Summertime activities brings out the kid in each of us, even if we just sit on the lawn chair and watch the grandchildren running and jumping as they play frisbee football on the lawn. Their shouts of glee and fun bantering takes you back to days gone by when you were the one out running or jumping with others as you worked your way up to being the player who got to throw the frisbee. Unfortunately, in one quick moment the scene changes as one of the grandchildren grabs his hand and screams in pain.
No one seemed to know how it happened, but somehow in the frenzy of going for the frisbee his finger got bent backward and was broken. With the child moaning in pain, his parents got him into the car and headed for the emergency room to see what the extent of the damage was going to be.
After a long wait in the emergency room, the injured child was attended to with x rays being taken revealing the finger had been seriously broken. The emergency room doctor advised the parents they needed to see a specialist as soon as they could so the finger could be reset and healing could proceed.
Following through with the advice, a surgeon was consulted, surgery was performed and the healing began. A few weeks later on a follow up visit it was determined that the finger was not healing properly and additional surgery would be required. With hopes for success, this surgery was also performed.
Complicating this whole episode was the fact that the parents had no medical insurance since they were between jobs. No one knew who caused the injury to occur so it was impossible to seek medical help from that person’s liability coverage. How would they ever be able to pay the accumulating bills? How could they ever afford the additional surgeries which would be required in order to get the finger straightened out so it would be a functional finger?
The saving grace in this whole circumstance was the grandfather had on his homeowner policy a provision called premise medical. This was part of his liability coverage which states, “. . . we (the insurance company) will pay reasonable and necessary medical and funeral expenses resulting from bodily injury caused by an occurrence as described in the policy. This coverage applies only 1)To a person on the insured location with the permission of any insured . . .”
Not knowing for sure what his company would do, the grandfather contacted his insurance agent and explained what had happened. Upon review with the insurance adjuster, the agent assured the grandfather that coverage would be available up to the limits on his policy.
With that assurance, the grandfather filed a claim and a file was set up to handle the charges as they began to trickle in. The medical providers were notified of the insurance company’s acceptance of bills and so request for payments went directly to the insurance company, leaving the parents relieved of all concern for being able to afford critical surgery which ended up costing the insurance company over $18,000–no small potatoes. Grandpa turned out to be a hero for the day for about $71 of premium to provide premise medical coverage.
This example is representative of so many scenarios which could happen on and off your premise when everyday people are just having a good time yet still feeling responsible for injuries caused. The hitting of someone with a golf ball, hooking someone in the eye with a fish hook, hitting someone with a bat, getting someone hurt while they help you move a piano, someone getting sick from eating potato salad left out in the sun too long, etc. are just a few others.
So while grandfather sat watching the grandchildren play frisbee football, he envisioned their next activity of sliding down his hill on the water slide he made for them.
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