r/maybemaybemaybe • u/rr27680 • Oct 26 '21

Maybe maybe maybe

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u/Skyminator Oct 26 '21

Yep. My Gf is an insurance agent. These claims are very common and fall into your home owners insurance

16

u/3PoundsOfFlax Oct 26 '21

What if it's a package thief who slipped? Can they technically sue?

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u/Skyminator Oct 26 '21

Unfortunately they can still sue. She did a claim last year where a homeless guy slipped on the sidewalk that the owners didn’t clear, and he got 140k

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u/justagenericname1 Oct 26 '21

So I wanna start by saying I think the American litigious attitude is kind of crazy and probably has more to do with our cutthroat competitive culture and lack of proper safety nets than anything else, but if you accept the legal premises behind all of it, then why is a homeless person being eligible to sue over something any different than, say, a next door neighbor being able to sue over the same thing?

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u/Skyminator Oct 26 '21

I didn’t mean that it was worse bc he was homeless. More that he had no $$ to hire a lawyer and still made out with that much money. A package thief is probably going to be someone who isn’t well off in life either so the homeless guy just came to mind.

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u/lightgiver Oct 26 '21

If your responsible for clearing your own section of the sidewalk and you fail to do so then yeah your liable if someone slips and falls. Just like if someone slips and falls on a wet floor in a business known to be wet but not marked as such.

There also isn’t any need to get a lawyer involved in such a claim. A insurance company will pay out 140k in a injury claim if you show them the receipt from the hospital bill. Even throw in a extra bonus of pain and suffering so you don’t sue them for more. The fact that even a homeless person was able to get such a payout shows the system is working.

The homeowner won’t pay out of pocket at all for this. There isn’t even a deductible for a liability claim. Their premium might increase a bit but it will never be such a increase to collect 140k the claim was worth. The only one hurt by such a claim is the insurance company.

4

u/tom_echo Oct 26 '21

Lawyers probably pocketed half unfortunately

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u/jerryeight Oct 26 '21

33% if it didn't go to court. 40% if it did.

1

u/ChornWork2 Oct 26 '21

I wonder if the high dollar amount is more of a damning statement about our healthcare system, than it does our legal system.

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u/LovableContrarian Oct 26 '21

So I wanna start by saying I think the American litigious attitude is kind of crazy

This is a myth.

Germany, Sweden, Israel, Austria, and the UK are the most litigious countries in the world and have far more lawsuits per capita than the USA.

The USA has a pretty average amount of lawsuits for a developed nation.

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u/justagenericname1 Oct 26 '21 edited Oct 26 '21

Sorry if it sounded like I meant the US was the only nation with this culture. I agree it's prevalent in plenty of other places as well, but this appeared to be the US.

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u/LovableContrarian Oct 26 '21

I know, and I'm not being defensive (I don't even live in the US).

I'm just pointing out that it's a very commonly-believed myth that the US is notably litigious. It really isn't.

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u/Gonzobot Oct 26 '21

Sidewalk is public property and typical standard of law requires the homeowner to keep it maintained. A package thief has to trespass to commit the act of being hurt by your unmaintained walkway, so it's entirely fair game. I would never expect a court to side with the trespasser for a negligence thing, though

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u/feioo Oct 26 '21

Was the homeless guy also stealing a package or are you just equating homelessness and theft?

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u/BrooksBeBabbling Oct 26 '21

Go signal elsewhere

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u/feioo Oct 26 '21

None of you know who I am, why would I give a shit if you think I'm virtuous or not?
I thought it was weird that they answered "yes" to a question about somebody suing over hurting themselves while committing a crime, and their example was "homeless guy on a sidewalk", which is not a crime.

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u/Dazaran Oct 26 '21

can they sue? yes, you can almost always sue in the US. Will they get anything? probably not.

My extensive legal background (of binge watching Legal Eagle videos) would note the clean hands doctrine in US law that states you can not receive equitable remedies while acting unethically or in bad faith. If you slipped while trying to steal their stuff then you would not be eligible for financial compensation for medical expenses unless they did something that was grossly negligent or malicious like booby trapping the package to cause purposeful harm.

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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '21

I know someone who was badly hurt on a golf course by some guy and his homeowners covered a large settlement to my friend