David Costa of Toronto cautions, in a slip and fall it’s often homeowners who slip

For many, owning a home is an exciting and incredibly rewarding experience.  However, along with the upside of home ownership comes more responsibility and more things to know.  What exactly does my home insurance cover?  How do I maintain good credit after purchasing a house?   Do my property taxes ever change, and if so, by how much?

All these are common questions that homeowners, particularly new homeowners, often ask.  In this article, we’re setting aside these questions to tackle another fairly common question – namely, as a property owner what are your responsibilities and liabilities in the situation where there’s an accident, like a slip and fall, on your property?

What homeowners want to know is this: if someone slips and falls on your property or has a similar type of accident, are property owners liable for damages and costs resulting from the accident?  A good follow-up question is this: as a homeowner who has home insurance, if I am liable, is this something that would be covered under my homeowners insurance policy? http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/proving-fault-in-slip-and-fall-accidents.html

These are both good questions, especially in harsh winter climates where slip-and-fall accidents caused as a result of snow and ice are far more common.

“There’s no cut-and-dry rule here, but homeowners should still be aware of the possibility of an accident happening on their property and work to prevent such a possibility,” advises Toronto lawyer David Costa (https://about.me/davidcostalawyer) of Costa Law Firm (http://costalawfirm.ca/)

Toronto’s David Costa continues, “If someone trips or slips and falls on another person’s property, normally the burden of proof is on the person who slipped to show that this accident could have been reasonably prevented by the homeowner.”

Taking David Costa’s guidance in mind, it’s homeowners responsibility to maintain reasonable safe conditions on their property.   That means, for example, if you have a known leaky roof that could cause a slip-and-fall accident, you as a property owner should take steps to address this problem and prevent any potential accidents.

What about during the winter?  What about adequately clearing and de-icing your home’s walkway and driveway?  If this is not done for some reason and someone slips and falls on your walkway, are you as the homeowner liable? http://time.com/money/3683910/snow-removal-laws-liability-shovel/

The safest answer to this question is, yes, if you as a homeowner fail to clear your walkway and driveway of snow and ice during the winter, you can be held liable if another person falls as a result of your negligence.

Understanding that homeowners face liability in these situations, many attorneys and insurance companies urge homeowners to make sure their homeowner’s insurance adequately protects them in the chance that an accident like this happens. https://ca.linkedin.com/in/davidcostalawyer

“During the winter months, homeowners not only want to make sure their driveway and walkways are clear of snow and ice, in many areas of Canada, homeowners also need to make sure that the sidewalks that abut their homes are also clear of snow and ice,” adds lawyer David Costa.

In many ways, this is just common sense.  After all, failing to clear walkways and driveways doesn’t just imperil other people — it also puts at danger the homeowners themselves.

“Many homeowners get in trouble when it comes to going on vacation during the winter,” says David Costa.  “They prepare for everything when it comes to their house.  However, many people forget to make sure their home walkways and driveway are clear while they’re away.  That can be a serious liability for the homeowner and shouldn’t be forgotten.”

In the end, homeowners would be wise to do two things: one, make sure their current homeowners insurance adequately protects from accidents that may happen on their property; two, do a perimeter walk of their property and see if there are any possible areas where accidents could happen and address those areas.