Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Jersey

Re: Personal injury or home insurance

One of the great things about htis country is that everyone has access to the courts, even your friend. With that said, in order to be held responsible for an injury, you msut be shown to have down something wrong either by intentional act or violated some duty to protect him from himself. Hnestly, I cannot see such a case having any merit.

Nevertheless, you need to know your rights. You have the right to defend yourself. Since you have insurance, make sure to report it to them and they should provide a defense to you if any action is taken. You want to tell them all the facts and be totally honest (otherwise risk losing coverage for failure to disclose). Do not take a position on settlement except to tell them what you did. While it can be irritating to you for them to consider paying anything on a claim that you do not believe has merit, if they do not pay, you are at risk for any monies due that are over the policy of if for some reason they determine that coverage does not apply. Best ot cooperate and let them decide, telling them to protect you.

Please note, that even if there is no liability some insurance policies have a "med-pay" provision which pays medical bills regardless of fault. Perhaps that is all your friend wants or needs. This policy provision is specifically to prevent needless litigation and also serves as a safety net to pay bills when someone is hurt on our property. That should also be explored also.

While I do not do any defense work, please feel free to contact me if you would like any additional direction at this point. Best wishes.