Is your dinner guest going to sue you?
Australians generally take out contents insurance to protect our homes and possessions from damage caused by weather, burglary/vandalism or just accidental mishaps.
Yet have you ever thought about what happens if your family, friends or even a tradesperson are injured or harmed while on your property? Did you know that you could be liable for their accident and be responsible to pay expensive damages?
Ok so what is legal liability? It means that if your actions, such as negligence or the condition of your home, are found to be why someone was injured or killed, or their possessions damaged or destroyed you could be held legally liable and required to pay significant compensation, including their legal costs.
Just imagine you are hosting a dinner party and somebody slips on a wet tile in your bathroom and injures their ankle and hand. X-rays confirm fractures and they need to take time off work and attend physio appointments. They could seek damages from you for the cost of their medical treatment and from loss of earnings - leaving you significantly out of pocket.
To protect yourself it is important to be insured for legal liability.
But there is no need to panic as most Australian contents insurance policies - including CHU’s Contents Insurance for Strata automatically include legal liability protection.
Typically, legal liability protection will cover:
- Your legal costs of defending a claim.
- Damages that you may be required to pay as a result of injury/death of someone or loss/damage to someone’s possessions.
Some Content insurance policies may even cover your legal liability for accidents that occur to people outside of your property; anywhere in Australia (even worldwide, such as CHU’s Contents Insurance for Strata).
What if you were playing a friendly game of footy at the local park and injured one of your opponents with a stray kick? Your Contents insurance policy would still cover your legal liability and cover the compensation costs you might be required to pay.
Most contents insurance policies will include an excess that will need to be paid prior to your insurer paying your claim.
