If you’ve suffered a serious injury at someone else’s home, it can be a very stressful situation. Depending on the severity and extent of your injuries, you may be unable to work and support your family. If you find yourself in this very precarious circumstance, you should consider filing a homeowner’s insurance claim.
While many people have homeowner’s insurance policies, few understand how these policies cover injuries that happen in the home or on a property. Read about how homeowner’s insurance relates to injuries, and find out how you can get help with your claim by consulting an injury attorney.
Examining Your Liability Coverage
Almost every homeowner’s insurance policy will come with some level of liability coverage. The liability coverage of a policy is meant to cover any expense related to an injury that occurs in a home. Typically, these expenses can include lost income, medical bills and, occasionally, mental pain and anguish. If you are injured at someone’s home and file a claim against their liability coverage, this is known as a third-party claim.
You should understand that you will only be able to receive compensation up to the limit of the homeowner’s liability coverage. For example, if the costs of your injury are $75,000 and the liability limit is only $50,000, you will either have to pay the $25,000 out of pocket or bring an injury lawsuit against the homeowner. Some policies contain umbrella coverage to make up for these limits, but it varies from policy to policy.
Proving Your Case to Get Your Compensation
For the majority of states, proving that you are owed compensation for an injury that occurred at someone else’s home depends on proving the negligence of the homeowner. This applies to both personal injury lawsuits and claims against a homeowner’s insurance policy. If for example, you slipped and fell at someone’s home, you will need to demonstrate that your fall was due to unsafe conditions that the homeowner had a responsibility to prevent.
Depending on the state that you live in, there are certain injuries where fault is automatically assigned to the homeowner. A good example of this is states that have strict liability dog bite laws. If you’re bitten by someone’s dog in one of these states, you can file a third-party claim without proving negligence.
Also, if you are intentionally injured by a homeowner, as in an assault, their insurance will not cover your injuries, which means you will need to file a lawsuit. Before filing a lawsuit against a homeowner, you should be sure to discuss your case with an experienced injury attorney.
Speak with an Injury Attorney
When you’ve suffered an injury at someone else’s home, you deserve compensation to help you pay your bills so that you can focus on recovering from your injuries. If you’re trying to decide where to file a third-party claim or a personal injury lawsuit, you need to get advice from a personal injury attorney from the McMahan Law Firm.
Our legal professionals understand the complication involved with injuries that happen in another person’s home, and we can tell you the best way to get the compensation you deserve. Contact us today.
