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
Number of times losses occur, and their severity. These statistics measure expectation of loss, and are critical in establishing a basic premium or the pure cost of protection that is based ...
Organization that is part of a preferred provider organization (PPO) in which enrollees select an EPO provider to act as their primary care physician and serve as the gatekeeper. This ...
Same as term Contribution: principle of equity in property, casualty, and health insurance. When two or more policies apply to the loss, each policy pays its part of the loss, unless its ...
Group coverage for members of a fraternal association, usually on a nonprofit basis. ...
System of charges to an insured that fluctuates according to the loss experience of that insured. This is a form of experience rating. ...
Correction of a contract containing a mistake in order to prevent a party to that contract from gaining from that mistake. For example, if $1,000,000, instead of the correct amount of ...
Statute that makes it illegal in most states for an agent to rebate (return) any portion of his commission as an inducement for an applicant to purchase insurance from him. ...
Total amount of commissions and expense allowances paid by the reinsurer to its ceding company minus the total amount of reinsurance commissions and expense allowances that, in turn, its ...
Commission that is paid based on how profitable a particular type of business proves to be that is written by an agent. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.