Halloween Homeowner Liability: What to Know About Trick-or-Treater Injuries

There's a spine-tingling chill in the air, pumpkin patches are bustling, and the search term "K-Pop Demon Hunters costume" is trending from coast to coast. It can only mean Halloween is almost here, and who doesn't love a good scare, especially at this time of year? Well, homeowners, for one.

The numbers are real: Homeowners' insurance claims spike as much as 14 percent over accidents that occur on Halloween, compared with every other night of the year. But the prospect of handing out candy on your front porch or setting up a haunted house in your garage doesn't have to give you nightmares.

Now's the time to understand the legal rules—and some common sense tips—when it comes to keeping your property safe for trick-or-treaters and others this spooky season. We'll also cover what happens if someone gets hurt at your home.

Homeowners Have a Duty to Keep Trick-or-Treaters Safe

Without getting too far into the legal weeds, every state has its own rules when it comes to a homeowner's legal obligations to people who might come onto the property. Some states categorize visitors according to the purpose of their visit, while others focus on what's reasonable to expect of a property owner under a particular set of circumstances. This is all part of a legal concept called "premises liability," which spells out property owners' responsibility for visitor injuries.

Regardless of the specific law your state follows, it's a universal rule of premises liability that a homeowner or property owner's highest "duty of care" is typically owed to people who have been invited onto the property—whether by explicit act or by implication. When it comes to Halloween, when you put up decorations, turn on the lights, and park yourself at your front door with a big bowl of candy, you're inviting people onto your property, and your heightened legal obligation to those visitors probably means you're expected to:

• inspect your property and eliminate or minimize any dangers you find
• make sure sidewalks, walkways, stairways, benches, chairs, and other fixtures and features are free from hazards, and that they're in safe working order
• ensure that there is sufficient lighting in all areas of your property, especially at the top and bottom of stairways and in any other potentially dangerous locations
• post signs, put out cones, or take other steps to warn visitors about any dangers that can't be eliminated, and
• secure dogs and other pets away from visitors, especially if the animal has a history of overexcitement or aggression around strangers.

What Are Some Common Halloween-Related Property Hazards?

When it comes to keeping your property safe for trick-or-treaters and everyone else this Halloween season, specific dangers to watch out for—and avoid or minimize—include:

• fire hazards presented by candles, jack-o-lanterns, and other open flames (battery-operated candles are the way to go)
• figures, statues, and inflatable characters that can fall over or otherwise become unstable
• uneven walkway surfaces, broken handrails, light strings, extension cords, spills, rotting pumpkins, rain and ice, and other hazards that can cause a trip- or slip-and-fall accidents
• inadequate lighting on stairways and walkways (darker might be scarier, but it's also unsafe, so turn on those pathway lights)
• trick-or-treat giveaways that are tainted or that trigger food allergies (though you're probably in the clear unless you knew about a particular child's allergy beforehand), and
• dog bites.

Your Halloween Decorations Can Pose a Hazard Before and After the Big Night

As we've touched on so far, Halloween decorations can blow over and become tripping hazards on walkways. Extension cords can come loose and end up on stairways. Carved pumpkins can rot and liquefy, leading to a slip hazard. But these risks aren't just limited to Halloween night, and the same duty of care you owe to trick-or-treaters extends to delivery drivers, contractors, and anyone else who is on your property for some reason that benefits you. So, if your Halloween decorations are up for a month, remember that it's not just October 31st that you need to be concerned with.

Tips for Keeping Your Property Safe on Halloween

The best way to avoid liability for injuries on Halloween night is to take as many steps as you can to keep your property free from obvious and hidden dangers. That means:

• maintain adequate lighting, especially on and around stairways and ledges
• conduct periodic visual inspections of your property, and stay vigilant as guests come and go
• put up signs to warn of hazards you can't remove, or designate someone to assist visitors in that area of the property
• make sure you install and use decorations according to the product instructions (failure to follow the manufacturer's guidelines can mean your homeowners' insurance might not cover an accident caused by a Halloween decoration; more on this in the next section), and
• keep dogs secured and away from guests, especially if the animal has shown signs of aggression or excitability in the past

Your Homeowners' Insurance (Probably) Has You Covered on Halloween

If someone is injured on your property on Halloween, your homeowners' insurance will probably cover the incident, and provide you with financial protection and an attorney who will handle any lawsuit that's filed against you. Remember, your homeowners' insurance policy protects your house and your property in case of damage from things like natural disasters and acts of vandalism, but the "liability" provision of that policy also protects you when someone is injured on your property.

Homeowners' liability coverage usually starts at a minimum of $100,000, but somewhere in the $250,000-to-$300,000 range is common, and that range of coverage is often recommended. You can also add "umbrella" coverage to your homeowners' insurance policy, and this will tack additional liability protection onto whatever coverage you currently have.

