Self Insuring Question

[RetiredHappy]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone reading this thread ever had that kind of thing happen to them..........someone getting hurt on their property, and then filing a lawsuit against the property owner? I know it can happen, but I'm wondering how often it actually does happen. Also, wouldn't the person filing the suit have to basically prove that their injury was caused by some kind of hazard on the property that the homeowner should have been aware of and did not fix? I'm not an attorney, but it seems to me that if someone trips on the walkway leading up to my house and gets hurt, and there are no holes, bumps, or other obvious hazards in the walkway, what are their chances of winning a lawsuit for damages, even if they do decide to file suit?

I know anything can happen, and there is always the potential for someone to sue and ruin a person financially, but I'm just curious how often this kind of thing does happen in the real world.

The only personal case which I know of is a friend who trip outside a doctor's office and she got a "nice" injury lawyer to go after the practice. The case is being dragged on for more than a year but it is still active.

 

[RunningBum]

I can't recall any specifics, but both my father and ex-FIL worked for insurance companies, and they had lots of stories of large claims they had to pay off. Presumably without decent liability coverage, the people would have been sued.

 

[tryan]

Who will insure for liability only??

Last umbrella I applied for had all kinds of requirements for fire and auto minimums.

 

[ncbill]

I can't recall any specifics, but both my father and ex-FIL worked for insurance companies, and they had lots of stories of large claims they had to pay off. Presumably without decent liability coverage, the people would have been sued.

The attorneys for the insurance company agreed to those settlements, so they clear felt the settlement amount was less than could have been awarded at trial.

And as for losing everything...I'm still looking online for a case where an individual with an umbrella policy was held liable for a judgment above their insurance limits.

That's not to say an individual with sufficient resources wouldn't settle above the total insurance limits, just that I've never found an example of a judgment above policy limits when the insured has umbrella coverage & that question comes up all the time over on bogleheads forums.