As an owner of a private property, you may be a little confused about your liabilities in the event that someone is injured while on your premises. For example, what if a tradie or handyman is injured on your property, would you be liable for a lawsuit?
The team at Personal Injury Helpline provides a brief explanation.
Liability for Persons Injured on Your Property
Your duty of care as a private property owner is similar to how it is in many other cases, for example, the duty of care that an employer has for their employees. Essentially, your duty of care for the people that are entering into your property includes not putting them into a situation with any foreseeable danger. You need to have taken reasonable steps to keep each visitor to your property free from injury.
This extends to all visitors of your property, which may include friends, family, and workers. Tradies, handymen, nannies, gardeners, and cleaners are some other examples of people that may come to our house, all of which fall under your duty of care. While these people are working on your property, they are not exempt from the duty of care you provide. If a person injures themselves on your property, you could be liable.
The situation is often not as simple as it has been laid out here. For example, in renovations and large-scale construction work, there is often multiple parties involved and can be a tricky situation to navigate. This may mean that more than person could be liable.
Home Insurance Policies and Private Liability
If you have taken out a home insurance policy for your property, you may be covered for legal liability as part of your policy.
Whether or not this is covered as part of your policy, as well as how far that stretches will differ with each provider and policy. For example, the legislation around employees, contractors and workers being injured on your property can be difficult to navigate.
Workers’ Compensation or Personal Injury?
Workers that come to your house, or people who are employed by you may not be covered by your home insurance policy. This is because they are covered under workers’ compensation legislation, and you are their employer. In this case, you may be found liable if they are injured and your home insurance policy will not be able to provide cover.
Contractors that are employed by a separate party are a little different and may be covered under their own or their employer’s workers’ compensation policy.
So, If Someone is Injured on Your Property, Are You Liable?
There really is no short answer to this question. Each case is unique, with its own specific fact and details. Assigning who was at fault for the accident or injury plays a large part in whether you are found liable.
Preventing Liability on Your Property
If you have taken the proper steps to ensure that no one will be injured on your property, this may not be something that you will ever have to worry about. If you want to play it safe, make sure that you are staying on top of all your necessary home maintenance, and all visitors to your property are warned of any hazards that may be present. In this way, you can take some practical steps to protecting yourself from liability for injury. Additionally, it will also beneficial for you to contact your insurer to confirm the coverage of your home insurance policy.
At Personal Injury Helpline, we’re experts at navigating the tricky claims process associated with personal injury claims. For more information, contact us today!
