Insurance Coverage for Household Accidents
Home insurance is typically thought of as protection against loss or damage to your own property. But homeowner’s insurance policies also provide personal liability coverage for bodily injury or property damage that other people suffer in household accidents that were caused by the homeowner’s negligence. In that case, you may need NY household accident insurance.
Insurance coverage for household accidents is necessary because property owners, including homeowners, have certain obligations when it comes to the safety of visitors. Premises liability law holds that property owners who fail to fix a safety hazard on their property or fail to properly warn visitors about one may be held liable for the injuries that the hazard causes.
If you have been injured in an accident at someone else’s home, compensation for your losses – medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc. – may be paid by their insurance company, not out of their pocket. But the insurance company may reject your claim or make a lowball offer. That is when the assistance of an experienced NYC property owner lawyer like ours at David Resnick & Associates, P.C., can help you get a fair and proper settlement.
Insurance Covers Accidents in Homes
Homeowners may be legally responsible for injuries caused by an accident that harms another person on their property. Most home insurance policies provide a minimum of $100,000 of liability protection, though the policyholder may pay for additional coverage.
Bodily injury coverage pays for a non-resident’s physical injury (medical expenses) that was caused by the homeowner, other residents of the household or their pets. If someone’s property was damaged by the homeowner, members of the household or their pets, the property damage liability portion of the homeowner’s policy may pay to repair or replace it.
Examples of household accidents that may be covered by a homeowner’s policy include when:
- A guest slips and falls on an area rug in the foyer, breaking a hip.
- A homeowner’s dog bites a deliveryman.
- A neighborhood child is injured while playing on a trampoline in a homeowner’s yard.
- A guest who was drinking at a homeowner’s New Year’s Eve party hits another car on the way home.
- Flames from the barbecue on the apartment balcony below yours damage your balcony furniture.
NY Household Accident Insurance
As NYC premises liability lawyers, we at David Resnick & Associates, P.C., help our clients deal with the homeowner’s insurance company to ensure that they provide a proper settlement for our client’s injury. In some cases this can be concluded easily, but in cases of severe injury or a death it is likely to require a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.
Though such a lawsuit would name the homeowner – who may be a friend, neighbor or relative – as a defendant, it would seek compensation through their insurance policy, not directly from them. Their insurance coverage would also pay their legal bills in most cases.
Contact a New York Homeowners’ Liability Lawyer
If you or a family member of yours has been injured in another’s home, their insurance company may be required to assist you with your expenses. We can help make sure they do so in a fair and just manner.
Contact us today by phone or online for a free claim review and discussion of your case.
Sources:
- Travelers – Homeowners Insurance 101
- American Institute of CPAs – Does homeowners insurance cover personal liability?
- Forbes – Will Your Insurance Cover That Freak Accident?