Lawyers or Arm Chair Lawyers...A Scenario

Yes.

I slipped and fell in a grocery store and ended up having surgery on my arm because of the injury I sustained. The store covered everything from surgery to PT.

The store's insurance company will pay.

I'm so sorry if this happened to you! I think the store's insurance should pay for these costs.

I sustained an injury under similar circumstances, although not as serious. The company paid for my medical bills but nothing beyond that, such as expenses I incurred for things I was unable to do on my own.

My understanding is that this is what property insurance is for. If she broke her arm at your house her insurance will go after your insurance for payment. If the injured person was doing something forbidden or extremely risky when they got hurt I could see the property insurance possibly fighting the claim but I think it the end they would still end up paying at least part of the costs.

FWIW I have no experience with this type of situation.

No, they do not have to know about the green bean.

Here's the thing about the "sue crazy" perception that people don't understand. Sometimes the individual does not have a choice about whether he sues. Your health insurance will ask what happened and where it happened because your *insurance company* wants someone else to be liable for the costs. Your insurance company can decide to go after the property owner's insurance company even if you don't want to sue. And if you don't cooperate your insurance company can deny converge. The lawsuit will still be styled in your name.

In the case you talked about in the OP, the husband may want to sue because their health insurance is giving them a hard time about it.

This is so true!

Shortly after my husband's bicycle accident, the insurance company sent a questionnaire. They were searching for someone responsible for the accident. 

We had a good laugh about it. Really, were they going to sue the deer for crossing in an inappropriate place? Or, perhaps the state because they allow those pesky deer to run wild? 

The insurance company will go after the grocery store.

It's called "life happens...people fall down and break bones...oh well".

I fell on a cruise ship, broke my knee in 3 places, missed my cruise as did my husband, had to have surgery in Miami, was hospitalized for 9 days, have 4 screws and 2 plates.

So while I am not a lawyer, I do know a little bit about accidents.

Something else many people do not understand is that the insurance company gets paid back if you win an award for your injuries. So, a 500,000 dollar award may seem huge, until the insurance company is paid back for all they have spent on your care

My dh had an acquaintance who brought a friend to our house once. The friend slipped on our front porch and fell shattering his ankle. He sued our homeowners company indicating that a recent snowfall caused him to fall. And that we were liable as we did not remove the snow. The insurance company denied the claim and eventually won because it had only recently started snowing and he had a duty to exercise caution. He had no health insurance at the time and I am sure that whole hospital/surgery/recovery bill was pricey. Our homeowners paid nothing.

Readers digest had an article that l loved about a store/spill scenario. The spill occurred and a worker immediately placed a caution sign at the location of a spill and went to get the cleaning supplies. Within 2 minutes (maybe less), a kid was running around and knocked over the sign. A minute later, a lady slipped and broke a bone. She was trying to get an arm and a leg from the store, but the case was ruled in the store's favor, as they did everything right and in a timely manner. They couldn't have foreseen the kid's action. This was all on store video.

So I guess it could also depend on timing and whether the store was negligent.

I'm just thrilled to be called an armchair lawyer.

Well, not in New Zealand - we can't sue for personal injury. However treatment for your accident is free and you're also entitled to compensation for loss of earnings while you're out of action. This is all covered by a state run 'Accident Compensation' scheme funded by levies from business and employees.SaveSave

The first thing a lot of health insurance companies ask when an injury occurs is where did it happen.  They're looking for someone else to be responsible for the bill. In this case, the grocery store is going to be responsible because it happened on their property.

My kids have broken bones doing normal childhood things...I've gotten the letter asking for details of how it occurred almost every time.  They're hoping they can hand the bills off to another insurance company