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I am skiing and cause unintentional injury to another slope patron/client. How would I protect myself from being sued? Is there insurance if sued that could protect my assets if found negligent and cover legal costs of lawyer and trial, regardless if found negligent?

paulj
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  • Don't go on a weekend, when the slopes can be insanely crowded and sometimes it's just not possible to avoid crashing into someone. – pacoverflow May 23 '23 at 20:29
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    Put a GoPro camera, or a 360-view camera on your helmet. Then don't do anything stupid that would get recorded. – abelenky May 23 '23 at 21:00
  • Wouldnt Travel insurance cover it? – Nigel Fds May 23 '23 at 23:52
  • @abelenky The trouble with not doing anything stupid is all the other idiots on the slopes. And if you do rely on camera equipment make sure it's rated for the temperature. I have an Akaso camera (GoPro clone) and in sub freezing conditions the battery lasts about 5 minutes - if that. But I believe that GoPro does have cold rated batteries. – Peter M May 25 '23 at 13:28

6 Answers6

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I am skiing and cause unintentional injury to another slope patron/client. How would I protect myself from being sued?

Use reasonable care to avoid harming others, and follow all applicable rules of the ski area. Keep your equipment in good repair. Don't ski when you are drunk or high or in circumstances you can't handle. Try not to collide with people.

If you do collide with someone do what you can to mitigate their injuries, identify ways to document facts favorable to you, and promptly contact your insurance company.

Is there insurance if sued that could protect my assets if found negligent and cover legal costs of lawyer and trial, regardless if found negligent?

For this, you need liability insurance. In the United States, liability insurance is typically included in homeowner's or renter's insurance. These kinds of liability insurance typically cover the cost of a legal defense of a covered claim and any damages awarded or paid in a settlement of those claims (up to the policy limits).

These kinds of liability insurance would typically cover liability arising from a skiing accident and most other claims for negligence, but would typically not cover claims related to intentional acts or a criminal prosecution. A homeowner's or renter's insurance policy would also not typically cover vehicle accidents (e.g. your liability while operating a snowmobile), claims related to a business or an occupation, or claims related to contractual liability.

ohwilleke
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    the content of homeowner's/renter's insurance is location dependent, I know at east one country where travel is not included in it. – Rsf May 23 '23 at 09:38
  • This is a good answer, +1. I think it could be improved slightly by highlighting that the answer is much the same for any activity where there is a risk of harm to others. – User65535 May 23 '23 at 09:44
  • in germany: Haftpflichtversicherung is the term you look for. – Trish May 23 '23 at 09:55
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    @Rsf this answer is describing liability insurance, not travel insurance. Are you saying that the insurance you're familiar with includes liability coverage that applies only in the jurisdiction where the insured party resides? – phoog May 23 '23 at 10:51
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    Yes, in Israel house insurance covers only the house and nothing more. Since Israel follows Britain in a lot of legal and procedural things, I did a short search that shows the same situation in the UK. – Rsf May 23 '23 at 12:57
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    You can get skiing/winter sports insurance, which would cover this. Italy now requires you to obtain such a policy if you want to ski. (Regular travel insurance often excludes dangerous activities such as skiing, diving, watersports.) – Stuart F May 23 '23 at 13:21
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    @Rsf As the answer indicates, it is U.S. specific. I'm not surprised that different countries have different customary insurance coverages. – ohwilleke May 23 '23 at 15:29
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    This link talks about what the liability part of renters insurance covers and liability insurance in general: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/renters-liability-insurance This link is more general regarding renters insurance https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/renters-insurance-coverage – paulj May 23 '23 at 17:32
  • Agree with @Rsf in the UK you need specific coverage for sports like skiing, even general travel insurance won't cover you. – deep64blue May 24 '23 at 09:06
  • The first half of this answer is excellent, the second seems to be location specific - I dread to think what the premium would be for house insurance that also covers dangerous sports like skiing! – deep64blue May 24 '23 at 09:07
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    Not sure about OP's country, but in the US, we have a semiofficial code of conduct: https://www.nsp.org/NSPMember/Safety/Your_Responsibility_Code/NSPMember/Safety/Your_Responsibility_Code.aspx?hkey=64e80a38-cbdb-42f6-9fe7-b5d22f52a368 – moonman239 May 24 '23 at 16:05
  • So long as all participants follow the code, there should be no injury. I assume a skier's adherence to the code would absolve them of any liability for any accidents occurring as a result of another skier's failure to do so. Is that correct? – moonman239 May 24 '23 at 16:10
  • @moonman239 The legal standard for liability is generally "negligence" which is the failure of a person to exercise the care of a reasonable person to prevent harm to others, as determined by the trier of fact on a case by case basis. – ohwilleke May 24 '23 at 16:59
  • I edited to explain why a homeowner's insurance may cover such claims. – sleske May 25 '23 at 10:13
  • @moonman239 I would amend the statement to be "so long as all participants follow the code and all parties agree that the participants have followed the code..." – doneal24 May 25 '23 at 17:16
  • @doneal24 how does that matter? – moonman239 May 25 '23 at 18:14
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    @moonman239 I am following the code but I still get in an incident. The other party insists that the code was not followed and there are no witnesses to confirm either statement. Who decides the liability outside of a court case? – doneal24 May 25 '23 at 19:32
  • @donneal24 The Code isn't law and doesn't actually bind anyone with or without their agreement. It is evidence that can be used to show negligence in a trial on the merits. – ohwilleke May 25 '23 at 20:01
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This is what liability insurance is for: It covers you if you accidentally cause damage to someone else. My understanding is that liability insurance would typically handle the entire legal process for you.

