HURT ON YOUR PROPERTY?

I grew up hearing that if someone was hurt on your property it was automatically YOUR fault.

I was in law school when I learned that was NOT TRUE.

It has never been true. But, like most myths, there is an element of truth. First of all, property insurance sometimes has a provision called medical payments.

Medical payments can be made regardless of fault So it is not liability based at all. For example, if you are playing basketball at a friends house and just fall, med pay can take of bills, usually up to 5,000.00.

Understandably, the other basketball players know you fell and then they hear an insurance company paid you.

However, for the homeowner to actually be liable, there would have to be fault. In the law, it is called negligence.

An example of negligence would include a homeowner leaving a cord across a dark walk, not covering a hole or warning about it or having a viscous dog.

David B. Peel, an injury attorney, often speaks to churches, clubs and groups without costs. He may be reached at www.PeelLawFirm.com.