[Music] Homeowners insurance in accidents off your property you are no doubt aware that your homeowners insurance will cover you for some accidents and fire or wind damage to your home some policies also cover your family when someone is accidentally injured while you are not at home policies such as these can also cover you when another person's property has been damaged – we're going to take a look at different scenarios that could be covered by your insurance and how involving the insurance company could help you make and win a claim or fight a claim made against you protecting your home if you accidentally damage property or injure another person a claim made against your could cost you thousands of dollars another person's attorney will be interested in how much your home is worth and you may have to sell your home to pay part or all of the claim to protect you from a claim such as this a homeowner's policy typically provides coverage for accidents that occur on your property and those that happen when you are not at home however only very specific cases tend to be covered by your insurance your homeowners insurance may cover your homeowners insurance may protect you from accidents such as hitting someone with your backpack and injuring them but only if this was not done on purpose however if you have an accident while driving your car your homeowners insurance will not cover this but your automobile insurance probably will if you aim to throw a snowball at your brother's head but it misses and hits someone else and hurts them your homeowners insurance could cover this but again you will have to prove that this was an accident when you are negligent we are all expected by law to act reasonably all the time but if you fail to act reasonably and someone is hurt you could be found negligent for example someone who is acting reasonably will not look at their mobile phone while they are walking along the street however if you do look at your phone while you are walking and your knock or push someone over you could be found negligent this is because you were not looking where you were going this is where your homeowners insurance could save you it's likely to cover your negligence and that of a family member regardless of where you are particularly if you have liability insurance this means that if you were throwing a ball for example and it went through your neighbor's car's windshield the insurance is likely to cover the cost of the window intentional bad behavior if you or a family member intentionally behaved or acted badly your homeowners insurance will not cover it to be more precise the policy will not cover purposeful or intentional property damage purposefully or intentionally hurting someone this means that your policy will not cover vandalism assault and battery sexual harassment workplace harassment if someone is making a claim against you if someone is making a claim against you the first time you hear about it is likely to be when you receive a document in the mail the document will inform you that someone has made a complaint against you and you are being summoned to court if you receive a letter like this you will need to get in touch with your insurance company as soon as you can your insurance company will review any documents that you have been sent and they will inform you if the lawsuit can be covered by the policy if your insurance company cannot cover the lawsuit you will need to speak with an attorney ASAP this is because you won't have long to respond to the complaint if you decide not to respond to the complaint or it takes longer than required response time usually 28 30 days a judgment may be automatically entered against you this means that the court may make their own decision about how liable you are without consulting you first insurance coverage and lawsuits if by chance your homeowners insurance does cover the lawsuit you could have an attorney representing you the attorney will respond to the complaint and they will then discuss what they think is the best thing to do this means they may ask you to consider paying a settlement to the other party or they may even ask you to provide evidence this means that you may have to sit next to your attorney at the trial unless the case has been settled before a trial is reached appear at a deposition where you give evidence in person and respond to questions respond to the request for information this is known as discovery the good news is that most cases settle without the defendant having to participate very much paying the settlement and costs if your homeowners insurance covers your lawsuit it's also likely to pay the settlement costs such as the cost of property damage medical bills etc it may also pay for the jury an attorney fees too this can be a huge relief as court costs alone could be tens of thousands of dollars having the right kind of insurance while there is no law that dictates that you should have homeowners insurance that covers claims made against you having the right type of insurance could prove invaluable please check your insurance policy today so you know exactly what you are covered for if you are not covered for liability please change your policy as soon as you can because it could mean you don't have to sell your home to pay for another person's medical bills and attorney costs [Music]