Buying homeowner’s insurance is crucial for cushioning the effects of losing your home to a disaster or damage. But what happens when a guest gets injured on your property? Does your homeowner’s insurance cover their personal injury claims?
Well, here are all the answers you need from the legal perspective of a professional attorney in Fort Lee. So, let’s start.
How Homeowner’s Insurance Works
A common misconception about homeowner’s insurance is that it only covers the structure, but it does way more. Homeowner’s insurance covers the personal assets of the homeowner and their family, additional living expenses, and incidents like home burglary.
Homeowner’s insurance also covers some liability protection. If, due to your negligence, another person gets hurt or their property gets damaged in your home, this insurance will cover the lawsuit and other settlements that follow.
However, the insurance coverage isn’t limited to just you. Any hurt or damage caused by a family member or pet will be covered by the homeowner’s insurance.
For instance, if your dog attacks and hurts the delivery guy or a guest is involved in a slip-and-fall accident on your property, your homeowner’s insurance will cover these incidents.
So, yes, homeowner’s insurance covers personal injury claims. But you must know that the insurance coverage has its limits. Keep reading to know more.
Common Injury Coverage in Homeowner’s Insurance Policies
Your homeowner’s insurance, under your policy, covers certain expenses associated with a personal injury claim. In cases where your negligence, intentional torts, or strict liability has been proven to be the cause of harm or injury, here are some of the common injuries your insurance policy will cover.
1. Medical payment coverage
Your homeowner insurance policies may cover the medical expenses that a third party has incurred due to your actions or inactions. This can be done without having to deal with the long and strenuous process of a lawsuit.
The medical bill coverage, however, has a limit lower than your overall liability coverage. It could cover between $5,000 to $10,000 of medical bills.
2. Legal defense
You may get an attorney to deal with any lawsuit that emerges from the personal injury claims of a third party. The homeowner insurance you’ve bought gets you a lawyer and pays for their services. So you don’t have to get a personal injury lawyer out of pocket.
3. Liability coverage
The liability coverage takes care of the expenses associated with a personal injury claim. If you are found legally liable for an injury, your homeowner insurance will cover pain and suffering, lost income, and other damages.
4. Umbrella liability coverage
To give you the extra layer of protection and safeguard your wealth, your homeowner insurance coverage may expand to cover any additional costs. This comes in handy when the liability coverage policy limit has been exceeded.
Conclusion
To conclude, yes, your homeowner’s insurance covers personal injury claims. However, it doesn’t cover all of it.
If you or any member of your family falls in your home, the insurance will not cover that. Also, some policies will not cover injuries caused by certain breeds of animals, homes used for commercial activities, or criminal activities such as assault. You might have to get a separate insurance policy for any of these incidents.
