Danny Yang
New Member
- 7
Hi folks. I was considering an Umbrella policy for my property (owner occupied). And since Umbrella is mainly for extending liability of HO, I spent sometime to review my HO liability clause. I use Farmers, and I found a sample copy of my policy as attached below.
I am particularly interested in understanding more about sidewalk and street tree -- I recently realized that my city (in California) has ordinances that require the owner of private land abutting a public sidewalk to maintain that section of sidewalk, same as street trees. (and forgive me but this sounds like a too convenient thing for the government to just push this responsibility to homeowners :/ )
This means to me that it is a wise decision to make sure that the owner has good liability coverage for claims like someone injured by uneven sidewalk or fallen tree (branches).
I'm not seeking for legal advices but just some generic questions from more experienced folks on this forum:
1. Is sidewalk + street tree in front of the property usually covered in a HO and Umbrella? Reading the attached sample policy, Insured Location includes residence premise, but it doesn't really define what's the residence premise, like if it includes sidewalk and street tree in front of the property. I just want to make sure that my family is protected from claims like someone trips on the sidewalk, hurts by a fallen tree, stuff like that.
2. The Liability Exclusion on page 41 in the attached sample policy states that "We do not cover bodily injury, property damage or personal injury arising from, during the course of or in connection with a violation of any ordinance, order or penal law committed by, or with the knowledge or consent of any insured, or any criminal act by an insured" --- So if the sidewalk is uneven or the street tree is unhealthy, would this exclusion becomes applicable that the owner is not covered? Also, in this case, what should the owner do to make sure this exclusion isn't applicable? Hire contractor to fix the sidewalk?
3. The above is for the HO policy. Is it generally right if a claim is covered by HO policy, then the part that exceeds the Medical - Payments to Others and Liability coverage will be automatically covered by the Umbrella, up to Umbrella's limit?
Thanks so much, and look for people to share their thoughts. These legal (policy) documents usually are written in the way that makes it possible to interpret in either way so I am pretty uncertain if I'm covered or not.
Thanks!
Yang
I am particularly interested in understanding more about sidewalk and street tree -- I recently realized that my city (in California) has ordinances that require the owner of private land abutting a public sidewalk to maintain that section of sidewalk, same as street trees. (and forgive me but this sounds like a too convenient thing for the government to just push this responsibility to homeowners :/ )
This means to me that it is a wise decision to make sure that the owner has good liability coverage for claims like someone injured by uneven sidewalk or fallen tree (branches).
I'm not seeking for legal advices but just some generic questions from more experienced folks on this forum:
1. Is sidewalk + street tree in front of the property usually covered in a HO and Umbrella? Reading the attached sample policy, Insured Location includes residence premise, but it doesn't really define what's the residence premise, like if it includes sidewalk and street tree in front of the property. I just want to make sure that my family is protected from claims like someone trips on the sidewalk, hurts by a fallen tree, stuff like that.
2. The Liability Exclusion on page 41 in the attached sample policy states that "We do not cover bodily injury, property damage or personal injury arising from, during the course of or in connection with a violation of any ordinance, order or penal law committed by, or with the knowledge or consent of any insured, or any criminal act by an insured" --- So if the sidewalk is uneven or the street tree is unhealthy, would this exclusion becomes applicable that the owner is not covered? Also, in this case, what should the owner do to make sure this exclusion isn't applicable? Hire contractor to fix the sidewalk?
3. The above is for the HO policy. Is it generally right if a claim is covered by HO policy, then the part that exceeds the Medical - Payments to Others and Liability coverage will be automatically covered by the Umbrella, up to Umbrella's limit?
Thanks so much, and look for people to share their thoughts. These legal (policy) documents usually are written in the way that makes it possible to interpret in either way so I am pretty uncertain if I'm covered or not.
Thanks!
Yang