#legalliability

Many homeowners’ insurance claims are liability losses. They can result in payouts of a few million dollars. If someone gets hurt on your property, or if you cause damage to someone else’s property, you may be liable for medical bills, legal fees, rehabilitation, and many other expenses. You can protect yourself against this risk by purchasing a personal liability policy. The policy will cover your legal expenses if you are sued.

What Is Personal Liability Insurance?

A personal liability policy protects you and your family from liability if you cause physical injury to a third party or cause damage to their property. In addition, the personal liability coverage compensates you for the legal fees and damages you owe. Several factors affect the type of liability insurance you need, including your employment status, industry, and the country in which you live. It is relatively uncommon in Malaysia to take out personal liability insurance as a separate policy, but it is common to include it in insurance packages. However, given the wide range of coverage available, it can be tough to understand which type of liability insurance you need.

What Does Personal Liability Insurance Cover?

A personal liability policy will protect you in a wide range of situations where you may be legally required to pay for something that happens to someone else on your property or, in some cases, on someone else’s property. Among the most common liability claims are the following:

Expenses resulting from an injury sustained by a guest at your home

Litigation seeking compensation for damages that the policy may cover

Damages to persons or property resulting from your negligent acts or omissions

Damage to property or bodily injury caused by your pets

What Isn’t Covered In Personal Liability Insurance?

Your homeowners’ insurance will cover some specific personal liability claims. A few common examples include:

Liability due to a car accident: your auto insurance policy typically covers these claims.

Injury or damage to property by you or a family member

Damages or injuries within the household

Any bodily injury or property damage can be attributed to your professional activities or any business you conduct. A business insurance policy should cover any business-related claim.

Is It Necessary To Have Personal Liability Insurance At Work?

If an accident occurs at work while performing your duties, your business’s insurance policy should cover the costs. You should check if your employer has public liability insurance, which will compensate you for any damage to a third party caused by accident caused by a member of the organization while at work. To protect you personally under similar circumstances as a self-employed person, you must have self-employed public liability insurance.

How Personal Liability Insurance Work

Assume that your homeowners’ insurance offers RM300,000 in personal liability coverage. In addition, you have a personal umbrella insurance policy that covers up to RM1 million. The plaintiffs sue you for RM800,000 for a covered incident, and you lose. The first thing you’ll have to do is pay your homeowners’ insurance deductible, say RM1,000. Next, your homeowners’ insurance will spend the next RM299,000 of the judgment, bringing you up to the RM300,000 limit. You will then have to pay RM500,000 from your umbrella policy. However, due to your high level of comprehensive personal liability coverage, you won’t have to pay that half-million out of your assets.

Final Thought

There are inherent risks associated with running a business:

Employee injury on the job.

Natural disasters could destroy property.

A client could sue alleging a breach of contract.

Therefore, it is crucial to protect your assets, both business and personal. Making sure you and your business are adequately insured is one way to do that. Below are the benefits of acquiring business insurance.

Keeps Your Business Up And Running

When a disaster occurs, such as an earthquake or flood, how does your business fare? Property and casualty insurance covers loss of property – buildings, equipment, etc. – but what about your lost money while your business is closed? That’s where Business Owners Insurance (also known as BOP) comes in handy. A business can benefit from this kind of insurance by protecting itself from a severe loss of income in the event of a disaster. You get paid the income your business would have made while out of commission (assuming it’s a covered loss). During that time, BOP compensates you for commonly incurred expenses (rent and utilities). Additionally, some companies cover employees’ wages, for up to 12 months, in addition to lost income.

Provides Employee Protection

The most valuable asset of your business is not the products or services you provide, the equipment you take care to maintain, or even the brand you worked hard to establish for years. Your company’s most precious asset is its employees, so it makes sense to protect them in an accident. By the law, it is a requirement to carry workers’ compensation, but you should also consider providing disability coverage, whatever the cost. In addition to protecting your employees, you are also protecting yourself – from lawsuits or liability claims.

A Lawsuit Filed Against You

A litigious society is what we have today. Your business could collapse without insurance in the event of a lawsuit or liability claims. A single accident, breach of contract, or one disgruntled employee, and it’s all over. Even if you win the suit, the cost of legal defense could lead to the end of your business. It is better to have liability insurance than to worry about what might happen, allowing you to focus on what is most important – running a successful business.

