Does Home Insurance Cover Someone Else’s Injury On My Property

Does Home Insurance Cover Someone Else’s Injury on my Property?

The mail carrier slips and falls on your icy walk, breaking his arm. Your dog bites the daughter of a neighbor. Your housekeeper trips over a vacuum cord, breaking her front teeth.

Your castle may be your home, but it is not a peaceful kingdom. It is also a dangerous place where people can be injured. When injuries occur, your homeowner insurance policies can help protect you from owing the victim tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills and lost wages, but how do you choose the best insurance policy for your own protection and what should you consider?

No-fault payouts

Injuries at home are a common and costly problem. According to a four-year study conducted by the National Safety Council, the average home insurance claim for bodily injury was nearly $18,000. At some point in their lives, roughly one-tenth of homeowners have filed a bodily injury claim. According to the organization, unintentional at-home injuries cost $150 billion per year, primarily in medical expenses and lost wages.

A home or renter's insurance policy may cover an injury, but only to a certain extent. According to Dallas Norton, a personal injury attorney in Denver, most policies will readily reimburse for minor injuries that occur on your property, with most covering anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000.

"The insurance company is refusing to admit fault," Norton says. "They're simply acknowledging that the accident occurred on the premises."

Beyond that basic level of medical payment coverage, your policy may pay $25,000 or more for medical bills and lost wages, but only if the insurer determines that the accident was the fault of the homeowner.

Who is at fault if someone hurts themself in my home?

"Liability insurance pays when you are legally responsible — and it pays to defend you if you are not," says Bob Passmore, senior director of personal insurance lines at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. A few factors, which are listed below, will determine who is at fault.

A hazard in your home can sometimes be the obvious cause of an accident.

"I had a recent case where a homeowner removed the handrail from their basement stairs to move some furniture down there, and then never replaced the handrail," Norton says. "Then, while using the stairs, a visitor lost their balance."

On the other hand, if the visitor should have been more cautious, such as avoiding a toy that was clearly visible on the floor, your home insurance company may believe it was the visitor's fault and refuse to pay any claims.

Frequently, the two parties disagree on who is to blame or the extent of the injuries. The victim may decide to sue you at that point. If a homeowner is sued for injuries in their home, their insurers should provide legal assistance (up to the liability limits on their policy).

What to do when an accident happens in my home

If an injury occurs in your home, you can help your case by photographing the scene as soon as possible to document the conditions. If a visitor claims to have slipped on your icy walkway but it was dry outside, make a note of it.

Contact your insurer right away and provide the injured party with insurance information. Norton recalls a recent lawsuit involving a dog bite. Because the homeowner refused to provide his insurance information, the injured girl's family filed a lawsuit for pain and suffering. According to Norton, when injured people believe they are being treated fairly, they are less likely to seek compensation.

Visitors vs. workers in relation to home injury

If the person injured in your home is a working professional on the job, such as a gardener, carpenter, or roofer, their injuries may be covered by their employer's workers' compensation insurance, particularly if they were at fault. If you are their employer, your workers' compensation insurance would apply.

"If someone is working on your roof and fails to secure themselves and falls off," Passmore says, "it's probably not something you'll be found personally liable for." However, if you were negligent and caused their injury, they could certainly pursue you."

Who is liable for accidental injury if I rent my home?

Renter's insurance can help protect those who rent houses, condos, or apartments from the cost of an injury in their rental unit. As with home insurance, the question will be whether your personal belongings — say, a tangle of computer cords snaked across the floor — played a role in causing the injury.

If the injury was caused by a structural problem at your rental property, such as a faulty deck, the landlord will be held liable. One piece of advice for renters: if you notice a hazard in your building, notify your landlord immediately. According to Norton, if a visitor is injured, the landlord will not be able to claim ignorance of the situation.

Umbrella Insurance & Accidents

Whether you own or rent, your homeowner's or renter's insurance usually only provides a limited amount of coverage for visitors' injuries. If you have significant assets and want to protect them from an injury-related lawsuit, Passmore recommends purchasing additional coverage known as an umbrella policy.

Umbrella insurance continues where your homeowner's insurance ends. Often, your insurer will insist on getting comprehensive homeowner's insurance first — up to $300,000 instead of the standard $100,000. The umbrella policy will then cover any remaining medical or lost-wage claims from a home injury for a low annual premium (usually between $150 and $300), according to Passmore.