Personal Injury & Your Homeowners Insurance

Homeowners insurance is just meant to cover my home right?  Not at all!  There are other coverage options available to help protect your assets that can be endorsed to the home policy.  One endorsement your agent should be discussing is personal injury. Don’t think of it in the literal sense, we’re not talking about physical damage, we are talking about emotional damage otherwise known as slander.

Let’s face it, sometimes we push other people’s buttons when we don’t mean to or we say the wrong thing and hurt other people’s feelings.  Someone can take legal action against you for these actions whether or not you intended harm.  It’s the 21st century and people are allowed to sue you for such actions so why not protect yourself!  Have your agent add a Personal Injury Endorsement to the liability section of your homeowners insurance.  This endorsement protects the policyholder from an “oral or written publication, in any manner, of material that slanders or libels a person or organization or disparages a person’s or organizations goods, products or services or (an) oral or written publication, in any manner,… that violates a person’s right of privacy.”  In simpler terms it covers defamation and/or slander of a third party by an insured.

Who is an insured on your homeowner’s policy?  In homeowners policies you’ll see a reference you “you” and “your” which refers to who is covered under the policy.  ”You” is the named insured or the names on the policy.  ”Your” is a spouse if a resident of the same household, your relatives or other persons under the age of 21 and in your care or the care of a resident relative.  ”Your” is also a student enrolled in school full-time (as defined by the school) who was a resident of your household before moving out to attend school, provided the student is under the age of 24 and your relative or 21 and in your care or the care of a resident relative. – In most cases mom, dad and any children that live in the house (or away at school) are covered.

So, when Johnny is away at college and posts an offensive photograph on Facebook from his 21st birthday party or tweets a non-flattering remark about the university’s staff there would be protection if a personal injury endorsement was purchased.  With social meeting increasing this coverage is more important than ever.  Cost for this endorsement is typically around $20 annual but can vary between insurance companies and depends on the liability limit on your home policy.  Contact our staff for assistance as this type of litigation is on the rise!

 

715-387-4443

info@marshfieldinsurance.net

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