What Do I Do If Someone Gets Injured In My Home?
First, stay calm. Freaking out won’t help anyone. Whenever there’s an accident everyone gets hyper and tense; being calm will be a blessing to everyone. Plus; it’s your house. You’re supposed to lead. Calm everyone down, determine the injuries and or damage.
Second: call the police and medical assistance (if needed). While we said for you to determine the injuries and damage – and it’s nice if you can get pictures of it for future reference – you have to call the police to file an accident report and medical assistance to take care of it. If it’s something you can take care of with a first-aid kit, tell the victim the house has a first-aid kit (you better have it; it’s an essential home item) and, if they want, you can perform the first-aid or they can do it themselves if they prefer.
Step number 3 is politely limiting the discussion - especially if it’s something big. Talk only with the police or your insurance agent. Don't admit liability or fault on the scene of the accident. Try to resolve everything and take care of everyone but position yourself as a helpful person, not a guilty one. Calm everyone, say it’s not the time to discuss that, only to make sure everyone is safe and sound.
Step number 4 is getting the facts right. Write down names, addresses, phone numbers, insurance companies of the individuals involved and witnesses. This is important for when the liability insurance policy kicks in.
Lastly, call your insurance agent to report the accident and go over with him or her all the details of exactly what happened and how it happened.
From there on, everything will probably run independently from you. With a few calls from your insurance agency if you’re unlucky. If the victim calls you regarding anything related to the accident, refer them to your insurance agent and say you were advised to do that.
If it’s the other way around and you’re the one who gets injured in someone else’s home: stay calm, call the police and medical assistance - if you can’t do it yourself, ask someone to call it for you. Get all the info you can and contact your lawyer as soon as you can.
Now that you’ve read what to do if someone gets injured in your home: did you realize you don’t know that much home insurance? Read our home insurance guide to learn more!
Popular Insurance Questions
Popular Insurance Glossary Terms
Money that is lent. In life insurance, a loan can be taken against the cash value of a life insurance policy at any time. The policyholder does not have to repay the loan until the policy ...
Funds set aside by an insurance company to pay incurred losses which have not yet been paid. ...
Same as term: engineering approach; human approach ...
Transfer of high severity risks through the insurance contract to protect against catastrophic occurrences. While insurance is generally not the most cost-effective means of recovery of ...
Provision found in a life insurance policy that provides that certain benefits will be paid in the event the insured becomes totally and permanently disabled from an accident incurred or ...
Provision of health maintenance organization (HMO) coverage. A member who is critically injured within the geographical service area of the HMO can use the nearest hospital for emergency ...
Base upon which a mortality table is built by beginning with a randomly selected group of people who are alive at the earliest age for which statistics are available on the number of people ...
Hospital charges in addition to room and board. Miscellaneous expenses are covered under a basic hospital plan, with the limits of coverage expressed either as a multiple of the daily ...
Coverage for business firms operating abroad to insure them against loss due to political upheavals including war, revolution, confiscation, incontrovertibility of currency, and other such ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.