Home insurance does more than protect your house and belongings—it typically also includes personal liability coverage. This coverage may provide protection if you or a family member are sued. Here’s a look at what a typical home insurance policy’s personal liability coverage might protect against.

Injuries on Your Property

If someone injures themselves on your property, personal liability may cover a potential lawsuit related to the accident. Here are a few examples of what could happen:

• A guest trips over laundry on the stairs, falls, and sustains serious injuries.
• A visiting family’s toddler sticks their finger in an outlet and gets electrocuted.
• A neighbor’s child is injured on your trampoline when unsupervised despite you taking appropriate safety measures.
• A package delivery driver hits their head when slipping on ice in the driveway, a common concern during Lakewood, CO winters.

Injury coverage is often limited to those who don’t live with you, such as visiting family, friends, and delivery drivers.

Damage to Others’ Property

If you somehow cause significant damage to someone else’s property, personal liability may cover the cost of repairs.

This could theoretically involve a child breaking the neighbor’s window with a baseball, although a broken window probably doesn’t justify a home insurance claim. A much more serious situation would be if your house in Lakewood, CO, caught fire and spread to the neighbor’s roof or yard.

Defamation Claims

Defamation includes both libel (written) and slander (spoken). These are false statements that you make which significantly harm another party.

Personal liability often covers defamation lawsuits, including legal fees and any settlement. We at Colling Insurance Services Inc. can provide more details about this aspect (or any aspect) of personal liability coverage.

Ensure You’re Protected

In today’s litigious world, personal liability coverage is especially important. Contact Colling Insurance Services Inc. for help ensuring you’re adequately protected.