In the case of someone getting hurt when they are on your property or in your home, there is a good chance that your home insurance will cover the cost of the medical expenses and claim for damages, should they choose to file it against you.This type of claim is called a third-party claim. It is the name given to a claim that is filed against you and comes under your home insurance policy. The difference between this and a first party claim is that you submit the latter to get compensated for losses that you have suffered to your home instead.
What Does the Liability Provision Cover?
According to Charleston Workers Compensation Lawyers in most states, the liability coverage of your home insurance policy will cover all of the damages and losses due to the injury in most cases. This includes medical bills, the income lost due to a stay in hospital or in bed, pain, suffering, and other damages. There are other financial categories in not so normal cases. Everything is covered, as long as the cost is within the limits of the coverage you signed up for. If someone who was hurt on your property files a lawsuit against you for the damages caused instead of getting an insurance settlement, this provision will also allow the company to pick a lawyer and pay their retainer for you. Although this seems like a privilege, it is not that way; the law follows procedures, and this is an important one.
Take, for example, a home insurance policy you pay premiums for that covers you for up to $200,000 in liability coverage. If someone was injured in your home, the company would pay for their bills and other costs for any amount up to the $200,000. Anything above this could mean you would have to pay the balance out of your own pocket. These considerations are not made in an emergency; the terms are thought beforehand because in the middle of an emergency most terms are already settled.
The truth is, it is very rare for these situations to exceed a value that is that high. In many cases where your limits of coverage are surpassed by the cost, it is possible that your insurance policy also has an additional provision that covers you with a little extra in case of just such a scenario.
Accidental Claims, Negligence, and Intentional Infliction of Distress
Your home insurance policy will typically cover any and all injury-related costs incurred by an accident in your home. Most of these injuries will fall under a category of legal terms called negligence. Negligence is the term used to describe the inability of a homeowner to maintain a safe environment for the victim to be in. For a negligence claim to be filed, the victim needs to show that you did not have safe conditions in that area. This is not hard to do because law-enforcement can quickly investigate present or past conditions inside a property. That being said it is a great incentive to have everything under control. Such precautions may lead to making insurance just a thoughtful precaution. This is important not only in matters of saving money, but also acquiring more peace of mind which is considered by many as priceless.
Debunking Negligence Claims
There are situations where negligence claims cannot be debunked. A good example of this is a dog bite sustained on your property in a state where dog bites are strict liability. This means that the person bitten by the dog can file a third-party insurance claim against you for personal injury and the insurance company will have to pay them out without the need to disprove negligence. One last thing to remember is that a home insurance policy will not cover you if you intentionally assaulted and injured someone on your property without due cause.
