1
Property Insurance provides protection against property such as:
Fire, theft, and some weather damage.
What are some arguments against negligence?
Contributory and Comparative Negligence
Assumption of risk
Intervening Cause
Statutes of limitation
Last Clear Chance
Chase Asks If Sandy Lies
Compensatory damages
Reimburse the injured party only for losses that were actually sustained. There are two types of Compensatory damages.
Special damages and general damages
Contributory negligence is:
e.g. Jake (insured) pulls out in front of another car and an accident occurs. The driver of the other car (Linda) wants to be paid for medical bills and damages to her car. Jake argues that the accident was partly cause by the bald tires on lindas car, which cause her to not stop fast enough. The agrees and finds linda 30% at fault. using the argument of contributory negligence, Jake owes Linda nothing because Linda contributed to the cause of the accident.
Bodily injury (BI)
Means injury, sickness, disease, and death arising out of injury, sickness, or disease
Casualty insurance in the general term that encompasses many different types of liability coverages, such as:
Auto liability, commercial general liability, umbrella liability, and commercial crime policies
Punitive Damages
Are intended to reform or deter the defendant and others form engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. An individual suffred burn injuries when his car burst into flames during a rearend collision. At the trial, the evidence showed that the vehicle manufactureer had known the probability of such fires from its own testing, and in an inexpensive desgn change could have been made to preven fuel tank fires. The court held that the evidence supported a finding of malice, justifying an award of punitive damages.
Gross Negligence.
What is Negligence?
Negligence is failure to exercise the care that a reasonable person would exercise in like circumstances.
It is a failure to do (or not do) something that ordinarily should be (or not be) done that results in a loss
Failure to act or not act reasonably
Liability insurance
Protects an insured from a financial losses arising out of liability claims by transferring the burden of the loss from the insured to the insurer. The insurer pays up to the limit of liability, for which the insured becomes legally liable to pay because of bodily injury an property damage.
Bodily injury (BI), property damage (PD), personal injury (PI)
Intervening cause:
When an independent event affects the chain of events. It may also serve as a defense against liability. If an insured suffers a heart attack while driving and it cause an accident that seriously injures another person, the insured could argue that the heart attack was an unexpected intervening cause and that he has no liability.
So what does property insurance cover?
Covers personal belongings and real property.
If my house burns down, then my insurance pays me to rebuild.
Statutes of limitation:
Laws that provide that certain types of lawsuits must be filed within a specified time of the occurrence to be valid under the law. Don't wait too long to sue if you think someone is at fault.
Absolute liability
Imposed by law on those participating in certain activities that are considered espcially hazardous. Individuals involed in such operations may be held liable for hte damages of another even though the individual tried to be as careful as possiblue. bsolutel liabiilty is most frequently applied ot the actiivites involving dangerour materials, hazardous operation, or dangerous animals. ]
e.g. Larry keeps seven boas constrictors in a trailer for his night club act. Despite precautions, one of the reptiles escapes and seriously injures a child. Larry may have not been negligent but he could still be held responsbiel by virtue of absolute liability (owning the snake)
usually in reference to products liability. The injured party does not have to prove negligence when suing a tire manufacturer. The only proof necessary is that the tires were defective and cause d the accident.
What is comparative negligence:
Laws that allow a finding of liability to be made even when both parties have contributed to the loss, with an award based on the extent of each party's negligence. Using the previous example, comparative negligence says that linda is responsible for 30% of the damages and jake is responsible for 70%.
Property damage (PD)
means damage to or destruction of property, including loss of use of the property.
So what does casualty insurance cover?
Casualty insurance pays the other guy.
If the mailman gets bit by my dog, my insurance company pays the mailman to pay for his medical claims due to my negligence.
Damages
The financial consequences of a liability loss can be devastating. If an individual is liable for the loss of another, the courts might require the individual to pay damages (monetary compensation) to the injured party.
Assumption of Risk:
Bars or reduces the right of recovery against a negligent third party when he voluntarily and knowingly participated in the dangerous activity that cause his own injury. This doctrine is associated with sporting events. The quarterback of a football team cant' be paid for his own injuries cause by a player from the other team who hits him and break his arm. The quarterback, assumes responsibility by playing in the game.
Special Damages
Include all direct and specific expenses involved in a particular loss, such as medical expenses, lost wages, funeral expenses, and the cost to repair or replace damaged property
Provable monetary losses
Vicarious Liability
A very common form of vicarious liability involves the relationship between an employer and an employee. Often, the negligence of an employee can be imputed(charged) to an employer becaue the employer has control over the employee. e.g. the lumber delivery driver may negligently cause an accident that injures two pedestrians. The delivery driver has direct liability, and the employer also becomes responsible for the negligence because the employee was driving a company vehicle and the accident occurred on company time. Parents also have vicarious liability for the activities of the underage children. General contractors, many times, have vicarious liability for the negligent acts of a subcontractor.
Liability for the actions of another.
What is a third party loss?
A third party loss is a situation that involves a person other than the insurer and the insured
Occurs when a person claims to have been injured by an insured or when a person's property has been damaged by the insured's actions
The first party is the insured. The second party is the insurance company legally representing or defending the insured. The third party is the "other guy"
How does a party establish negligence?
To establish negligence all of the following four factors must occur:
1. Legal duty owed
2. Breach of legal duty owed.
3. Proximate cause
4. Damages
Example: Insured is driving to work. Insured answers phone and reaches to phone, while reaching she swerves into the next lane hitting the car beside her.
1. The insured has a legal duty to be responsible when driving. She was not.
2. The insured breached her legal duty because she was distracted and hit the car next to her.
3. The proximate cause of the damage to the others car by swerving into the next lane. The loss would not have occurred if she stayed in her lane.
4. Lastly, the other person had damages they suffered.
A drunk driver is guilty of a crime, but only guilty of negligence if damages occur
General Damages
Compensate for things such as pain and suffering and mental anguish
Non-monetary losses
Last Clear Chance:
A doctrine that is employed in contributory negligence jurisdictions. Under this doctrine, a partially negligent person can, nonetheless, recover if he is able to show that the defendant had the last opurtunityh to avoid the accident.
What is a tort?
A tort is a civil wrong that unfairly causes someone else ot suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Liability insurance provides coverage for unintentional torts involving negligence.
Civil wrong that causes someone else to suffer loss.