When you get hurt on someone else’s property through no fault of your own, it’s possible that the homeowner is financially responsible for paying for your injuries. Usually, such compensation will come from their homeowner’s insurance policy, but there are hard limits about which you should be aware.
It’s important to know the relationship between homeowner’s insurance and injuries, so you can make sure you get the full compensation you deserve. Explore the limits you face from homeowner’s insurance compensation for a personal injury case, and how an Oklahoma City injury attorney can help.
Proving Negligence
The first thing you need to understand is that in order to collect injury damages at all, you’ll need to prove negligence on the part of the homeowner. Proving negligence means demonstrating that:
- The homeowner had a responsibility to you as a guest, to provide an environment that was reasonably safe from risk (a duty of care)
- The homeowner somehow failed in this responsibility.
- An accident occurred out of this failure and you were injured as a direct result.
So, if someone has a loose floorboard on their stairs, they are responsible for addressing the issue. This could be by fixing it or warning guests about it. If they fail to address the situation within a reasonable amount of time, and someone gets hurt because of it, they are negligent, and thus responsible for the injuries.
Understanding Liability Coverage
Most homeowner’s insurance policies have a liability clause. This means that when someone gets hurt on the property, and the owner is found liable for the injury, the insurance will pay the cost. However, these policies are not unlimited, and payouts only go up to the limits on the coverage.
Consider, for example, that you trip on a loose floorboard that the owner knew was there and didn’t fix or warn you about. Your fall causes you a serious back injury which is deemed to be worth $200,000 in various damages. The homeowner’s liability policy, for example, has a $100,000 limit. They will only pay that much of the $200,000.
What about the Rest?
Technically, the homeowner is still responsible for paying out the remaining settlement. However, if they don’t have the money, they don’t have the money. This can leave the injured party somewhat high and dry. In some cases, the insurance policy may have umbrella coverage, which is usually much higher than liability and kicks in after liability maxes out. If not, other arrangements will have to be made.
Oklahoma City Injury Attorneys Can Help
Getting the compensation to which you’re entitled can be tricky without the right help. That’s where a strong Oklahoma City injury attorney can help. Injury attorneys are not only experienced at dealing with insurance companies to get pay out when a claim is denied, they can work with you and the other party to establish payment arrangements when insurance maxes out.
If you’ve been hurt and are having a difficult time dealing with insurance company non-payment efforts, or tort limits, call Parrish DeVaughn for a free case evaluation today!
