Now, I am not one to air my dirty laundry, however, in this case I hope to enlighten you to the power of your homeowners insurance.
I am currently enthralled in a law suite with an old, dear friend of mine. The incident spurred from an injury that her dog sustained while at my home.
Long story short- this friend asked my family to care for her dog in an emergency situation while she went to another state to care for a rental property that had been damaged by a tenant. I was traveling out of state myself to attend a relative’s birthday party, so I told her we could not care for the dog. She advised us it was OK to leave him alone for the two days, and that we should follow her instructions for his care…….first mistake…..I agreed!
Low and behold, the dog injured himself while I was gone.
So, I then received a demand letter for $11,000.00 or face a lawsuit. Second mistake– He who represents himself in court- has a fool for a lawyer. I kinda-sorta panicked, and decided that I must handle this alone. I was NOT about to be taken to the cleaners by a friend, and have to spend 20K on a lawyer to fight a 11K lawsuit. I proceed to take valuable time and resources from my family and business to do this alone.
My saving grace– a lawyer that I did eventually call, after I realized this was way to big for me, advised me to turn it into my homeowners insurance. Since it was on my property, it would be covered.
I called them, and they not only took the case on, they hired us the best law firm in Arizona to defend us. This was such a relief because I was spending so much of my time, and loosing business, worrying about this. It was affecting every aspects of my life.
The day the insurance lawyers took over, the 500 lb gorilla was lifted off my shoulders, and I could once again get back to my business and life…..
Moral of the story: do not try and take on the world by yourself. Seek out opportunities for assistance where ever you can…..utilize the services you pay for……and most importantly……do not watch your friends dog!
Have a great weekend!
Kim Babjak
