There are many reasons to obtain homeowner’s insurance, but the biggest reason is to protect yourself if a visitor should hurt themselves while on your property. personal injury covered under homeowner’s policies include:
Slip-and-fall claims
Assault
Injuries caused by poor lighting or faulty stairs
Dog bites
Injuries caused by an intoxicated guest
Premises Liability Coverage
The primary coverage provided by a homeowner’s insurance policy is for personal injury in Sturgis SD. A guest can trip on a broken stair, fall on a slippery kitchen floor, step on a child’s toy, or be hurt by a deck collapse. Under the law of premises liability, there are different rules for the determination of a property owner’s liability for guests’ personal injuries. If a person has been invited into your home, they are considered a guest; service personnel and letter carriers are considered licensees because you’ve consented to their presence.
As a homeowner, you are not legally required to warn guests of hidden or hazardous conditions, and you’re not obligated to search for defects. However, you do have an obligation to fix or warn about previously known defects such as broken stairway railings or damaged steps. If a guest slips on an icy doorstep or driveway, your homeowner’s insurance policy, under state law, will not pay their bills unless the ice or snow was “unnaturally accumulated”.
If a guest is assaulted and injured on your property, you may not be held liable if the assault risk could not have been predicted. For instance, if an intruder assaults an overnight guest, it’s highly unlikely that you could have foreseen the risk of a home invasion.
Dog Bite Injuries
A guest attacked by a dog almost always has a claim. Dog bites are typically considered strict liability cases; a person does not have to provoke your animal, and they are not required to prove your negligence. The fact that the bite occurred is enough for the injury to be covered by your homeowner’s insurance.
An Intoxicated Guest
Depending on your jurisdiction and the circumstances, if you serve alcohol to an intoxicated guest or to a minor, you may be liable for injuries caused by that guest. However, you may not be held liable if guests supplied their own liquor, or if witnesses testify that the responsible party was not intoxicated when they left your premises.