Accidents involving slip and falls, broken stairways, uneven pavement, and other dangers could lead to surprisingly serious injuries. From a twisted ankle or broken arm all the way up to back and brain injuries, many injuries you could suffer at a friend’s house could lead to expensive medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. In many cases, you might have to make a claim against the friend’s homeowners insurance or file a lawsuit against them to recover compensation. the Baltimore premises liability injury lawyers at Rice, Murtha & Psoras explain how these claims work and how to resolve the case, hopefully without hurting any friendships.
Common Types of Injuries at a Friend’s House in Maryland
When visiting a friend’s house, there are many potential injury risks you could face. People are often hurt in slip and fall accidents when sidewalks are not properly cleared of ice and snow in the winter. In some cases, electrocution injuries from exposed wires, drowning and pool injuries from unsupervised swimming pools, and dog bite injuries from dangerous dogs are also common. If the injuries were at a friend’s beach house, then the house might have been in disrepair from the off-season, and the potential dangers could have been high.
In some cases, these injuries can be very serious and could leave you with medical bills, lost wages, and substantial pain that you need compensation for.
Filing a Claim Against a Friend’s Homeowners Insurance for Injuries in Maryland
If you own a house or rent an apartment and your friend gets injured there, you will want to do everything you can to help cover their injuries and get them the help they need. Homeowners and renters insurance are designed to do exactly that; they provide the payments to an injured person so that the money and the negligence doesn’t have to interfere with your lives or ruin any friendships. When you are on the receiving end of the injuries, you have every right to pursue compensation from your friend’s homeowners or renters insurance to get your medical bills and other damages covered.
When you file a claim with your friend’s homeowners insurance, the insurance company will usually ask for proof of the injury, take statements, collect photographs, and collect hospital bills, then they will offer to pay you the damages they see fit. In many cases, however, the insurance company’s valuation of your injuries will be too low.
Ultimately, the homeowners insurance company is out for their own best interests. Their work in any case is governed by the insurance policy – which is an agreement between them and your friend (the homeowner). However, the insurance company doesn’t even really work for your friend, and they are instead their own separate entity. You never know what an insurance company is going to do or say after an accident, and it is often best to have someone other than yourself and your friend who can advocate for you and fight to get you the compensation you need – which is why it’s usually in your best interest to hire an attorney to help you with your case.
Should You Sue Your Friend After an Accident at Their House in Maryland?
As the owner of a property, your friend often has a legal duty to keep it safe for guests and to repair hidden dangers that could injure you. If they fail to uphold that duty and you suffer serious injuries because of it, that is really a serious problem. Many friendships are lost because of accidents like this – especially if the friend was so negligent or took so little care of their property and their friend’s safety that you had to go to the hospital. In some cases, you will be mad, and filing a lawsuit might be the proper course of action to seek the justice you deserve.
In other cases, the injuries will not be as serious – or your friend’s honest, sincere apologies might make you feel bad for trying to pursue any kind of damages. However, once the insurance companies get involved, this isn’t really about you and your friend anymore. Instead, it’s about getting the money you need from the insurance company. In order to do that, you might need to include your friend in a lawsuit.
Typically, when a homeowner is responsible for your injuries, you need to sue them directly, not their insurance company. This means your friend’s name might appear on the lawsuit, but in reality, this is done to make sure you get the compensation you need when their insurance company steps in to cover them. In many cases, a lawsuit is stronger than a homeowners insurance claim because it opens up additional areas of damages and forces the insurance company to stand up in front of a neutral judge and jury rather than allowing them to try to negotiate and manipulate the case behind the scenes.
Although the homeowners insurance company might be willing to pay for your medical bills, they might not cover future bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, or pain and suffering damages. When you take the case to court, you can claim compensation for all of these areas of damages. Talk to a Baltimore personal injury lawyer to learn more.
Call Our Maryland Lawyer for Injuries on a Friend’s Property
If you were injured at a friend’s house in Maryland, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras today. Our Maryland personal injury lawyers represent injury victims in accidents on other peoples’ property, and we work to get them the compensation they need to cover their expenses. For a free legal consultation, call our law offices today at (410) 694-7291.