Slip and Fall Accidents: How to Insure Yourself against Personal Injury Claims When Renovating Your Home

Are you considering embarking on a significant home improvement project? If so, have you decided whether you are going to do the work or hire an independent contractor to manage the work on your behalf? If you manage the project yourself and complete most of the necessary work, you will still need to hire skilled artisans like an electrician to rewire your home. 

These decisions should not be taken lightly. And, part of the decision-making process is to determine whether third-party liability or personal injury insurance is a legal requirement for the time it takes for the renovations to be completed. Even though there will be measures in place to prevent incidents like slip and fall accidents, there is still a risk that an accident could happen. Thus, it is vital to insure yourself against the risk of being labeled the responsible party in a personal injury claim. 

As an aside, by way of commenting on the need to determine whether you need personal injury insurance or not, it’s best to ask the legal experts from Richmond Vona, LLC.

Statistics quoted by nfsi.org show that 50% of the accidental deaths in the home are caused by slip and fall accidents. Furthermore, slip and fall accidents “account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits, representing the leading cause of visits (21.3%). Slips and falls account for over 1 million visits or 12% of total falls.” 

Finally, falls are the reason for 5% of work-related deaths in women and 11% of work-related fatalities in men.

A personal injury and the personal injury law: A definition

The next step in this discussion is to consider a definition of a personal injury or tort as well as how a personal injury claim fits within the Tort law.

The Legal Information Institute defines a tort as “an act or omission that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts to a civil wrong for which courts impose liability.” Additionally, “in the context of torts, “injury” describes the invasion of any legal right, whereas “harm” describes a loss or detriment in fact that an individual suffers.”

Thus, in layman’s terms, if a slip and fall accident happens during your home renovations, you can be held liable for the injury if it can be proven that the accident was as a result of your negligence. 

Additionally, the Tort or Personal Injury Law is defined by David Goguen as a legal vehicle that “allows an injured person to go to civil court and get a legal remedy (damages) for all losses stemming from an accident or other incident.” 

The premise behind this legal system is to “allow the injured person to be compensated financially or “made whole” after he or she has suffered harm due to someone else’s carelessness or intentional conduct.“

Final Thoughts

Thus, it is vital to ensure that you take out third-party, personal injury liability insurance before embarking on your home renovation project. No matter how well you plan and execute the home improvement project, the risk of accidents occurring is still there. And, without insurance, should someone file a claim against you, you could end up being financially ruined.