If you have been injured on someone else’s property, you have to bring a premises liability claim in order to obtain compensation for your injuries and damages. But it is worth to consider the sources of recovery and the availability of costs to cover your damages.
Our Los Angeles premises liability attorney at the Compass Law Group, LLP explains that the key thing to keep in mind before filing a premises liability lawsuit is that the defendant (the person or business you are suing) has to have sufficient funds or assets to be able to pay out your damages.
Otherwise, if the defendant’s insurance coverage and assets are not sufficient to cover your damages, the cost and effort of filing a premises liability lawsuit are probably not worth it.
What insurance can cover damages in a premises liability case?
Our premises liability lawyer in Los Angeles says that premises liability cases are usually covered by homeowner policies if a slip and fall accident or any other accident occurred on a residential property. If the property is commercial, business/commercial or other general liability policy will serve as the main source of recovery.
However, not all premises liability cases are covered by insurance. If you have been injured on someone else’s property and that premises have a mortgage, you will most likely be able to recover your damages through insurance, as the homeowner, business owner, or landlord are required to carry insurance.
If the premises are not being financed with a mortgage – and is owned outright – you will most likely end up playing a shell game. Not all homeowners, landlords and business owners in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California carry the type of insurance that would cover premises liability claims.
How to obtain compensation through a premises liability claim?
Not to mention that obtaining compensation for your injuries on someone else’s property may be problematic if the slip and fall or other accident took place when the premises was in the possession of the occupier, not the owner. Meaning: you may not be able to sue the landlord if the injury occurred on the tenant’s leased property.
However, if that leased property is a commercial property, there will most likely be some kind of insurance coverage in place, as California laws require both tenants and landlords to have insurance coverage in order to pay out the damages in premises liability and other personal injury claims.
Residential tenants, meanwhile, do not always carry renter’s insurance, which makes it nearly impossible for the injured party to get compensation through insurance. Some landlord’s insurance policies to not cover the damages that arise from premises liability accidents in the residential tenant’s leased space. If the landlord’s insurance policy does not provide coverage and the tenant does not carry renter’s insurance policy or have any other assets that would be sufficient to cover the damages, obtaining compensation would not be possible.
However, do not give up so soon. Your Los Angeles premises liability attorney can help you find alternative sources of compensation if the liable party does not have insurance that would cover your damages, or if his/her insurance coverage or policy limits are insufficient to cover the damages.
