Sidewalk Slip and Fall injury Claim Letter

[Steven Wang]

Hi All,

I own properties in Bay Area at CA.

I recently got a letter from a lawyer claiming that I was negligent with maintaining the sidewalk, which resulted in his client trip and fall over it.

There are no mention of what type of injury and damage.

The letter show a half a foot section that is more than 1 inch in elevation. This elevated part is parallel to the sidewalk, meaning that you can't trip over it unless you decide to do a 90 degree turn to the street at this exact half of foot spot. 

The letter strongly ask me to contact my insurance company about it.

I read on PB that the best course of action is to contact my insurance company to defend me.

Since I am not as seasoned, I choose this as a safer option. My insurance policy got 500k liability coverage. 

However, I am still concern because this is my first time dealing with this. What do you guys think? 

What should I do to handle this situation well? Thanks

[Greg M.]

Contact your insurance company about a potential claim. Your policy requires this. You're done and they will take it from there. 

Do NOT respond to the letter. Do NOT talk to the attorney or anyone else other than those the insurance company directs you to talk to. Let the insurance company do what you pay them to do - defend you!

For the future, get an umbrella policy. $500K is nothing these days. Get at least $1M and I'd strongly suggest $3M-$5M.