Insurer declines cover for gardener suing for injury

[malinmaid]

My sister received a letter this week from a solicitor advising that their client will be seeking recompense for an injury which he suffered in June 2015. This was the first she knew of the injury.. she uses an established gardening firm and this person was one of his employees.

As instructed by the solicitor she passed the letter to her house buildings and contents insurers. They have declined outright to deal with the matter. They say there is no cover for such matters but her policy includes public liability. They say it's the gardening firm who should deal with it.

Any advice

[martin2006]

How was the gardener injured?

[WarrenBuffet]

A Fork handle

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

If the gardener was injured in the course of his employ, he needs to claim from his employer.

The only real exception would be if something obviously dangerous but not easily noticed injured him. He may have a claim then.

[unclebulgaria67]

My sister received a letter this week from a solicitor advising that their client will be seeking recompense for an injury which he suffered in June 2015. This was the first she knew of the injury.. she uses an established gardening firm and this person was one of his employees.

As instructed by the solicitor she passed the letter to her house buildings and contents insurers. They have declined outright to deal with the matter. They say there is no cover for such matters but her policy includes public liability. They say it's the gardening firm who should deal with it.

Any advice

 

I think there is a little bit of misunderstanding here. All the Insurers are saying is that the liability issue described does not appear to be something they can help with, as there does not appear to be any negligent act by your Sister to cause this gardener to have suffered any injury.

 

Buildings cover liability is in respect of the house owner say not maintaining the house and a defect causes injury to a third party.

 

Contents cover liability is in respect of house occupiers, personal liability, liability to domestic employees. So if your Sister under the contract actually employed the gardener, if she was responsible for the gardener getting injured, then this section should assist with any proven liability.

 

Be aware that the gardeners Solicitor may issue a court claim against your Sister, if they believe they have a case. If this happens, then your Sister should make her Insurers aware of this urgently and do what they ask. They should ask her to forward it on to them and they will deal with it. They will defend the claim on your Sisters behalf.

[BankFodder]

https://youtu.be/Cz2-ukrd2VQ

[Surfer01]

I think that the gardener amy have tried to claim from the employer's insuracen but was declined so taking a chance bu trying it on with OP. Either way the gardener should be claiming from the employer and nto from the OP. Probably one of those injury claims lawyers chancing their arm.

[Ganymede]

I think there is a little bit of misunderstanding here. All the Insurers are saying is that the liability issue described does not appear to be something they can help with, as there does not appear to be any negligent act by your Sister to cause this gardener to have suffered any injury.

 

That's not how I read it.

 

It seems like the insurer is refusing to indemnify as the claim isn't for something that is covered by their policy.

[unclebulgaria67]

That's not how I read it.

 

It seems like the insurer is refusing to indemnify as the claim isn't for something that is covered by their policy.

 

Who knows, as malinmaid has not come back and they are only going by what their sister told them.

 

I was trying to read between the lines, that a Home Insurance covering a households liability against third party claims, is unable to help with an incident because what has been described is not covered by the policy. Claim lacks merit and not that the policy excludes liability to employees contracted by the home owner e.g a gardener, cleaner.

[malinmaid]

Sorry, for not replying sooner. Very ill 91 year old mother as well.

My sister knew nothing of the incident. I read the solicitors letter. It's the usual " on or about" an injury occurred. You are liable. Forward this letter to your insurers. She did. They said they don't offer cover for such an incident. It's up to the employers own liability insurance . She doesn't understand why the claim has arrived with her as she also thought this reputable gardening firm who have continued to maintain her garden , with no warning of danger, would have insurance to cover this.

[malinmaid]

I think there is a little bit of misunderstanding here. All the Insurers are saying is that the liability issue described does not appear to be something they can help with, as there does not appear to be any negligent act by your Sister to cause this gardener to have suffered any injury.

 

Buildings cover liability is in respect of the house owner say not maintaining the house and a defect causes injury to a third party.

 

Contents cover liability is in respect of house occupiers, personal liability, liability to domestic employees. So if your Sister under the contract actually employed the gardener, if she was responsible for the gardener getting injured, then this section should assist with any proven liability.

