Renters Insurance and Landlord Responsibilities

One of the important factors in having renters insurance when you rent an apartment, condo and so on is being covered in the event a person is injured on the property you are residing in.

If you are not covered and someone is injured while visiting you for any reason, you can be held financially responsible for their bills.

Many renters unfortunately assume that they are covered by their landlord…but that could not be further from the truth.

It is important as a renter to know what your rights are and what the landlord is responsible for should there be an incident where you live or where you rent for business purposes.

In order to be held responsible when an injury occurs on the premises, the landlord or property manager must have been negligent in maintaining the property, and that negligence must have resulted in the injury.

All of the following factors must be proven for a landlord to be held liable:

• It was the landlord's responsibility for upkeep of the portion of premises that caused the accident.
• The landlord did not take reasonable steps to prevent the accident.
• Fixing the problem (or at least providing adequate warnings) would not have proven unreasonably expensive or hard to do.
• A serious injury was the most likely consequence of not correcting the problem (the accident was foreseeable).
• The landlord's failure -- his negligence – resulted in the tenant's accident.
• The tenant was genuinely hurt.

For example, should a tenant slip and break his ankle on a broken front door step, the landlord will be liable if the tenant can demonstrate the following details:

• It was the landlord's responsibility to maintain the steps (this is typically the case, due to the fact that the steps are part of the common area, which is the landlord's responsibility).
• The landlord did not take reasonable actions to maintain the steps (for days or weeks, not if it had only been broken for minutes).
• A repair would have proven to be easy or inexpensive (fixing a broken step is a minor job).
• The most likely result of a broken step is a serious injury, and it was foreseeable (falling on a broken step is very likely).
• The broken step resulted in the injury (the tenant must prove that he fell on the step and that the step is where he broke his ankle).
• The tenant is really hurt (the tenant isn't faking it).

A tenant is allowed to file a personal injury lawsuit or claim against the landlord's insurance company for medical bills, lost earnings, pain and other physical suffering, permanent physical disability and disfigurement, and emotional distress.

A tenant can also sue for damage to personal property like a stereo or car, resulting from faulty maintenance or unsafe conditions.