Arno
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Not really a "law" question, but anyway: The liability insurance you want is called "Privathaftpflicht" (private liability). It is offered by all major insurance providers.

It is ridiculously cheap for what it covers. The first Google hit says 3.17€ a month, and that is just the sponsored first hit, not the cheapest. So expect almost everybody in Germany to have one.

It covers damages to things and people you cause, by anything but intent. So negligence and even gross negligence. It does not cover damages caused to your own things (so if drop your friends expensive camera and it shatters your glass table, it will pay the for the damage to the camera, it will not pay for the damage to your own table) or damages that animals you own cause (that is an extra insurance). Also, most motor vehicles (cars, trucks etc.) are legally required to have liability insurance to drive them on public roads - this is checked during vehicle registration.

One prominent example of what such an insurance covers is:

When crossing the street, you overlook a cyclist. While swerving, the cyclist falls onto the curb and breaks his thigh.

Damage: approx. 75,000 euros

Private liability covers hospital and household costs as well as compensation for pain and suffering.

That is basically a reskinned ski accident.

It will also cover all lawyer costs if you didn't actually do it. Which is basically in their own interest, because if found guilty, they would have to pay it anyway.

As always, read all the fine print on any contract, what I wrote here is the normal default, your specific contract may vary.

sleske
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nvoigt
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  • To my knowledge German citizens are legally required to have a Haftpflichtversicherung although this is not checked or enforced in any way. It is certainly in your own best interest to have one. – quarague May 23 '23 at 12:17
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    @quarague If you own a vehicle, you are oliged to have a Kfz-Haftpflichtversicherung, but a Privathaftpflichtversicherung is, while considered the most important insurance you can have, not legally required. – glglgl May 23 '23 at 15:58
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    In Austria, the Privathaftpflicht-Versicherung usually comes in a bundle with your Haushalts-Versicherung (household insurance). – Heinzi May 23 '23 at 18:10
  • you cannot buy a motor vehicle unless you present your insurance information - that's not true. – AcK May 24 '23 at 07:26
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    Well, you cannot buy a motor vehicle "ready to drive off the yard" without it. You can obviously buy any heap of machinery you want (including perfectly functioning new heaps), put it onto a hanger and haul it somewhere with your other vehicle, that has insurance. And obviously, "can" here means "can legally". You can do all kind of shady things as long as you don't get caught. – nvoigt May 24 '23 at 07:37
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    I can't edit due to lack of reputation, but "Privathaftpflicht" is one word in German, according to correct "Zusammen- und Getrenntschreibung". – henning May 24 '23 at 11:20
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    One more, perhaps relevant, caveat: Mostly policies exclude damages incurred by people living in your household. You won't get money back if you break your wife's Macbook Pro. – henning May 24 '23 at 11:23
  • Gross negligence is often not insured (and rightly so -- why would I pay for those idiots!?). @quarague There is no such general legal requirement. Landlords, car owners, drone operators and so on must have one, but even in heavily regulated Germany you can lead your life without insurance :-). (Well, health insurance is mandatory.) – Peter - Reinstate Monica May 24 '23 at 14:12
