Injured Due to Faulty Home Repair? Get Money Damages through a Civil Tort Claim.
In a previous post we examined the contractual liability of a home repair professional and your ability to recover money damages when a repair job is not done properly. In this post, we’ll talk about another type of liability, civil or tort liability. This type of liability arises if you are injured in your home because of work which was performed negligently or incompetently. You may be able to recover money damages against a negligent contractor or repair person whom you hired. Money damages in a negligence claim can include compensation for all your medical bills, lost wages if you had to miss work because of your injury, pain and suffering and more. This would be done by filing a toxic tort claim against a contractor for a faulty repair. You’ll need an attorney to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company or take your case to trial (rarely necessary), but don’t worry about the cost. Personal injury lawyers typically advance all the costs of litigation and take their fee out of the settlement, and they only charge if they are successful in obtaining a recovery.
Home repair workers should use reasonable care and attention when performing work on your home. If they are licensed professionals, they may have additional duties as well to perform with the skill and competence expected of members of their profession. In just about any home repair or remodeling job, negligently performed work can result in serious injury to the homeowner. Consider the following as just a handful of the innumerable ways negligent repair can cause an accident in the home:
- Electrical wiring is not completed properly, resulting in electric shock to the homeowner or a house fire
- A load-bearing beam is cut or removed when taking out a wall
- Faulty plumbing repair causes a ceiling collapse from a leak
- An upper-story window is not installed securely into its frame
- A TV or heavy appliance is not properly secured to the wall
Was Your Contractor Licensed, Bonded, Insured?
The contractor should carry liability insurance to cover any damages that are the contractor’s fault, including physical injury as well as property damage. The time to verify the contractor’s coverage is before you hire them. Ask to see their policy, and then call the insurance carrier to see if the policy is current and what it covers. The state agency which licenses and regulates that contractor may also have information about the insurance carried.
Contractors are not only responsible for their own negligence but also the work performed by all subcontractors hired by the general. In any major renovation, such as a home addition, your contractor may employ laborers to do carpentry, flooring and drywall, but they will likely also call in subs to handle specialized work such as plumbing and electrical. Subs typically indemnify generals, so the subcontractor (and their insurer) will ultimately be liable for their own negligence. Just make sure whoever you contract with is insured.
Another time insurance comes into play is if someone else, such as a neighbor or friend, is injured in your home and the negligent contractor is responsible. If you get sued as a property owner, your own homeowner’s policy should come to your aid, but they will likely go after the contractor or sub through a process known as indemnification or subrogation.
Lastly, you may be wondering what kind of liability you as a homeowner may have to a worker who is injured while working on your property. Alas, that is a topic for another day. So, stay tuned for more on that topic, but don’t worry, you’re probably better protected than you think.