 

Be aware that the gardeners Solicitor may issue a court claim against your Sister, if they believe they have a case. If this happens, then your Sister should make her Insurers aware of this urgently and do what they ask. They should ask her to forward it on to them and they will deal with it. They will defend the claim on your Sisters behalf.

The insurers haven't made any investigations regarding the incident. They don't know what happened. She could have had a bear pit in her garden. They aren't interested in the circumstances. Straightforward " nothing to do with us"

[unclebulgaria67]

The insurers haven't made any investigations regarding the incident. They don't know what happened. She could have had a bear pit in her garden. They aren't interested in the circumstances. Straightforward " nothing to do with us"

 

Think your Sister will now get a further letter from the Solicitors.

 

My gut instinct is telling me that this gardening company don't actually employ the gardeners and have no Insurance for them. Each gardener is self employed and the home owner is contracting with the gardener. The gardener has already looked into Insurance cover from the gardening company and there is none. It is then referred to Solicitors or one of these no win no fee companies and they write to your Sister, without providing information.

 

IF the Solicitors write again, your Sister should contact her Insurers again. Home Insurance does include liability cover, but the third party looking to claim needs to explain why your Sister is liable.

[Ganymede]

Sorry, for not replying sooner. Very ill 91 year old mother as well.

My sister knew nothing of the incident. I read the solicitors letter. It's the usual " on or about" an injury occurred. You are liable. Forward this letter to your insurers. She did. They said they don't offer cover for such an incident. It's up to the employers own liability insurance . She doesn't understand why the claim has arrived with her as she also thought this reputable gardening firm who have continued to maintain her garden , with no warning of danger, would have insurance to cover this.

 

As I thought.

 

We need to know exactly what the accident circumstances were.

 

You'll then need to very carefully check the T&Cs of the insurance policy.

[malinmaid]

As I thought.

 

We need to know exactly what the accident circumstances were.

 

You'll then need to very carefully check the T&Cs of the insurance policy.

She doesn't know. She wasn't advised of an incident at the time -June/July 2015. Late summer 2015.- September, I think, the owner of the gardening firm asked her if she had had a letter from a solicitor. She said "no- what for?" He said oh he must be going through my insurance. That was that. No complaint about a danger in the garden, no suggestion of any danger. He has worked on her garden for 10 years plus.

Friday a week ago she got Solicitors letter- no details of injury or circumstances - just forward to your insurers.

She is very stressed to find her public liability insurance doesn't seem to be her safety net.

[unclebulgaria67]

She doesn't know. She wasn't advised of an incident at the time -June/July 2015. Late summer 2015.- September, I think, the owner of the gardening firm asked her if she had had a letter from a solicitor. She said "no- what for?" He said oh he must be going through my insurance. That was that. No complaint about a danger in the garden, no suggestion of any danger. He has worked on her garden for 10 years plus.

Friday a week ago she got Solicitors letter- no details of injury or circumstances - just forward to your insurers.

She is very stressed to find her public liability insurance doesn't seem to be her safety net.

 

It should be her safety net, but so far no liability has been proven, so nothing for Insurers to respond to.

[Ganymede]

It should be her safety net, but so far no liability has been proven, so nothing for Insurers to respond to.

 

 

That's not what the insurers are saying though.

 

They're saying that the accident circumstances aren't covered by the policy, therefore there won't be any assistance or investigations from them and certainly no financial safety net.

 

It's vital to find out the precise accident circumstances from the OP.

[malinmaid]

So what is the purpose of the liability section of house insurance policies? If my sister deals with this privately through courts are the insurers then liable for any awards to OP

[malinmaid]

Think your Sister will now get a further letter from the Solicitors.

 

My gut instinct is telling me that this gardening company don't actually employ the gardeners and have no Insurance for them. Each gardener is self employed and the home owner is contracting with the gardener. The gardener has already looked into Insurance cover from the gardening company and there is none. It is then referred to Solicitors or one of these no win no fee companies and they write to your Sister, without providing information.

