How Can A Personal Injury Lawyer Help You Determine If A Homeowner Has Home Insurance?
If you were injured on someone's property, you may be able to file a personal injury suit against that person's home insurance. This will help to cover your medical expenses and lost wages. After if you slip and fall on tiles inside someone's home or are bit by their dog, you may ask them if they have home insurance and who their carrier is. Unfortunately, in most states, the homeowner is not required to provide you with this information. If they choose not to, you may find yourself wondering how to get this information. A personal injury attorney can assist you in obtaining a home insurance information for a home. Here are a few ways they can do this.
Filing a Lawsuit Against the Homeowner
One of the best ways that a personal injury lawyer can help you determine if a homeowner has home insurance is to file a lawsuit against the homeowner. If the lawsuit is filed against them, they may disclose during the discovery and/or disclosure phase that they have home insurance. Disclosing this information to the courts helps to ensure that if a judgement is awarded to you for your injury, that it does not come out of their pocket, but rather their insurance company's. Once it is disclosed, an attorney will receive a copy, letting them know which insurance company to include in the lawsuit or to attempt to settle with.
Subpoenaing the Loan Records of the Homeowner
If a homeowner will not give up the name of their home insurance company, another tactic a personal injury lawyer can use to find out who the insurance company is is to subpoena the loan information for the homeowner. It is typically public record which company has financed a loan. Once an attorney has this information, they can ask a judge to sign off on the subpoena and state the reason why. Most lenders require homeowners to submit insurance deceleration pages to them or pay their insurance out of their escrow account. As such, most lenders will know who the homeowner has insurance through. However, this tactic only works if a homeowner has financed their home.
Taking a Deposition From the Homeowner
The last way a personal injury lawyer can help determine if a homeowner has insurance and through whom is by taking a deposition from the homeowner. When a deposition is done, the homeowner will be placed under oath. If they lie about an answer, they could be prosecuted for perjury. Someone who is having their deposition taken is required to answer the questions asked of them, unless the answer would violate their fifth amendment right to not incriminate themselves in a crime, which is rarely the case when an attorney asks a homeowner who their insurance company is.
If a homeowner will not tell you whether they have home insurance or who the company is that they use after you have been injured on their property, you will want to hire a personal injury lawyer, such as Jack W Hanemann, P.S.. A personal injury lawyer can help determine if the homeowner has insurance and which company they use, helping the attorney to either settle your case or include the insurance company in your lawsuit.
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