My Friends Wouldn’t Sue Me, Would They?
Have you ever had a pizza delivered or a contractor perform work in or on your home? Have you ever hired someone to mow your lawn or clean your carpeting? If so, you have been exposed to a potential liability risk. If a delivery person trips over a cracked walkway and injures himself, or a person mowing your lawn hits a rock and gets hurt, you could be held liable. In fact, you may not even be surprised if a stranger sued you.
What about hosting a birthday or New Year’s Eve party, however? What if you have a poker game at your house or just have some friends gather for cocktails. What if one of them tripped and fell down some stairs and broke an ankle? Your friends wouldn’t sue you, would they?
It is important to keep in mind America has a more litigious society than ever before. That means more of us are suing each other than ever before. This is due in part, to the vast amount of advertising from attorneys taking on cases on an “If we don’t win, you don’t have to pay us” basis. Many of these attorneys are reminding people that, in most cases, they aren’t suing individuals, but are suing those big, bad insurance companies.
This means that yes, you could be sued by your friends or even relatives if they should incur an injury on your property. Nothing personal, you understand. They just need to be compensated for their injury and suffering.
Yes, things have changed. There was a time when good friends would never consider suing each other over an injury. But today, you must have appropriate coverage. When you have sufficient liability insurance it can provide the insulation needed to protect valuable relationships, and we can help.
Contact us for a free, no-obligation homeowners’ insurance review. As independent agents, we can review the policies from any company and help you resolve gaps in your liability coverage. It can help you preserve relationships, even when accidents occur to friends and relatives.