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Holding a landlord legally liable for their tenant’s injuries depends on many legalities and insurance coverage factors. When a renter suffers severe injuries and harm while traversing property managed or owned by their landlord, renters may face a retaliatory or constructive eviction for making an insurance claim against the guilty party. When dealing with these cases, the law looks for some aspects of the landlord or property manager’s actions.
Suing Landlords in Court
In many cases, tenants sue landlords in court for damages stemming from the landowner’s negligence. If an issue exists where a tenant suffers injuries caused by the landlord’s inaction, the tenant can hire a personal injury lawyer. For example, what if a tenant slips and falls on an improperly maintained floor, and the renter can prove the landlord failed to support this “common area” for any length of time?
If you suffered an injury caused by an easily repairable dangerous property condition, you have legal rights to sue in California Superior Court for negligence premises liability. The insurance company’s lawyers will answer the lawsuit you filed against the defendant landlord and their agents. Typically defendants will respond by disputing your compensation, medical treatment, pain and suffering, and lost wages claims, claiming they had no duty to repair or replace damaged and destroyed physical property.
Often, owners or operators of property can avoid many of the problems that lead to injuries in the first place. By instituting regular checks of different parts of the property and fixing issues, many questions go away. Let the tenants know your maintenance policies early on in the rental contract. You can avoid costly lawsuits by prioritizing further damages, fixing them, and noting tenant complaints.
What is the Role of Insurance?
Choosing a property insurance policy is more than just watching a commercial on television. The different types of systems will have varying rates, deductibles, and coverage areas. Comprehensive General Liability policies are critical to protecting a manager, owner, or controller from future, expensive injury claims.
Insurance Policy Purchasing Decisions
When purchasing such a policy, ensure that you have enough coverage to reach all your property, including assets such as vehicles used on the job. It should also cover what might seem like unrelated issues, such as libel, unlawful eviction, and privacy invasion. These will shore up many concerns and conditions that could come up over the years.
Landlord-Tenant Liability – Why Property Insurance Is So Important
Any property owner knows that being a landlord is not an accessible business. These people deal with all types of renters and may see issues related to damages and potential natural disasters affecting their tenants. Having an excellent insurance policy can help landlords deal with many risks. Standard property insurance handles accidents caused by weather damage or a fire caused by lightning, a crime caused by theft or vandalism, or an earthquake, especially in California. Other property-related accident and injury risks in California must be covered by a landlord purchasing additional liability insurance.
You are purchasing the right amount of coverage to help pay medical payment liability costs, suffering damages, and legal defense expenses. So ensure your insurance carrier won’t just make a quick premium collecting sale by making the agent sell you a policy covering property value. This insurance should cover all company vehicles used for work, including a work truck or your property manager’s car. Other legal problems, including tenants claiming wrongful eviction, libel, and slander, will receive a combination of coverages under many policies.
What About Other Policies Of Insurance?
Tenants also can get some protection through H0-4 Renter’s Insurance. This insurance protects renters from robberies or fires not covered under the primary landlord’s insurance. These insurance policies might cover up to $50,000 but have deductibles as low as $250. There are vast insurance coverage ranges that may help protect renters from personal fault problems, assisting the tenant in feeling secure, and vary per company and insurance plan.
An insured party making a claim can be confident knowing there is coverage to the liable party’s benefit by providing content and payments. If you want to learn more about liability issues, contact a Los Angeles personal injury attorney at (213) 596-9642.
Citations:
Michael Ehline
Michael is a managing partner at the nationwide Ehline Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, APLC. He’s an inactive Marine and became a lawyer in the California State Bar Law Office Study Program, later receiving his J.D. from UWLA School of Law. Michael has won some of the world’s largest motorcycle accident settlements.