It Makes You Look Credible

You probably might not have thought about it, but having insurance makes your business look credible. The purchase of business insurance shows your prospects and customers that you are a reliable corporate entity. Your work for them is guaranteed, so you have the option to get compensated if anything goes wrong.

Ensures The Protection Of Human Assets

Owning a business enterprise entails a lot of responsibilities. The question is, what happens if you stop running for whatever reason, whether it is a heart attack, serious injury, or other unfortunate circumstance that keeps you away from the game for weeks, months, or even years?

A company-owned life insurance policy covers you if you become disabled and unable to earn income. The buy-sell agreement provides funds for the purchase of your interest if you are killed or disabled.

You can also purchase these policies – called “key person” or “key man” policies – to cover a valued employee’s disability or death.

Ensures Employee Retention And Attraction

For the most part, people don’t think about insurance until they need it. However, knowing what your homeowners insurance policy covers and does not cover can mean the difference between rebuilding your home and replacing your personal effects. In addition, homeowners need to do annual insurance policy “check-ups” to keep up with local building cost increases, home renovations, and inventory updates.

What Is a Homeowners Insurance Policy?

The homeowners insurance policy will compensate you if you suffer damage to your home or personal property due to an event covered under your policy. The policy also covers you if you cause property damage or injure someone else. Even though homeowner’s insurance policies are infinitely customizable, they also have some standard provisions that outline the costs the insurer will cover:

Exterior Or Interior Damage To Your Home

Damages caused by fire, hurricanes, lightning, vandalism, or any other covered disaster will be compensated by your insurer so that your house can be repaired or even completely rebuilt. However, floods, earthquakes, and poorly maintained homes are generally not covered and may need a separate rider if you want to insure these items. Similarly, a detached garage shed or other structure on the property may need to be covered separately, using the same guidelines. Most items in your home are insured if destroyed in a disaster. It includes clothes, furniture, appliances, and other contents. There are even policies offering “off-premises” coverage, so you can file a claim for lost jewelry, for example, no matter where you lost it.

Personal Liability For Damage Or Injuries

You are protected from lawsuits filed against you if you have liability coverage. Your pets are also covered under this clause. Thus, if your dog bites Doris, whether the bite occurs at your house or hers, your insurance company will cover her medical expenses. In addition, if your kid breaks her Ming vase, you can file a claim for reimbursement. Even if Doris slips and lands on the vase pieces and successfully sues for pain and suffering or lost wages, you’re still covered for those losses, just as if it was someone who fell on your property.

Rental Of a Hotel Or House While Your Home Is Being Repaired Or Rebuilt

Hopefully, you will never be in such a situation, but it will be the best insurance you’ve ever had if it does happen. The additional living expenses portion of your coverage would pay for the rent, hotel room, dining out, and other incidental costs you incur during the waiting period for your home to become habitable again. If you plan to book a suite at an expensive hotel, please remember that the policies have strict daily and total limits. Those daily limits can be increased if you are willing to pay more for coverage.

What Does Homeowners Insurance Not Cover?

Generally, homeowner’s insurance will cover most scenarios where a loss could occur, but certain events, such as natural disasters, are not typically covered. Are you at risk of floods or hurricanes where you live? How about earthquakes? For these, you’ll need riders or a separate policy for earthquakes or flooding. Additional coverage is available for sewer backup and drains backup, and you can even add identity theft coverage for reimbursement of expenses related to identity theft.

Risk mitigation is at the heart of insurance coverage. Individuals and small businesses can use insurance as a means of protecting themselves against financial loss, but insurance companies have interests of their own to protect. Typically, insurance policies will include exclusions based on this so that they don’t cover every scenario. They are interested in insurance exclusions, and why do insurance companies exclude exclusions from their policies? Here’s the answer.

What Are Insurance Exclusions?

A policy exclusion provides a way for an insurer not to cover certain risks, such as an unexpected loss. It is a way to restrict the scope of coverage for risks they are unwilling to protect. As a result, policy exclusions contribute to the overall definition of the policy. What is the reason? Ultimately, it would help if you kept in mind that an insurance company is a business. Events are covered; many insurers would be discouraged from entering the market or remaining excluded. So, what are the reasons for exclusions?

