Fall 2006
NEWSLETTER to clients of Knox Insurance Brokers Ltd.
From Randy Bushey, A.I.I.C.,
General Manager
Fall 2006 |
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TOPIC: Liability Trends
One of the largest sums assessed by a Canadian court was awarded to a Toronto-area boy earlier this year for injuries sustained in 1997.
In this situation, a two year old boy and his brother had been staying with an aunt in the same apartment complex where his own family lived. On a warm June day, the windows of the apartment were open, and the child got onto the window ledge falling through a hole in the screen from the fifth storey apartment.
In addition to broken arms and damage to his liver and kidney, the child sustained multiple head injuries including the frontal lobe of his brain, fractured skull and other injuries to one eye and his jaw.
The court awarded $13 million against the superintendent, owner and managers of the apartment building, finding them to be negligent and in breach of duty.
What is often missed in reading this incident is the sizeable, economic value of this claim for an injured child regardless of how that child was injured. It underscores the fact that each of us needs to consider the impact of this settlement on the amount of liability coverage that we carry on our vehicles, personal residences, recreational vehicles and watercraft, and in our business activities.
At Knox, we deal with the largest liability insurers in the world providing limits from $5M to over $50M per occurrence. Allow us to review your exposures to the risk of legal liability; as you direct, we will recommend and price higher coverage options for you our client.
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