Image: New York Post
It has all the trappings of a true Hollywood drama. The mudslinging, adultery, movie contracts, dirty sheets, and homeowners insurance.
Homeowners insurance? What does homeowners insurance have to do with Amber Heard’s trial? Amber Heard is broke , and guess who is paying her legal fees? Any good homeowners insurance policy includes coverage for personal injury which covers a number of items including libel, slander, false arrest, invasion of privacy, etc.
The policy won’t protect you from intentional acts so you can’t buy a home policy and then intentionally slander someone but many policies have a “duty to defend” provision where the carrier will promise to defend you if such allegations are alleged. In Amber’s case, Travelers insurance paid for her second round of attorneys but they won’t be paying the judgment from last week. I say a “second round” of attorneys because the insurance company will use their own lawyers, who are good at what they do. But they are not your typical marquee Hollywood names that you see in the tabloids like the ones Amber started with.
There is a common misconception that homeowners insurance policy only covers fire, or maybe fire and burglary. A good home insurance policy covers a variety of physical damage issues including fire, smoke, wind, vandalism, collapse, etc. but also liability coverage of all kinds. Liability insurance is what kicks in when you get sued. Then you have your cyber insurance to protect you if your computer or Wi-Fi gets hacked, equipment breaks down when your smart home system is on the fritz, and much more.
Remember O.J.’s civil trial? O.J.’s home insurance covered the defense costs on that. How about Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme? There are homeowners insurance policies that will actually cover victims of those types of schemes. Probably most importantly, is your child on social media? Maybe they repeated some gossip they heard about another student? That’s one of the leading causes of liability claims for families.
Understanding your insurance isn’t easy, there are lots of legalities, pages of confusing and often contradictory language, etc. Contact us today to learn about what your policy covers and what additional coverage might be available.
