As a homeowner, you might love your house and enjoy coming back after work every day. It is your castle and sanctuary. You might have some unusual design features that set your home apart from others in your neighbourhood. But these home features might present dangers, and that’s when you’ll feel glad you got the right protection policy. Hence, it would help if you had the proper insurance policies to protect your home and yourself. So, Gharpedia brings detailed information about homeowners’ liability insurance in the following article, like what is homeowners’ liability insurance, its payout situations and how unique home design features can cause issues for homeowners.
First, let’s dive into the detail- What is Homeowners’ Liability Insurance,
What is Homeowners’ Liability Insurance?
You’d like to think you have a safe home, but injuries happen all the time. For example, a freak accident might cause one or a guest to horsing around may harm someone.
Whenever someone hurts themselves while on your property, you need homeowners’ liability insurance to protect you from potential lawsuits that person might file. Say they trip while walking up your steps and twist their ankle. They feel you should have fixed the porch step, which was a little warped. They can bring a lawsuit and potentially win it.
Your homeowners’ policy pays this person, so you needn’t cover their medical bills out of your pocket. These lawsuits can get costly, so having this insurance policy in place can help you tremendously.
Now, know what situations trigger homeowners’ liability Insurance payouts?
What Situations Trigger Homeowners’ Liability Insurance Payouts?
- Someone hurting themselves while on your property potentially triggers a homeowners’ insurance policy payout. This happens even with trespassers sometimes.
- Say that someone tries breaking into your house. They can still sue you if they hurt themselves while forcing their way in. The court system feels you must keep your property safe, even for someone trespassing.
- If you know about a dangerous condition, or the court feels you should know about it, but you didn’t fix the problem, the legal system will hold you liable. That’s when you require a homeowners’ insurance policy.
- A slippery walkway or icy steps causing injury seems like a classic instance where you’ll need your policy. You may also leave out a ladder or some tools where someone might trip over them.
- Your home’s unique design features can also cause harm.
Let us talk about how unique home design features can cause issues for homeowners-
How Unique Home Design Features Can Cause Issues for Homeowners?
Heated Floors
Most homes don’t have heated floors. They’re costly, but they’re very nice if you have cold winters and prefer to avoid walking around wearing thick socks and slippers.
Heated floors involve installing heating elements under the wood or tile. When you turn them on, the floor heats up.
That probably sounds nice, but what if the heating elements malfunction? You might have someone visit and burn themselves while crossing the floor. If that happens, you’ll need your homeowners’ insurance. Your policy can cover the injured party’s medical bills.
Kitchen Nooks
You might create a nook off the main kitchen. You could install it yourself if you have some DIY skills. You can also hire a contractor for the installation. You can sit in the nook and sip some tea or coffee on cold days before leaving for work.
Maybe you didn’t set up the nook very well. Someone who sits there might step in a splinter. They can sue you, and once again, you’ll need your homeowners’ policy for their medical bill payments.
Basement Wine Cellars
In some states, like California, homeowners love wine cellars. You can create one if your house does not come with it. They’re costly, but they’re excellent home features that should bring you some compliments if you invite friends and neighbours over for dinner some nights.
While heading down the stairs to visit the wine cellar, a visitor might trip and fall. Maybe you made the stairs too steep, or perhaps you do not have the appropriate lighting in place.
You can pay for their medical bills with your homeowners’ insurance policy. You must also fix whatever harmed the person. Otherwise, the same thing might happen again.
Library
Some homeowners install libraries in their houses. You can create one in a spare room. You can install the bookshelves yourself, or you might ask a contractor, and they’ll do it for you.
You may have a sliding ladder you can climb to get books from the higher shelves. That’s a classy addition that you only find in some fancier homes. Someone might fall if they try using that sliding ladder, though. Your homeowners’ insurance can help you in that instance as well.
Unusual Light Sources
Some homeowners install unusual light sources. They like the aesthetic appeal. You might set up some Edison bulbs. You can screw them into the ceiling in a cluster. That’s a different look if you feel the standard ceiling light fixture doesn’t excite you.
If you install these unusual light sources yourself, maybe you do all the electrical work. That might save you some money, but someone might touch them and burn themselves. It’s one more reason you should have excellent homeowners’ insurance.
Make Sure You Install Your Unique Home Features Carefully
In all these instances, you have an unusual home feature that sets your residence apart. If you feel you have a quirky or offbeat personality, you may want a house that feels the same way.
Having things like spiral wine cellars, libraries with sliding ladders, or skylights might impress your guests, but they can also potentially hurt them if you install them improperly. Maybe you handled the work yourself, and you didn’t do the best job. Perhaps a relative or an unlicensed contractor did it.
In these instances, you’ve done yourself a disservice. You now have a potential liability in your home. You might like this feature, but it can hurt someone, and then they may sue you if the injury impacts their life going forward. So, make sure all the features are installed carefully.
On a final note, I hope you like the information about what is homeowners’ liability insurance. A homeowner’s liability insurance policy should make you feel better when inviting people over. You know that even if something unexpected happens, you have protection. The more unusual features you add, the more you need these policies.