Liability question for MT insurance/attorneys.

If he makes a claim, turn it over to your insurer and let it run its course. Actually, was this in a tenant's suite? Aren't they required to provide liability insurance per the lease and name you as an addition insured? If so, turn it over to their insurance and let it run its course. If not, your lease form sucks.

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If he makes a claim, turn it over to your insurer and let it run its course. Actually, was this in a tenant's suite? Aren't they required to provide liability insurance per the lease and name you as an addition insured? If so, turn it over to their insurance and let it run its course. If not, your lease form sucks.

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He's probably going to get an attorney. And he's probably going to file against everyone possible (tenant, building owner, maybe even the ladder manufacturer).

The tenants are required to have their own insurance but in this case the accident happened in an office other than where the heater was broken. The attic access is common to the whole building through a suite that is in the middle of the building. It was not the suite with the broken heater. I have insurance in the building as well. I haven’t jeans from the HVAC tech or the HVAC company and thought the company would have reached out to me by now. He should have had a ladder or went back to his office to get one since he was way to big for that ladder.

Not be an a-hole but who is going to fix HVAC

They sent a smaller guy with a ladder to come by and put in the part for the heater. This was the same day as the accident.

Only thing I would add to this is don’t wait until this guy sues you to report to your insurance carrier. Most standard ISO CGL policies require insureds to notify carriers of any claim or potential claim situation even if it’s not a claim yet within a certain amount of time. If you wait to turn it in and this guy doesn’t sue you until 1 day before the statute of limitations ends, your carrier might deny the claim because you didn’t report the incident you clearly knew about in a timely manner.

This is not legal advise

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1). Am I in any way liable? I would think not.

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Maybe or Maybe Not - But you will probably find out after the lawsuit. Give notice to your insurance company and let them sort it out.

Invitees - An invitee is someone whom a premises owner or occupier, by express or implied invitation, induces or leads to come upon his premises for any lawful purpose.

General rule: a premises owner or occupier is liable to invitees who are injured by a condition (a spill on a floor; faulty stairs;) if the premises owner/occupier either knew about the hazard, or should have known had they exercised reasonable care in inspecting and keeping the premises safe.

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The ladder clearly states on a sticker that the max weight is 250 lbs. one of the tenants said this guy was 300 lbs+.

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Exceptions: if the invitee knew about the hazard before he was injured, he cannot recover. Also, if the hazard was “open and obvious” (for example, large gaps in a stairwell railing which were plainly visible; or a large hole in the parking lot plainly visible in broad daylight), the invitee is barred from recovering. If the invitee had traversed the hazard before, he is presumed to have knowledge of it, and therefore cannot generally recover. If the invitee fails to exercise ordinary care for his own safety, he usually cannot recover—for example, making the decision to walk down a pitch-black stairwell when he cannot see what’s there.

Is it a Werner Attic Ladder?

Werner Attic Ladder Not Recalled Despite Complaints

Produced under Werner Co. Inc, one of the nation’s top ladder manufacturers, the “Steel Easy Access Attic Ladder” caused an uproar among consumers who claimed that the ladder is prone to breaking even under loads much lighter than its weight rating. The affected units have model numbers S2208 or S2210 and are labeled with Mk 1, Mk 2, Mk 3, or Mk 4.