Liability in Your Home

Don't let a lawsuit spoil your holidays

Are you doing any holiday entertaining this year? Your planning shouldn't end with the guest list and the menu. Before you welcome guests into your home, make sure that you've done everything necessary to ensure their safety and your own safety from a lawsuit.

Your Legal Responsibility

How you treat your guests is more than a matter of good manners – it's a matter of law. As a host you are legally responsible for the safety of your guests, and you must take reasonable steps to make your home safe for your guests.

If you are sued by a guest who is injured at your home, and you haven't taken reasonable care to keep your guests safe, you will lose the lawsuit and have to pay damages to your guest for his or her injuries. You shouldn't lose the lawsuit if you have made your home reasonably safe.

You can be ordered to pay damages if someone is injured because you didn't fix dangerous conditions that you knew about (or you didn't at least warn your guests about). You could even be ordered to pay damages if you didn't know about the dangerous condition, but should have. You are required to inspect your home to find if something dangerous needs fixing – and then to fix it.

Accident Prevention

If you take common sense steps to prevent accidents in your home you are probably doing all that the law requires of you.

• Do you frown on dramatic entrances? Keep your front and back steps, porch, deck and railings in good repair, and sprinkle salt, sand or ashes at icy entrances.
• Would you rather your guests not trip all over themselves? Keep your house well-enough lit, so that people can see where they are going, and don't leave things that people can trip over or slip on. Make sure that stairways are well-lit and have sturdy handrails, and that the carpeting is not loose or ripped.
• Do your guests all congregate in the kitchen? Prevent stove accidents – don't leave cooking food unattended, and turn the handles of pots and pans toward the centre of the stove.
• Do you have a swimming pool or hot tub? Supervise activity around them even when they're closed for the winter – especially if your guest list includes young children. Keep lifesaving equipment and a telephone close to your pool summer and winter.

Just in case an accident does happen in your home:

• Make sure your address is clearly visible from the street so that emergency vehicles can locate your house.
• Have a list of emergency telephone numbers close to your telephone.

Even if you have a homeowner's insurance, you should still take steps to ensure that your guests are not injured. You don't want anyone to be hurt while at your home. And. while your insurance company will pay the claim, being involved in a lawsuit can be a time-consuming and emotionally draining experience... and your insurance premium will go up.