Your homeowner’s insurance will cover you if fire or wind causes damage to your home, as you may already understand. Basic homeowner’s policies will also provide protection for your entire family if you or another family member damages another person’s body or property accidentally even when you are not at your house. We will examine types of cases in this information that your homeowner’s insurance may cover along with additional benefits you may receive when you involve your carrier in a claim that has been filed against you.
Your Homeowner’s Insurance Does Protect Your House
Accidentally damaging the property of others or injuring another person in some cases will cost you a large sum of money, especially when the property owner or injured person hires a lawyer to sue you through the legal system. Lawyers seek out your assets, and your home equity is the jackpot at times. To prevent your equity from slipping away from you, homeowner’s policies typically offer coverage on not only accidents that occur on your property such as slips or falls, but also the ones that happen at other locations.
It Only Covers Specific Types of Cases
Homeowner’s insurance will not cover vehicle accidents. Your auto insurance is for this type of case. Other types of accidents often occur, though, besides those that happen on the roadways. Two examples of this are if you burn a guest with your hot casserole dish at the church’s potluck supper, or you hit a fellow skier in the head with your snow skis during your winter vacation, your homeowner’s policy might cover you, but only if you did these accidentally and not in a rage of anger.
Your Policy Also Covers Negligence
The law requires people to act responsibly all of the time. When you act opposite of this in a situation, and you injure a person with your actions, the law considers you negligent in your behavior. For example, responsible people watch where they are walking as they stroll on a sidewalk. If you bump into a person accidentally on the sidewalk because you are watching a plane fly over the area, you might be negligent in your behavior since you were not watching where you were walking.
Luckily, a homeowner’s policy normally covers this type of negligent behavior for you and your family members regardless of the other person’s injuries. For another example, when your child hits a ball through the window of your neighbor’s house, and you pay for liability coverage, the damage to the window usually is covered depending on your deductible. Maybe instead, your toddler runs into an elderly man at the mall and causes him to fall and fracture his leg. Your policy probably covers his injury.
Your Insurance Will Not Cover Intentional Harmful Actions
A homeowner’s policy does not protect you from intentional harmful actions that you perpetrate against others that cause bodily injury or property damage. Some examples of this are vandalism, sexual or workplace harassment, and assault and battery.
Consult With Your Insurance Carrier When a Person Sues You
Receiving documents with such words as “Complaint” and “Summons” across the top of them points to the fact that a person is suing you. If this occurs, you need to consult with your insurance carrier immediately. The insurance company will examine all the paperwork and inform you whether or not your policy covers this type of lawsuit. In the event it does not cover it, you should consult with our law firm as quickly as you can since the documentation offers you only a limited timeframe to respond before it proceeds to the judgment stage. If you fail to reply within about 30 days or less, the court may pass judgment against you automatically without hearing your side of the issue.
Advantages of Having Insurance Coverage in the Event of a Lawsuit
You may receive certain benefits when your homeowner’s insurance does cover the lawsuit such as the following:
The Insurance Carrier Will Appoint a Lawyer to Represent You
Your insurance company provides you with a qualified lawyer to represent your side of the case. You may also work with a lawyer of your own. He or she will respond to the documentation and decide what the appropriate course of action should be in your particular lawsuit. You should also help your lawyer defend you, though, with the following actions:
• Providing information to the other side for the purposes of discovery
• Showing up at the deposition so that the other side can ask you certain questions in person
• Appearing in court with your lawyer
Keep in mind too that most cases the insurance covers settle quickly with only minimal actions on your part once an attorney becomes involved on your behalf.
The Insurance Carrier Pays Litigation and Settlement Costs
Liability insurance covers payments for the things that people sue you for in lawsuits such as property damage, medical bills, and the pain and suffering linked to injuries. Your insurance carrier also pays any litigation costs that can include jury and witness fees on top of the attorney fees for the other side.
Learn What Your Insurance Covers
While most homeowner’s insurance policies include liability coverage, there is no law that dictates they must include it. For this reason, you should consult with your insurance agent to ensure that your policy includes liability coverage. It will be invaluable to you if any of the above situations happen in your life.
Contact The Brown Firm PLLC For Professional Legal Assistance
If you have been involved in a situation where you have been harmed due to the negligence of others or, are facing a lawsuit – contact The Brown Firm PLLC immediately. Our firm’s legal team includes highly experienced litigators who will be able to craft an effective legal strategy so that you receive the best results possible. If you have a legal question – call our firm or send our attorneys a message online. We provide legal consultations so that you can understand your options before making any important decisions.
