Are Slip and Fall Injuries Covered by Homeowner’s Insurance?

Posted on February 8, 2022 in Premises Liability

Slip and fall injuries are not uncommon, and they regularly occur at private residences. But will you be able to recover compensation if you sustain a slip and fall injury at someone else’s house?

Typically, slip and fall injuries will be covered by a person’s homeowner’s insurance carrier. However, recovering this compensation can be challenging, particularly if the insurance carrier pushes back against having to pay out compensation or if they blame you for causing the incident.

Is There Homeowner’s Insurance?

The first question that comes up if you have been injured on another person’s property is whether or not that individual has homeowner’s insurance. The good news is that most homeowners in Oregon do usually have homeowner’s insurance that can be used to help cover any injuries that occur on their property. However, in the event the homeowner owns the property free and clear with no mortgage, they may not have any insurance. Additionally, if the individuals are simply renting the property, there may be no homeowner’s insurance, but you can also check to see if the renters have renter’s insurance.

Reporting the Incident to the Insurance Carrier

It is important to report the slip and fall injury to the homeowner’s insurance carrier as soon as possible. If you wait too long to file a slip and fall injury claim, the insurer will likely think that the claim is not legitimate. You should ask the homeowner the name of their insurance carrier as soon as you think that you have sustained an injury significant enough to seek medical care for.

What if the Owner is Reluctant?

If the homeowner is reluctant to go through the insurance process, this could make the process of filing the claim more challenging. In some cases, homeowners are worried that their insurance coverage will be canceled even if they make one claim, so they may put up a fight to filing your slip and fall claim.

If you slip and fall and sustain an injury on another person’s property but the homeowner refuses to tell you who their insurance carrier is, you may have to take this a step further and secure legal assistance. It may be necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit against the homeowner, which will likely force them to file a claim with their homeowner’s insurance carrier.

What Compensation Will be Available?

Regardless of whether or not you recover compensation through an insurance carrier or as a result of a personal injury lawsuit against the homeowner, you should be able to recover various types of compensation for your losses. Most homeowner’s insurance policies typically have liability coverage and medical payment coverage. Medical payments coverage will handle a limited amount of the injury victim’s medical bills, regardless of whether or not the homeowner was negligent.

In order to receive complete coverage of medical bills and recovery of other damages, it will be necessary to prove that the homeowner’s negligence caused the slip and fall injury. This means showing that you sustained a slip and fall injury as a result of an unsafe condition on the property – a condition that the homeowner knew about or should have known about and failed to take steps to fix. Speak with a Portland premises liability lawyer today.