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Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, anyways. We can't get any legal advice at 10 pm on a Saturday night! We used to carry an umbrella policy for just such situations, but we dropped it when it became too expensive. Before I get people screaming at me that umbrella policies are relatively inexpensive, etc, etc, the umbrella policy itself isn't too expensive, but, in order to have an umbrella, you must carry all your assets with the same insurer and insure all assets to the maximum liability afforded under the regular policy, then the umbrella kicks in. We were paying ~$350/month to insure 4 old, paid off cars to carry full liability! We were literally being eaten alive by insurance, and other recurring costs. We had to cut our budget somehow. We dropped to just basic liability for our vehicles, now we pay $80/month total for 4 vehicles!
That's nonsense. Our umbrella policy is part of our homeowner's insurance, which has a $5,000 deductible. Since most homeowner claims are below that amount, we get a big discount, and the umbrella policy only adds $10/month. You need to talk to an insurance broker, who will find insurance that meets your needs. A salesman will just sucker you into the most expensive policy.
Generally, you should carry the highest deductible that you can write a check for. That shoves you down the actuarial risk tables and you will save a lot of money.
We are having our house fixed up to put on the market. We do not currently live there, and all the repairs, etc, are being handled through our agent.
Today, our agent called to say the painter had a heart attack while painting in our house. He was taken to the hospital and recovered. I didn't think until later, could the painter sue us for his medical bills?
We did NOT engage him directly, the agent did. We never even met him, and actually have never signed any paperwork giving the agent authority to engage sub-contractors for us. We do have insurance, but dropped the umbrella policy.
What would our liability be?
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) he is legally required to carry his own medical insurance, either privately or through his employer. If he is not covered, he is the one who is negligent.
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) he is legally required to carry his own medical insurance, either privately or through his employer. If he is not covered, he is the one who is negligent.
We did NOT engage him directly, the agent did. We never even met him, and actually have never signed any paperwork giving the agent authority to engage sub-contractors for us.
Sorry, but I sorta read this as throwing the agent under the bus, too. You were pretty busy saying "Not my fault! Never saw the man!" People forget that "agent" isn't a "title". It's denotes the relationship between the principal (you) and a person that is acting on your behalf (the agent). The laws of agency are pretty clear on implied authority and actual authority. When you say "All repairs are being handled through my agent", you are admitting that you have given the agent authority to hire contractors on your behalf -- I sincerely doubt that the agent took it upon themselves to say, "Gee, I'll redecorate Marylee's condo, she'll love that!" No, you are not there, and you asked your agent to please oversee the work necessary to ready the unit for sale. I'm sure the agent did not hire painters without your approval -- because you're the one paying for them, right? You are never going to convince a judge that the agent was working without your knowledge, approval or consent.
That's why most agents take their fiduciary responsibility to their principals very, very seriously. It's a matter of great trust. As an agent, I would not recommend someone who wasn't a licensed, insured professional, because it would reflect badly on me if they messed up.
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) he is legally required to carry his own medical insurance, either privately or through his employer. If he is not covered, he is the one who is negligent.
But that has nothing to do with whether the OP is liable!
How so? OP is in a panic because they are afraid they might get sued, and are denying that they had anything to do with hiring the painter, along with some finger-pointing at the agent who hired the painter and the implication that blame, if any, should be assigned to the agent. I merely pointed out the laws of agency that they may not be familiar with.
Legally, he can sue for anything. Depending on your state and the theories of liability allowed in your state such as joint/several, etc he not only may be able to sue, but he may also be able to collect.
In a pure legal sense, you hired a painter who is a contractor. He was injured on the job, but the injury is supposedly unrelated to the employment...courts are not permitted to just toss a case out. A court hears the facts, and decides whether or not given the facts as plead by the lawsuit, (assuming all facts as plead by the plaintiff are true) is there an issue of fact or theory of liability in which the plaintiff's suit could be successful? The answer to this almost always 99.9% of the time yes, there is.
What theory could he try to collect on? Perhaps the power was turned off so he was painting without air conditioning in a hot room....There are lots of "facts" which a plaintiff will plead in order to come up with a theory in which another party is at least partially at fault. Perhaps the owner did not tell the contractor of a problem with the house, and he was injured due to failing to warn, and the injury is what triggered the heart attack, etc..
I am not saying its right, Im not saying its ethical, I certainly don't agree with it...but it is what it is. You are not off the hook until he releases you from any liability in writing, OR the statute of limitations runs. PERIOD.
All the other answers about the case being thrown out, or don't worry you can't be sued, etc are all 100% wrong. Most plaintiffs attorneys sue HOPING to settle....minimal work, small payday for their client, small payday for them, repeat, 1,000's of times and it adds up quickly. If you are sued, you will incur attorneys fees, your insurance should pay them, and your rates will go up slightly. The only winner is the attorney.
All other replies that say you can't be sued, or your not liable, etc are wrong.
FYI - I am not your attorney and this is not legal advice which you should rely upon in any way shape or fashion.
To the anonymous person who sent me a comment: You don't need to own a car to get an umbrella policy. Car liability insurance is a separate issue. You can even get an umbrella policy on renter's insurance.
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