Home insurance looks at two types of liability—personal and premises. Personal liability relates to lawsuits that may arise from actions that you’ve taken to injury or damage someone’s property. If you’re playing golf and accidentally hit somebody with the ball, they may sue you for damages, and your personal liability insurance would cover you. It’d also apply if you fell at your friend’s house.
Premises liability insurance protects you from lawsuits that may arise from any injuries someone can sustain by being a visitor on your property—or by visitors to your property. Neighbors may slip and fall on your porch, or your dog might bite the mailman. Every property owner has a duty of care to anyone who comes onto their property, which means you must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of people that enter your property. When you’re found negligent, you can be sued and your insurance will help to cover any losses because of the lawsuit.
Who Needs Liability Insurance?
Once you live by yourself, you may want to get liability insurance. Homeowners should especially consider this, because their property may have inherent risks and it’s better to be safe and covered than not covered at all. Renters may even want to consider liability insurance because their landlord won’t offer insurance that protects their personal actions—meaning if a visitor trips and gets hurt, you are liable if they sue you.
A liability claim may overwhelm the person the claim is directed at—it can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the size of the claim isn’t just limited to medical bills. It may include lost wages, and more.
Therefore, it is in your best interest to get liability insurance and keep it up to date. In the event that you’re sued by someone, seek a liability insurance lawyer who can help you better understand your liability. The lawyers at Saavedra Law Firm, PLC are just one of many that are available to help you better understand your liability.
Exclusions to Liability Insurance
Liability insurance doesn’t protect against deliberate or intentional actions. This is pretty obvious, but we’re mentioning this because there are other situations where liability insurance doesn’t apply.
Some liability insurance won’t cover you for business-related losses, like injury or property damage that was caused in the course of work, or injuries that other people suffer when visiting your business. If you buy, rent or use your home for business purposes you will need to discuss it with your insurer to find out what they cover and do not cover and if there is anything they can add to your plan to cover you better.
Personal liability insurance also limits coverage for losses that arise from your ownership of watercraft, aircraft and powered vehicles. Often these liabilities are covered under another insurance type entirely. Typically, this includes jet-skis, ATVs, dirt bikes, drones and more. Talk to your insurer and a lawyer if you better want to understand whether these exceptions apply on your policy.