Property and Liability Insurance in a Residential Care Setting

If you are about to go live in a residential-care or assisted-living facility, you might have decided to drop your homeowner's insurance. After all, you're no longer taking care of a home of your own, and the facility you move into should already have lots of insurance. It does, but that insurance covers only the facility and related events. It does not protect you or your own belongings in many cases. Take a look at why arranging for your own property and liability policies is a smart idea.

Real or Perceived Fault on Your Part

Liability insurance protects you if someone is injured while on your property. The care facility will have its own liability policy to cover injuries that happen on the grounds and in the buildings. But it will not cover injuries that happen in your room due to something that's your fault, like leaving things on the floor where people can trip over them. Nor will it prevent someone from trying to pin the blame for an accident on you when that person was really at fault.

Your own liability policy will help cover that, however. If you have to go to court, the policy may cover some or all of the costs, depending on the specific policy. Your insurance agent can also help determine if any part of the incident really should be covered by the facility's insurance instead of your insurance.

Damage to or Theft of Your Belongings

Technically, in a care faciilty, you're renting. So, get renter's insurance that covers your own belongings. Anything provided by the facility is covered by the facility's insurance, but your clothes, books, decorations, and so on are not. Your own renter's policy will cover those if anything happens to them.

You can also look for insurance policies tailored for assisted-living and residential-care situations. These may combine property and liability insurance into one policy. But whatever you choose to do, don't remain unprotected. Lots of people are going to have access to your room, especially if you'll be in shared accommodations. While the facility should try to make everyone feel safe, it's best to have that material protection provided by the insurance policy.

If you have questions about creating and maintaining these policies, talk to the facility you're about to go into and to an insurance agent like Ronald H. Krupa Insurance Agency. They'll help coordinate the setup of the policy as well as any billing issues that might arise, if you're not going to have direct access to much of your money.


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