A liability claim can take many forms. Put simply, if you injure someone or damage another’s property, they have the right to sue you for damages.
Your Liability policy provides coverage for your legal liability such as injuries, or damages. Your insurance also pays for lawyers to defend you. Not all such claims result in a lawsuit. Many claims are settled by your liability adjusters before lawsuits are filed, even when the party that was injured or suffered damage uses a lawyer. What the insurers can do for you requires highly trained and experienced adjusters. You need to know what to do so the claim is handled promptly and efficiently by these expert adjusters. This way, if a lawsuit does happen, the insurers can protect you properly.
Hints and Useful Information for Liability Claims
Reporting the Claim
When there is injury or property damage to another, and whether you feel you are responsible or not; call your broker and discuss reporting the claim. The broker may contact our claims advocate to discuss the situation with you. In most cases, this must be reported to the insurers, and we will arrange that with you. Most importantly, any event that could be a claim, call your broker. If you are “served” with court documents, forward them to us immediately. Don’t wait! Do this promptly!
After the Report of a Claim
When your claim has been reported, your adjusters will immediately start an investigation to find out everything they can about you, the injured/ damaged party, and the exact details of what happened. You may be asked, some “uncomfortable” questions in the event this does turn into a lawsuit. A lot of the work will be completed by your adjusters after the initial investigation takes place. Very few liability claims get to court. Your adjusters work very hard to get a claim settled well before it that happens.
The last thing we want to tell you is when you think there may be a claim against you. Tell us. We are here to help get the process moving by reporting the claim for you.
