What Is Liability Insurance?
Liability insurance is a very broad term, especially in Texas. In its broadest sense, liability insurance covers the conduct of a person, persons, or a business following an incident resulting in injury or death and helps protect them from the risk of liabilities imposed by lawsuits or similar claims.
How Does Liability Insurance Work?
On its most basic level, liability insurance says that the liability insurer has three major duties:
- The duty to defend – The duty to defend most often provides that the insurer has the right and duty to defend the insured against all lawsuits and claims to which policies apply. For example, if a property owner has liability coverage applying to slip and fall accidents and a slip and fall claim is made against that property owner, it would trigger the insurer’s duty to defend against that claim.
- The duty to indemnify – An indemnity case arises when an individual is obliged to pay for losses or damages incurred by another individual or entity in an event or an accident, such as a car crash. The duty of indemnity means that the insurer must pay for all covered sums for which the insured is deemed responsible, up to the limits of coverage.
- The duty to settle a reasonably clear claim – This means that if a reasonable opportunity to settle a claim arises, either because the plaintiff has made a settlement offer or the insurer is aware of information to the effect that the plaintiff would accept an offer, the insurer is obliged to move on the settlement.
What Are Some Examples of Liability Insurance?
If there is a risk that an activity, industry, or property may result in the injury or death of a third-party, then there is most likely some form of liability insurance available. Common examples of this include:
- Liability insurance for company vehicles
- Liability insurance for store owners
- Liability insurance for construction sites
- Liability insurance for amusement parks
- Liability insurance for apartment complexes
- Liability insurance for 18 wheelers
- Liability insurance for personally owned vehicles
- Liability insurance for product manufacturers
How Does Liability Insurance Affect My Personal Injury Claim?
The reason liability insurance is an important topic in personal injury law is that, in most cases, the liability insurer will be the entity that pays for the damages awarded in your claim. Think of getting car repairs following a collision. If you are rear-ended by an insured driver, the driver isn’t the one paying for your repairs. Rather, the insurer takes on the duty of paying for your repairs up to the point allotted by that driver’s policy.
Liability insurance does the same thing for personal injury. If you are rear-ended by an 18-wheeler, neither the truck driver nor the company will be footing the bill. Instead, the company that insures the trucking company will payout your claim.
Good liability insurance benefits you as a plaintiff as you can be relatively certain that the insurer will have the financial resources necessary to pay your settlement or financial award, even if the trucking company is not doing well economically.
Can Dealing with a Liability Insurance Company Be a Bad Thing?
Liability insurance can be a bad thing provided you do not have an experienced personal injury attorney to help you with your claim. Just as a liability insurer has the financial resources to settle and pay out your claim, they also have the financial resources to hire legal experts to challenge your claim.
At Thomas J. Henry, we have the financial and legal resources to level the playing field. We have the money to fight the long fight, and we have a team of attorneys that can go up against those employed by even the largest insurance companies.
Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Attorneys
Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys is a personal injury law firm with offices in Corpus Christi, Texas, San Antonio, Texas and Houston, Texas representing accident victims nationwide. Our priority is to provide our clients with the best legal representation. Our experienced trial attorneys are committed to defending your rights in personal injury matters including defective products, recalled drugs, child injuries, and auto accidents.
If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident, contact our offices immediately – we are available 24/7, nights and weekends.
