You hired your neighbor to fix your roof. He fell off and got hurt. Bad. You feel awful about it, but do you feel bad enough to risk losing your house to pay the damages? Will you really be responsible? The answer, as with most legal questions, is a definite "maybe".
If you own a one or two family house, the NY Labor Law (Sec. 240 and Sec. 241), provides that you will be responsible if it is determined that you actually controlled the work. If you own a dwelling with more than two units, you are ABSOLUTELY LIABLE for damages incurred by workers who are injured on ladders or scaffolding on your property.
The moral is: GET INSURANCE!!!
If you own ANY real estate, make sure you have liability insurance that covers you for any kind of personal injury damages, whether the injured party is family, a guest, the mailman, the pollster or a worker. If you are having work done require the worker or contractor to provide a certificate of insurance for personal injury coverage, with adequate amounts of coverage, which names all of the owners as additional insureds.
If you are performing the work, don't rely on the property owner's coverage and make sure you are insured, whether the property owner asks for it or not.
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