Hot Water Burn Injury Lawyers in New York – Don’t Get Burned Twice!

The Right Hot Water Burn Injury Lawyer in New York

A scalding or hot water burn injury in New York is worth a lot of money, even millions of dollars. Don’t get burned twice with the wrong hot water burn injury lawyer.

Hot water burn injury cases are more complicated than other accident cases, but they are easier to settle for more money and can settle faster. However, many personal injury lawyers will settle your case for too little money.

Because hot water burn injury cases are more complicated than other personal injury cases, you should consult immediately with a New York hot water burn injury lawyer.

Call a hot water burn injury lawyer at 1-800-HURT-911® New York to get a free consultation to discuss your rights, how much money you can get for a hot water burn injury, medical treatment, and any other questions you may have.

Wondering what to look for in a hot water burn injury lawyer or what questions to ask a hot water burn injury lawyer? See How to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer-12 Questions To Ask Before You Make a Mistake.

How Much Money Is a Hot Water Burn Injury Worth?

Most burn injuries from hot water or scaling water are worth as much as a million dollars and much more because hot water burn injuries are permanent, lifelong injuries and can require skin grafts, surgeries, substantial physical therapy, embarrassment, emotional difficulties, additional living expenses, and lost income.

You are entitled to substantial money as compensation from the person or companies responsible for causing your injury, for pain and suffering, embarrassment, the cost of plastic surgery, all other medical expenses, and living expenses as a result of your burn injury.

Even minor burn injuries from hot water can be worth a substantial amount of money to compensate you for your injury.

Who Will Pay My Medical Bills From a Hot Water Burn Injury?

No matter what insurance initially pays your medical bills, your landlord is responsible for reimbursing the insurance company for all of your past and future medical bills.

Your landlord may have insurance to pay for some medical expenses upfront. If you have private health insurance, your health insurance will pay for your medical treatment. If you don’t have Medicaid but can qualify for Medicaid, you can get Medicaid retroactively for 90 days.

If you have one or more scars from a burn caused by hot water and don’t have health insurance, we may be able to get you the money to pay for plastic surgery immediately, so you won’t have to wait for your case to settle.

If you don’t have health insurance, we can get financing for your plastic surgery so you don’t have to pay anything upfront. At the end of your case, we will make your landlord pay for your medical expenses, and we can even make your landlord pay the interest charged by the lawsuit cash advance company for financing your surgery before your hot water burn case settles.

Burned by Hot Water in Your NYC Apartment?

New York City regulations require apartment buildings to deliver hot water to bathtubs, showers, and bathroom sinks at no less than 120 °F. But burns causing serious injury can occur at 124°F.

NYC apartment landlords often fail to comply with the many New York City and building code regulations for the installation and maintenance of hot water safety equipment.

Why Was I Burned by Hot Water in My Apartment?

When hot water safety equipment fails, people get burned. The most common ways people get burned by hot water are:

1. Getting in a shower, and the water is cold. You quickly raise the hot water, but the water is dangerously hot and burns you.
2. Getting in a bathtub and not realizing the water is dangerously hot.

Call the hot water burn lawyers in New York and get the HURT911® Personal Injury Dream Team™ on your side! Let us hire a plumbing engineering expert to determine the exact cause of your hot water burn and prove that your landlord was 100% at fault for failing to maintain hot water safety equipment.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Serious Burn from Hot Water?

This chart shows how long it takes to get a serious burn from hot water in your apartment. The chart shows that you can get a serious hot water burn in three minutes at only 4° above the temperature required of landlords for New York City apartments.

While a serious burn can be caused in only one second at 156°F, a search online found people discussing that the hot water in their New York City apartment was erratic and sometimes above 180°F!

A serious burn injury from hot water can be caused in only 1 second when water is 156 degrees and 2 seconds at 149 degrees. At 140 degrees, it takes 5 seconds, and at 133 degrees, it takes 15 seconds.

Water Temperature | Length of Time to Cause A Severe Burn
156°  |  1 second!
149°  |  2 seconds
140°  |  5 seconds
133°  |  15 seconds
127°  |  60 seconds
124°  |  3 minutes
106°  |  sensation of pain

Hot Tub Spa Temperatures (as a comparison to baths and showers)

According to Jacuzzi^®, most hot tub (spa) users prefer a water temperature range of 100°F-102°F. 104°F is the standard maximum temperature. Children under age 5 should not be in spas or hot tubs over 95°F and should not be in a tub for more than 5-10 minutes at a time.

