Accidents happen, we all know that, even with the most extreme preventive measures put in place, they could still happen. That is why they are called accidents, no one hopes for them but they are almost always inevitable.
Ladders are not exempted from this equation. While it is important to get a ladder that has great quality and is a preventive measure against slips and falls. You also cannot predict when or how an accident would happen, even if you follow all the safety codes to the latter.
Getting insurance as a homeowner is a good move for people who intend to protect themselves and the people around them.
However, in this article, we will be addressing the question that is on everybody’s mind – would your homeowners’ insurance cover a ladder fall?
Does Homeowners’ Insurance Cover Falls from A Ladder
The homeowners’ insurance does cover the personal liability for injuries and damages for homeowners. Falling from a ladder could fall under the personal liability policy but let’s look at it in detail.
What Does Homeowners’ Insurance Cover?
Homeowners’ insurance is also known as home insurance. Home insurance is quite a necessary thing to have because whether we are aware of it or not.
Our home is one of our most valuable treasures and not just in terms of property investments now but also in terms of the emotional connection families have to their homes. These are some of the things that a homeowners’ insurance policy will cover;
- Destruction or damages to the interior and exterior of the house
- Theft or loss of property or possessions in the house
- Personal liability for injuries and damages
Destruction/damages to The Interior and Exterior of The House:
Damages to your home inflicted by disasters like fire, hurricanes, storms, or even vandals breaking into your home, destroying or carting away with properties.
Under the home insurance policy, the insurance firm is held responsible for completely repairing the home or building an entirely new house for you.
In peculiar cases like floods and earthquakes, the insurer is not responsible for repair and replacement in any of these cases.
Also, in the case of poor maintenance, the insurer is not liable to repair or replace the home you lost due to poor or bad maintenance. Other insurance plans could cover floods, earthquakes, and poor maintenance but they are not covered by the home insurance policy.
Other buildings that are separately built from the main house like a shed or a separate garage would have to be covered under a separate home insurance plan.
If you have a lot of high prized valuables in your home like priceless art and jewelry, then you might want to insure them separately or pay a little extra to itemize them.
Theft/loss of Property or Possessions in The House:
This pretty much is summed up by its name, when the properties in your home are stolen or misplaced, then your insurer is liable to replace the lost items.
One of the home insurance policies even covers jewelry loss in another location outside the home, like in another country.
As I mentioned before, in the case of owning priceless possessions like art and jewels, then you might want to think about expanding their riders, itemizing them, or insuring them separately.
Personal Liability for Injuries and Damages:
This helps and protects the homeowner from lawsuits filed against them in cases of injuries, falls, and damages. The liability coverage for homeowners is a safety insurance plan that protects both the homeowner, occupants of the house, and visitors.
This policy even covers your pets or injuries inflicted by your pets. If a visitor gets injured on your premises and sues for damages, the home insurance policy will cover its damages and costs.
If you or anyone else gets injured on your premises the insurer will also cover for damages and loss. This brings me back to the case of ladders. If your ladder falls and breaks in your premises, you can file a report and your insurer will replace it, if a visitor climbs a ladder to help you fix something or for whatever reason and the person falls and gets injured.
The visitor could decide to sue you for body damages, cost, or even causing emotional distress. Your home insurance plan would cover the lawsuit and costs. If you fall off a ladder and get injured or any other occupant of your house, the policy also extends to cover the costs and damages.
The policy rates can be as little as less than 100,000 dollars but insurance firms advise that for a more bracketed coverage, you would have to spend close to or over 350,000 dollars.
Areas Not Covered by Home Owner’s Insurance Policy?
I have already mentioned some areas where your homeowner insurance policy will not cover, for example, if you live in an environment that is prone to having earthquakes, your homeowner insurance policy does not cover earthquake damages.
Floods are also not covered by this insurance plan, home insurance plan does not take accountability for a house that gets damaged due to poor maintenance.
Generally, when damage is caused by something that can be referred to as ‘an act of God’, then this insurance plan wouldn’t cover it.
If someone breaks into your home and steals your IDs and starts impersonating you as in the case of an identity thief, your insurer is not liable to compensate you except you specifically have coverage that accounts for that. The coverage can also extend to earthquakes and floods.
Slip and Fall Insurance Coverage
The General Liability Insurance covers the slip and fall damages claim. In the workplace, about 20% – 40% of injures and damages are caused by slips and falls.
This will not only reduce productivity and efficiency but it will cost you a lot in treatment and lawsuits as the business owner.
When a house owner is invested in the home insurance plan, these are some of the things that the insurers are liable for under the slip and fall insurance coverage;
- Medical payment, and
- Lawsuits claims for damages and falls
Joseph is the owner of LadderGeek. He is a home remodeling enthusiast. He has created this blog to share some of his knowledge on Ladder and accessories.