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    @Peter-ReinstateMonica Can you link me an insurance that calls it "Privathaftpflicht" and does not cover gross negligence? I don't know of any. I don't know of anybody who would use them if they existed. That would completely invalidate their purpose, if the insurance company could hire some good lawyers to argue you were too much at fault for them to pay out the insurance you only got for damages where you are at fault in the first place. – nvoigt May 24 '23 at 15:14
  • @nvoigt Hmmmm... indeed, Privathaftpflicht appears to always cover even gross negligence. (I had remembered a case in our family decades ago and confirmed that with a general statement from www.dieversicherer.de but not read down to the point noting the exception for private liability insurances. My bad. It still doesn't make much sense to me though -- gross negligence is a pretty strong requirement amounting to "I don't care, I'm insured", and the point of contention is still there, only now it is between gross negligence and intent.) – Peter - Reinstate Monica May 24 '23 at 15:35
  • @nvoigt On the other hand this lawyer site mentions that insurers try to decline or reduce payments in case of gross negligence. – Peter - Reinstate Monica May 24 '23 at 15:41
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    @nvoigt Ah, apparently § 81 VVG is relevant here (linked from here): "Führt der Versicherungsnehmer den Versicherungsfall grob fahrlässig herbei, ist der Versicherer berechtigt, seine Leistung in einem der Schwere des Verschuldens des Versicherungsnehmers entsprechenden Verhältnis zu kürzen." – Peter - Reinstate Monica May 24 '23 at 15:47
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In Canada, many home or renter insurance products include coverage for property damage or bodily injury caused by your negligence, no matter whether happening in your residence or elsewhere. This portion of the product is called "liability coverage" or something similar.

Jen
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    Also in many other countries. On the basis that your home is the primary asset that you wish to protect, and that if you don't own real-estate, there probably isn't much that another party can get out of you. – david May 23 '23 at 03:50
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As others have pointed out, liability insurance derived from your homeowner's or renter's insurance can give you protection.

If you have significant assets in addition to your home, you can add an "Umbrella" policy for additional liability coverage in excess of your home's value. It's not very expensive to add coverage for an additional million or more dollars.

Also, you might take a chapter from the car driver's playbook. Some drivers install a dash cam to provide a video record of the events leading up to a crash. This can save your bacon if the other driver has no compunction against lying about an accident and there are no witnesses. Skiers can wear a harness or helmet mount to hold a GoPro or other video recorder. In the event of an accident where you injure someone, the video record can prove that you were following the rules and not hot dogging. But remember, video evidence can be used against you too, so be sure this is a prudent liability safeguard for your skiing style.

MTA
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It's similar to driving on the road:

  1. Be well trained and get plenty of practice in a safe area.

  2. Be aware of your surroundings (other people, objects, type of snow and weather).

  3. Be in a fit condition to ski.

  4. Consider a helmet-mounted crash or go-pro type camera, minding privacy laws in your area.

  5. Consider relevant insurance (minding exactly what you're covered for and the excess, etc.):

    • Travel (this is the usual one, covering equipment damage/loss and injury to yourself and others),
    • Health (for you),
    • Liability (more for hosted activities),
    • Property insurance might cover such (not usually).
Andrew Kingdom
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