow. Murphy-Hylton v. Liberman Management Services, Inc., 2016 IL 120394, ¶19 (2016). Illinois is a state with unpredictable snowfalls and temperature changes. A landowner cannot be certain when a snow storm is going to occur, or when temperatures will fall below freezing.
The Snow and Ice Removal Act only contemplates natural accumulations of ice and snow. A landowner owes a duty of reasonable care to prevent unnatural accumulations of ice and snow on his premises if he knows, or reasonably should know, of the condition. Id. at ¶ 20. A landowner will be liable for injuries caused by a fall on snow or ice if the accumulation of snow or ice is caused by “artificial causes or in an unnatural way or by [the landowner’s] own use of the area concerned and creation of the condition, and where it has been there long enough to charge the responsible party with notice and knowledge of the dangerous condition.” Fitzsimons v. National Tea Co., 29 Ill.App.2d 306, 316 (1961).
Under the unnatural accumulation rule, liability may arise if a condition on the property causes water to pool and freeze in a certain area, for instance, a leaky gutter, roof, or a depression in the ground that allows water to pool.
Landowners are not liable for falls on natural accumulations of ice and snow. However, a landowner might be liable if a condition on his property causes an unnatural accumulation of ice and he knows or should know about the condition. Civil liability law recognizes the difference between natural and unnatural accumulations of ice and snow as a matter of fairness. At the heart of civil liability law is the desire to reach a fair and equitable result. Falls on snow and ice are a nice example of the law realizing this purpose.
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