 

IF the Solicitors write again, your Sister should contact her Insurers again. Home Insurance does include liability cover, but the third party looking to claim needs to explain why your Sister is liable.

Thanks. This is a small village and the Garden Firm is long standing. My sister engages the firm, not the individuals who have changed regularly over the past 10 years..

[malinmaid]

How was the gardener injured?

 

She isn't sure. She wasn't notified at the time. When she queried it ,he apparently slipped somewhere in the garden. Thanks for responding

[Ganymede]

So what is the purpose of the liability section of house insurance policies? If my sister deals with this privately through courts are the insurers then liable for any awards to OP

 

We still have no idea what happened.

 

But if the accident isn't something that is covered by the insurance for whatever reason then the insurer won't be making payments to anybody and the homeowner will be personally liable.

 

That's why we need to know the exact accident circumstances and details of the insurance policy.

[hightail]

That's not what the insurers are saying though.

 

They're saying that the accident circumstances aren't covered by the policy, therefore there won't be any assistance or investigations from them and certainly no financial safety net.

Only if the claimant can prove negligence on the part of the homeowner. The TV ads may like to give the impression that there's a possible easy personal injury claim round every corner but individuals tend to defend. That's why these claims companies like a nice easy insurer or public body who will pay out up to a certain level without question.

 

Do they have more information than the homeowner? If they only have the letter forwarded to them then they're as much in the dark as everyone else and the situation is as described by unclebulgaria in post 15.

[Ganymede]

Only if the claimant can prove negligence on the part of the homeowner. The TV ads may like to give the impression that there's a possible easy personal injury claim round every corner but individuals tend to defend. That's why these claims companies like a nice easy insurer or public body who will pay out up to a certain level without question.

 

Do they have more information than the homeowner? If they only have the letter forwarded to them then they're as much in the dark as everyone else and the situation is as described by unclebulgaria in post 15.

 

I don't know what red top newspaper you've been reading but absolutely no insurers have a policy to payout automatically up to a certain level. That's a fallacy.

 

Liability has nothing to do with indemnity and if the insurance policy covers the claim. As things stand we've been told that it doesn't so the homeowner will have to either defend the claim themselves or pay privately for solicitors to do it.

 

However, once the Claimant finds out there is no insurance policy to pay out any potential settlement they may not bother continuing.

[steampowered]

Op, the best thing to do would be to dig out the full insurance policy documents and read them. The policy will tell you what is covered and what is not covered.

 

You need to find the bit which talks about public liability/third party claims and read it to see whether you are covered.

 

If you are covered, you will need to go back to the insurer. If you are not covered, as Ganymede said your sister would be personally liable and would need to defend the claim herself.

[unclebulgaria67]

I find it difficult to believe that a standard Home Insurance does not cover liability to third parties including gardeners contracted . But agree that we need to know the policy wording and what situation is being claimed for.

 

Perhaps the gardener suffered an injury and it has already been considered by the employers Insurance, without a claim being paid. It has taken over a year for the homeowner to be contacted, so something may have gone on since that time. It could be that the employer had no responsibility for any injury suffered by the gardener, as they had provided all necessary training and equipment. The gardeners Solicitor is therefore pointing to something the homeowner has done or not done leading to the injury being suffered.

 

Depending on what is found out about the gardeners claim, it might still be possible for the Home Insurers to deal with the claim. If the Home Insurance also includes legal expenses cover, they can help with that.

[king12345]

I don't know what red top newspaper you've been reading but absolutely no insurers have a policy to payout automatically up to a certain level. That's a fallacy

 

Try Octagon insurance.

They paid out £4.9k to a false claim despite me warning them that the "accident" was a light touch bumper to bumper without even a scratch and the apparently injured woman insisted on £250 cash there and then to avoid insurance claim.

I even told them where she worked but they accepted that she needed 6 months off work to recover despite never taking a day off (?!?!)

All in 3 weeks.

Apparently when claim is under £5k they don't investigate.

Nice earner!