Question

Sarah is playing with a basketball on the stairs at Bob's house. In doing so, she trips, falls, and breaks her leg. She files a claim against Bob's insurance company for her injuries. The adjuster determines that Sarah was 50% responsible for her own injuries, and therefore should only receive indemnification for 50% of her medical bills. What defense of the claim is the adjuster using?

Answer 1

Answer: The defence of the case that the adjuster is using is an Insurance principle called "PROXIMITY CAUSE"

Explanation: Proximity cause is an insurance principle which states that a claim can only be fully paid if the cause of damage was not intentional, and the insured person or property was properly protected to avoid any damage. This explains further that claims cannot be fully paid or may never be paid, if the insured person neglect the risk of an event, and a claim comes up in the process of such event.

Since Sarah was playing a basketball on a stair case which has increased her chances of getting injured, she has willfully giving herself in, to be injured. That means she has not properly protected herself from injury, and therefore she has to pay some part of her hospital bill.

Answer 2

Comparative negligence

Step-by-step explanation:

Comparative negligence is a rule of law used to share cost of damages citing the negligence of both members involved.

In comparative negligence, when an accident happens, the negligence of both members involved is thoroughly analyzed. In this case, the blame and payment for damages are shared to the members involved based on their contributions in the accident. It is allocated as a percentage.

In this case, the adjuster used comparative negligence as defense of claim, because Sarah was partly at fault for her injuries.