Broke ankle at a rental home is the home owners insurance cover this?

K

Kwthorne

New Member
Jurisdiction
Virginia
I had just rented a house and I fell in the back yard in a whole and had to have surgery and a plate put in my ankle and was out of work for three months. My renter insurance would not cover this, would the home owners insurance cover it?
 
Maybe?
Depends on the policy and the circumstances.
Do you not have health insurance that covers it?
You will need to speak with a personal injury attorney who can assess the particular details of your situation.
 
Kwthorne said:
I had just rented a house and I fell in the back yard in a whole and had to have surgery and a plate put in my ankle and was out of work for three months. My renter insurance would not cover this, would the home owners insurance cover it?
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It's hardly surprising that your renter's insurance didn't cover this. Renters insurance has two purposes: (1) to cover damage to your property; and (2) to provide liability coverage for you. You can buy renter's insurance with only the property component, but it would be unwise to do that. If you bought the liability component, there is a medical payments component, but it doesn't cover the insured. That's why you have (or should have) personal medical insurance.

As far as your landlord's insurance, it probably provides no coverage either (unless you can prove that your landlord is legally liable for your injury), but it's impossible to know without reading the policy(ies). I suspect if you ask your landlord for copies of his/her/its policy(ies), he/she/it will say no. You can sue your landlord if you can come up with a viable theory why he/she/it is legally liable for your injury and then request copies of insurance through the discovery process. Do you have any reason why your landlord might be liable for you falling?
 
Kwthorne said:
would the home owners insurance cover it?
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Depends on whether the homeowner was negligent or not. Tough to prove.

You would need to show that the homeowner knew, or should have known, that hazard existed
which could potentially cause injury and failed to remedy that hazard. That would be hard to prove since the owner doesn't or didn't live there and you would have a hard time finding out who and where the former tenants are. Could have been something caused by former tenants that the owner never knew about. Also could be that the hole is obstructed from view by grass and the owner might not have been able to see it just as you apparently couldn't see it.

Can you post a photo of the hole and the area surrounding it.
 
Kwthorne said:
I had just rented a house and I fell in the back yard in a hole and had to have surgery and a plate put in my ankle and was out of work for three months. My renter insurance would not cover this, would the home owners insurance cover it?
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The property manager was aware of holes in the yard.
 
Kwthorne said:
The property manager was aware of holes in the yard.
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cbg is correct.

Provide more details about that.

How was the property manager aware? What was the date that he was notified? Who notified him and in what manner? Was he notified more than once?

Most importantly, did YOU know the hole or holes were there BEFORE you stepped in one? Be honest. Because if you knew they were there, you have no claim.
 
For that matter, what was the purpose of the holes? Were they animal burrows? Dug deliberately in preparation of putting in a fence? Naturally occurring?
 
Kwthorne said:
The property manager was aware of holes in the yard.
Click to expand...

This doesn't address anything that anyone raised in any of the prior responses. Let's try a simple list of questions (and I'll incorporate those asked by "adjusterjack" and "cbg"):

1. Do you have personal medical insurance?
2. Have you discussed this issue with your landlord? If so, what was the result? If not, why not?
3. How was the property manager aware of holes? When and how did he/she acquire this knowledge? How do you know he/she was aware of the holes?
4. Did YOU know the hole or holes were there BEFORE you stepped in one?
5. What were you doing that resulted in you stepping in the hole?
6. How long had you lived on the property before the injury occurred?
7. How many times had you been in the backyard before the injury occurred?
8. Describe the holes (e.g., size and depth). What was the purpose of the holes (e.g., dug by animals, dug deliberately (by whom?), naturally occurring)?
9. Describe the weather conditions at the time of the injury (e.g., time of day, sunny or dark, any non-natural lighting)?
 

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