Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
Sublettor's liability to injured housekeeper
My girlfriend and I are subletting a cottage in California from a
European couple. They are abroad, but live in Los Angeles most
of the year. We are here for three months. While they�re away, we
agreed to use their housekeeper twice a month whom we pay in
cash. Today, while we were out, the housekeeper slipped in the
bathroom and injured herself. She claims to be okay right now, but
she may need to see a doctor. We are curious about our liability in
this situation. There was nothing unusual about the bathroom that
would have caused her to slip, except, perhaps, that the floor was
wet, a result of her mopping. We were told that we had to apply
our own home insurance to this temporary housing situation, but
we haven�t gotten a chance to do that yet. Please enlighten us
about our liability here.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Sublettor's liability to injured housekeeper
What do you mean, "you haven't gotten a chance to do that yet." Pray like hell that your landlords still have homeowners' insurance in force. The housekeeper's injury is covered by workers' compensation, which for residential employees is covered by homeowners' or renters' insurance. If you did not purchase renters' coverage, and there is none in force, then you are an uninsured employer and your employee will collect workers' compensation from the State Uninsured Employer Fund. The State will come after you for the $100,000 or so cost of the workers' comp claim. You will not be able to discharge this debt in bankruptcy; it will stay with you forever. It doesn't matter whether or not the accident was the housekeeper's own fault, she will collect workers' comp. And you will get a very, very expensive lesson in why you should have "gotten a chance" to obtain insurance coverage before you moved in, as you promised to do.
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