What Is Your Liability As A Homeowner?

Everyone knows that homeowners insurance protects your property against fire, theft, and natural disasters.

But did you know there’s another risk that homeowners face? It’s called liability. Most homeowners policies will protect you — to a degree. Here’s what you should know.

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Defining Liability

If you look it up in a dictionary, you’ll find liability defined as “the state of being legally obliged and responsible.” If a court decides that it was your fault that someone got hurt or suffered a loss, you could owe that person money. Sometimes, you could owe them a lot of money.

Sure, it may sound scary… but what’s to worry about? Most of us aren’t out to hurt anyone, after all.

But here’s the tricky part: when you own a home, you can be held responsible for any injury that happens on your property. That even includes things that you have no control over.

Say your mail carrier slips on your front stairs. Yes, maybe they should have been more careful. But now they’re out of work for 6 weeks with a broken leg — and they still have bills to pay. And a court might decide that paying those bills is your responsibility. The court might even throw in a little (or a lot) extra money for “pain and suffering.”

Fortunately, that money doesn’t have to come out of your own pocket. Instead, your homeowners policy will pick up the bill.

How Much Liability Coverage Is Enough?

There’s no simple answer about how much liability coverage is enough. Like most everything in the insurance world, how much coverage you need depends on how much risk you have.

For many people, the coverage included with their regular homeowners policy is enough. But in some situations, you may want more. Some common reasons to get more coverage include:

• You own a swimming pool. In the summer of 2004, there were 114,899 swimming injuries. Even when everyone is keeping “safety first” in mind, accidents can happen.
• You own a dog. Your dog may be your best friend. But if it bites someone, a court is not likely to take your side. Owning certain aggressive breeds of dogs will raise your homeowners premiums for this very reason.
• You frequently have parties. If you regularly host social events, the likelihood of someone getting hurt goes way up. This is doubly true if you’re serving alcohol at your parties.

If you think getting more coverage is a good idea, consider an umbrella policy. For about $200 a year, you can get an umbrella policy that will cover you for up to $1,000,000 in liability.

When you’re trying to decide if you need additional coverage, it pays to consult with a professional insurance agent. And you can use our free online quote service to get matched with agents in just minutes.