HotSpring^® says to set the temperature at or below 104 degrees for adults and that most people set their hot tub between 100° and 102°.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission says hot tub water temperatures should never exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit. A temperature of 100 degrees is considered safe for a healthy adult, but special caution is suggested for young children.

Bath and Shower Water Temperature

People usually take a bath or shower with water between 90 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

So why does New York City require hot water at a minimum of 120° to be delivered to your apartment all year long, only 4° below a dangerous temperature?

Because if hot water were delivered at a cooler temperature, by the time it arrived in your bathroom, it would not be hot enough, particularly in large apartment buildings in New York.

Also, see the Hot water fact sheet for buildings in New York City.

When your hot water causes a burn, get a free consultation with a personal injury hot water burn injury lawyer in New York and get the HURT911® Personal Injury Dream Team™ on your side!

What Is The Difference Between Degrees of Burns?

This chart shows an image of your skin and the difference between a first-degree burn, second-degree burn, and third-degree burn.

Second-degree burns and third-degree burns are serious burn injuries and can cause serious scars.

Third-degree burns are full-thickness burns that go through the dermis. Third-degree burns usually require skin grafting.

Fourth-degree burns involve injury to deep tissues, such as muscle, tendons, or bone.

What Causes Hot Water Scalding Burns in Apartments?

Most scalding burns are caused in an apartment by hot water in a bathtub, shower, or bathroom sink although radiators, pipes, and hot coffee, tea, and other drinks also cause burns.

Residents do not have any control over the boiler or hot water system in apartment buildings. Only the landlord can install or maintain systems and valves to prevent serious hot water burns.

When hot water safety equipment fails, the landlord is usually negligent when people are burned.

Scalding Burns Caused By Defective Radiators

Another problem in New York apartment buildings is defective radiators that can cause severe scalding burns.

Two girls were scalded to death by a steam radiator in the Bronx in December 2016. The valve on the radiator had come off, which caused steam to escape and burn the girls to death.

The valve was likely defective, although Mayor Bill de Blasio said it was a freak accident. New York City investigators did not determine how the valve came off the radiator. There is no such thing as a freak accident, but there probably was negligence for failing to maintain hot water safety equipment.

If we were the family’s attorneys, we would hire an expert engineer to determine the exact cause and prove that New York City, the landlord, was 100% at fault.

Scalding Burn Caused By Hot Water Pipes

Hot water pipes severely burned a two-year-old boy in his apartment in an NYCHA building. Although the pipe was supposed to be insulated because there were minors in the apartment, the hot water pipe was not insulated and was measured to be at 175°.

Scalding Burn Caused By Hot Water, Hot Coffee, or Drink

Burns from scalding water may be caused when a waiter or waitress spills hot water at a restaurant or when scalding hot water or coffee is served at a restaurant.

A Queens hot water burn injury lawyer said a waitress at Applebee’s allegedly brought scalding hot water to a table where a 17-month-old baby thought it was drinking water and was seriously burned with second-degree burns.

Besides the infamous McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit, Dunkin’ Donuts has also been sued over burns from hot coffee.

Scalding hot coffee injuries are usually caused by take-out restaurants brewing coffee hotter than normal so that it remains hot when consumed later.

Scalding hot coffee injuries often happen at drive-ins because of claims that the coffee cup wasn’t properly secured in the cardboard carrier and/or the cup lid was not properly snapped in place on the cup. But hot coffee burns have also been caused when a waitress spills hot coffee at a table, sometimes on children.

Dunkin’ Donuts was sued by a woman who says she was burned by scalding hot coffee, and the woman claimed that employees joked about her injuries. Dunkin’ Donuts was also sued by a customer at a drive-thru who claimed he suffered second-and third-degree burns after hot coffee spilled on him.

See our website, HURT911.org, for an explanation of what happened in the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit.

A Bronx hot water burn injury lawyer claimed that an 11-year-old girl was allegedly splashed with boiling water by a 12-year-old girl when she was the victim of a stupid prank at a sleepover party. The girl suffered second-degree and third-degree burns across her shoulders and face. The parents of the 12-year-old girl are responsible for the injuries due to improper supervision of the children at the party.

Of course, a serious burn injury can be caused by things other than hot water, such as burns from fire and electrical burns.

The hot water burn injury lawyers at 1-800-HURT-911® New York have successfully settled many burn injury cases. Only at 1-800-HURT-911® New York can you speak at any time with one of our Founding Partners, Rob Plevy and Phil Franckel.

Have a Question or Comment About a Hot Water Burn Injury Lawyer in New York? Leave a Comment!