Reasons For Insurance Exclusion

Use exclusions for various reasons in insurance policies, but most relate to the risks listed below.

A Cataclysmic Event

Catastrophic events make certain risks uninsurable. War is an example. Your commercial property insurance coverage does not cover a bomb destroying your business property in a war situation. Military action and war are almost universally not included in property insurance policies.

If Previously Covered By Another Policy

In many cases, the exclusions are risks covered by one policy from another. For example, a general liability policy excludes auto liability claims from coverage since a commercial auto policy covers them. Workers’ compensation insurance covers any benefits an employer must pay under workers’ compensation laws. Liability and auto policies exclude benefits payable under workers’ compensation laws.

Maintenance Of a Car Or Property

Wear and tear, for example, are excluded because they are natural occurrences and controlled by the policyholder. Both physical damage coverages for commercial properties and autos exclude wear and tear-related damages. Also, prevent rust, corrosion, and insect infestations risks through regular maintenance.

Deliberate Actions

Businesses and people purchase insurance to protect themselves from misfortune, accidents, and other unforeseen circumstances. In such cases, most policies won’t cover the losses if the insured deliberately causes the damage. For example, suppose a driver experiences road rage and deliberately drives into another vehicle. In that case, their auto insurance policy probably will not cover the damage to the insured’s car, even if it has comprehensive coverage. In another example, if a contractor deliberately damaged a client’s property to evade payment, the provider wouldn’t cover the impact.

Illegal Actions

Many policies do not cover crimes, law violations, and deliberately caused injuries against public policy. Due to this, liability policies do not cover claims arising from the insured’s deliberate, harmful acts such as firing a gun. As the first step in evaluating an insurance claim (under any policy), an insurance company determines if the event caused the loss is fair to count as an “occurrence.” A claim will not be counted as an occurrence most of the time if a crime is underlying it.

Exceptions To Exclusions And Buybacks

Are you planning on purchasing a new car, and you are wondering whether getting a motor policy is a smart move? It is not only about vehicle insurance being mandatory by the law. It is about financial protection and other benefits that come from having a motor policy. The primary purpose of acquiring car insurance is to secure financial protection if you or your vehicle are involved in an accident.

  Depending on the plan you choose, you might expect financial protection for the following:

Third-party injury and death claims – your vehicle participated in an accident caused by a third party. If they are to blame, you get financial protection for both bodily injuries and death.

Third-party property damage – did the other party cause damage to your or their vehicle? If that is the case, you can claim against the insurer. Depending on who caused the accident, the claim will be either against your or their insurer.

Own property damage – if your vehicle suffered damage, you can file both no-fault and your fault claims. The degree of financial protection might vary.

Fire and theft claims – did your vehicle get stolen? Was there a fire or another natural disaster that damaged your car? A motor policy can protect you financially in case this happens.

If you apply for a car insurance plan, you can pick between three different extents of cover:

Third-party

Third-party, fire, and theft

Comprehensive

Add-On Covers

Here are some additional premiums you can add to a motor policy:

Legal liability of and to passengers – what if your passenger or people in the other vehicles sue you for their injuries?

Assessed repair time compensation – you might not be able to use your vehicle for a while, and this should cover your expenses over that period.

Windscreen – if the windshield breaks, and it was not the result of a road accident.

Flood – if a flood damages your vehicle, this will have you covered.

A Peace of Mind

Finally, you can’t put a price on having peace of mind. It might not be a direct way how a motor policy protects you, but it is crucial. Being aware that you have an car insurance plan will help you sleep well at night. That is especially true if you are not the only one driving the vehicle. If an accident occurs, you can rest assured that the insurance will cover the repairs necessary. That way, you will ensure that the family doesn’t enter a rough financial patch due to an accident.

What If You Cause an Accident?

Nobody is perfect, and you might have caused an accident while driving your car. Did a misfortunate event cause damage to someone else’s property? If that is the case, having a motor policy might provide some protection mechanism to keep you from losing everything you own over a lawsuit. A comprehensive motor insurance policy allows you to make your damage claim against your insurer.