Report Any Injury to Your Homeowners' Insurance Company

If someone gets hurt on your property on Halloween, one of the first things to do is notify your homeowners' insurer as soon as possible. Even if you're tempted to leave your insurance company out of it, handle things with the injured person by paying them out of your own pocket, and avoid having your premium go up, this is almost certainly a bad idea.

Let's say the injured person agrees to accept a few thousand dollars to cover their medical bills, and they assure you they're not looking to pursue any kind of claim. There's nothing to stop them from changing their mind and filing a slip and fall lawsuit against you a few weeks or a few months later, and if you never told your insurance company about the accident, they might try to deny coverage by saying you waited too long to report what happened.

Bottom line: Your homeowners' insurance policy requires you to promptly report any incident that might trigger coverage and lead to a claim, so fulfilling that obligation is the only way to make sure you have coverage if you end up needing it.

Your Homeowners' Insurance Includes "Medical Payments" Protection

Your liability homeowners' insurance policy likely includes something called a "medical payments" or "medical payments to others" provision (sometimes listed as "Coverage F"), which can typically be used to cover the medical bills of someone who was injured on your property—regardless of what caused the accident, or who might have been at fault—up to a certain dollar amount (usually around $2,000 to $5,000).

Typically, under this provision, either your homeowners' insurance company will agree to pay the injured person's medical bills as they come in, or the company will issue reimbursement checks to the injured person if the bills have already been paid. Ask your company for details about how your particular "medical payments" or "medical payments to others" coverage works.

What If Someone Makes an Injury Claim After Getting Hurt at Your House on Halloween?

If someone is injured on your property on Halloween, there's a good chance they might try to hold you responsible, beyond just taking advantage of the medical payments benefits of your insurance. So, what should you expect? There are two main options for the injured person, and they're not mutually exclusive.

The Injured Person Makes a Claim Under Your Homeowners' Insurance Policy

The most likely scenario is that the injured person makes a "third-party" insurance claim under your liability homeowners' coverage.

First off, now is a good time to remember that this is why you have homeowners' insurance, so it's important to let the process play out and let your insurance company handle any claim that's filed. But in general, your insurer will only pay or settle a claim filed under your liability coverage if they investigate all of the facts related to the incident and decide:

• you were somehow at fault (negligent) in connection with the incident, and
• your negligence played a key part in causing the claimed injuries.

If the insurance company determines that you weren't at fault, they're going to deny the injured person's claim, and that might be the end of the matter as far as you're concerned. But the injured person may also escalate things by filing a lawsuit in court. They may even do this while the insurance claim process is still going on.

The Injured Person Files a Personal Injury Lawsuit Against You

The key thing to remember here is that your homeowners' insurance still protects you against a lawsuit over injuries that supposedly occurred on your property. The insurance company has a "duty to defend" you in this situation, and a company attorney (or a lawyer hired by the insurer) will handle all aspects of the case.

Even when a personal injury lawsuit is filed against you over an injury that occurred on your property, if there's any merit to the claim, at some point your homeowners' insurance company will likely reach an out-of-court injury settlement with the claimant, and your insurer will cut a check that's much less than the limits of your liability coverage. But even in the extremely rare event that the matter goes all the way to trial, your insurer still must fight it out on your behalf, and pay any court award up to your coverage limits.

How Much Can the Injured Person Get From My Homeowners' Insurance?

Whether it's an out-of-court settlement or a rare court award, the injured person can collect compensation for the following kinds of losses (called "damages" in the language of the law), and these are all covered by your liability homeowners' insurance:

• accident-related medical bills (from an ambulance trip to MRI exams and physical therapy)
• lost income, inability to work, and other financial impact resulting from the accident, and
• physical and mental "pain and suffering" resulting from the injuries.

Will My Homeowners' Insurance Cover the Entire Injury Claim?

Since most liability homeowners' insurance provides at least $100,000 in protection (and two or three times that amount is fairly common), chances are your policy limits will completely cover any settlement or court award for anyone injured on your property on Halloween.

But with catastrophic injuries, there's always a chance that losses exceed your coverage limits, and you could end up on the financial hook for the difference, if the injured person decides to pursue things beyond that point. That's really the only situation where your own assets are at risk if someone is injured on your property and you're insured, and it's a rare scenario.

Do I Need a Lawyer If Someone Gets Hurt at My House on Halloween?

As we've discussed, your homeowners' insurance will cover almost any injury that occurs on your property, and if someone files a lawsuit against you, your insurer has a "duty to defend" you, up to the limits of your liability coverage. They'll pay for a lawyer to handle all aspects of the case, as part of that obligation.

But if for some reason your homeowners' insurance won't cover the incident, or if you're having difficulty getting the insurance company to defend you, it might make sense to discuss your situation with an experienced legal professional. Get in-depth information on finding and working with a lawyer.