Who's responsible...??

[jagson]

2&1/2 weeks ago,my wife and I were staying at SSR in a 1 BR room for a few days. On the 2nd day of the trip I was scheduled to play golf early on the Sunrise 9 offer. I got up early, quietly got dressed, letting my wife sleep in. I went to the kitchen and put down 2 pieces of French bread in the toaster. The toaster over toasted the bread and scorched the bread. Being frugal, I started to scrape off the burnt areas on the toast. The fire alarm went off apparently from the toaster/burnt toast (though I saw no smoke from the toaster). You could faintly smell the burnt toast. So, the fire alarm was high on the wall near, I think, the dining table, near the kitchen. In my infinite wisdom, not wanting to awaken my wife, I stood on the couch/dining seating bench to reach and turn it off, being vertically challenged. I remember the seating cushion give under my 200# plus weight. I apparently lost my balance and fell backwards off the seating, striking and lacerating the back of my head on the granite counter. I don't know what transpired from the time I lost my balance until the time I regained my lucidity in the back of a Rescue unit on a gurney on my way to the ER. My wife filled me in on my bizarre behavior during this period of amnesia. Long story short, at the ER I had a CT scan of my head and neck & 9 staples put in the resulting laceration. I had the staples removed by my primary care provider in Jacksonville last week and things seem to be healing well. I suffered no subsequent sequelae to date, ie headaches, etc. After the fall, and before we caught a taxi back to the resort, housekeeping cleaned up the bloody mess in the room. Subsequently, I received a couple of followup calls to see how I was doing; and a room visit by one of their staff I suspect had something to do with risk management, asking followup question of what happened. At the end of her questioning, I had but one question; who was responsible for the bills that I'm sure are coming (Rescue, ER, CT scan, radiology charges, etc). She didn't know, but gave me a card to contact Guest Claims. That's all I want to know. No legal action anticipated at this time. I'll contact the people at Guest Claims tomorrow.
My question to this forum is who do you think should be responsible? Has anyone had similar accidents on Disney property? How did they handle it? I understand, in retrospect, it was not a wise decision. But in my mind I'm responsible for anyone injured on my property in most cases. That's why I carry homeowner's insurance.
One thing I learned was 68 year old Geezers should not climb on the furniture, same as toddlers shouldn't.

 

[Firepath]

Wow Jagson, that is a rough way to spend the morning! I'm glad you were (relatively) okay from such a scary experience. We like to stay at SSR and my husband plays the Sunrise 9 too. I could totally see him doing the same thing! Your wife must've been so scared. In answer to your question though, I think you will need to take care of the medical bills yourself. Disney would only be responsible if they did something wrong. From what you posted, it doesn't sound like that was the case. I hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[Allison]

You are. It should be covered by your medical insurance.

This is not a case of something being wrong with the property like an icy walkway. This was your doing. I'm surprised it would be a question.

What do you mean no legal action anticipated at this time? What legal action would there be when your actions led to the accident? You said it yourself that you shouldn't be climbing on furniture.

I do hope you are feeling better. That sounds like a scary experience.

 

[buzzrelly]

Sorry about your fall, but you are totally responsible. I think it's absurd that you would even question otherwise.

I also smell something here, and it's not burnt toast

 

[bashuck]

I think extra FP on your next trip would be very generous.

 

[CarolMN]

Sorry for your accident. Hope your recovery speeds along.

I share the opinion that Disney is not responsible for your accident, so you'll have to turn to your own medical insurance to help pay for the resulting bills.

P.S. I have set off our smoke detectors many times because of burnt toast. I live in a multiple unit building and am paranoid about causing an alarm that will bring the fire department. I have successfully stopped the noisy alarm by vigorously waving a magazine, or a plate, or something like it directly under the alarm. It clears out the particles that set off the alarm.

 

[cvjw]

I was cooking bacon one morning at Okw and the fire alarms went off. I got a Disney brochure and waved it under the alarm. A few seconds later, the alarm was off. No need to climb on a piece of furniture to disable it.

It was your choice to climb on a chair. It was your fault you fell. Disney played no role in your accident. You pay the bills.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You are responsible. Disney is responsible for having legally compliant smoke alarms that are hard to tamper with.

 

[keaster]

Agree with other posters. While I'm sorry about what you went through, your fall was a result of your actions.

 

[MrInfinity]

Interesting to hear the comments essentially faulting this guy for even thinking about his options and gathering some opinions. The consensus seems to be he caused it / he pays. But that's not how insurance works. You've all heard stories about how a thief invading your home can cut his hand while breaking your window and it can be found that your homeowners ins will pay for his medical. It's an unfortunate thing, I guess, but it's life. These stories or urban legends do not exist because they are fake, they exist because it's always an option to go after homeowners insurance if you're injured on the insured property.

OP... I would look at your bills. Hopefully you are fine and you have good insurance that will cover this. If that's the case, I'd just run it thru your medical. The alternative is to ask Disney, to which they'll refuse to accept fault, but they'll offer what they can to send you off happy. You will likely do better and faster by saving something off your Disney bill than opening up the can of worms that will be a lawsuit. It's an option... But you'd have to show that you were cost something and that something they did caused it. Beyond the price tag of a few days of your vacation and the medical bills (which will otherwise be paid by your ins so no major cost to you there). What would you hope to gain from 2-3 years of headache and making Disney your enemy? Time off work, paperwork, phone calls with lawyers, explaining your silly story over and over -- just not worth it.

Just reread. You've already left. I think there is little you can ask for at this point. You should have talked to the manager while you were there and gotten a free night or two added on to your stay for the days missed.

 

[bumbershoot]

Glad you’re ok.

At the end of her questioning, I had but one question; who was responsible for the bills that I'm sure are coming

You and your insurance should be responsible.

No one made you climb on the furniture.

I once set off a smoke detector at a Disneyland area hotel (steam from the shower!). I called down to the front desk for help (though they never came). Ended up fanning at the detector and ultimately opened the door to help the steam dissipate. Never climbed on furniture.

One thing I learned was 68 year old Geezers should not climb on the furniture, same as toddlers shouldn't.

Exactly.

But that's not how insurance works.

Sure if the op wants to totally pretend like Disney made him do it he might have a case.

But it’s not how insurance has to work.

My son broke his arm at a dance convention two summers ago. Convention changed rooms to the hotel. Hotel provided a polished parquet floor that was slippery. Kidlet fell on the floor. Convention, a year later, made their own floors for tap dance. And hotel, a year later, remembered him. They were terrified of us. But HE was the one that chose to run while wearing brand new tap shoes. HE broke his own arm.

When the inevitable letter from the insurance company came asking, basically, who THEY could blame and go after, I told them exactly what happened and that it was his own fault.

And after that our medical insurance paid the providers immediately and I was glad that our premiums went to good use that year.

There was no need to make it seem like my son wasn’t responsible for his actions and that somehow the convention and hotel needed to cover this.

And there’s no need to make it seem like this was anyone’s fault but your own. So answer the inevitable letter honestly, that you chose to climb the furniture, and use your own insurance.


Looking at your age, if you have Medicare I highly recommend looking into a good supplemental. Not sure if the name is the same everywhere, but in CA and WA Schedule F supplemental is *amazing*. The two people I know who have it never have a bill. Everything that’s covered is covered and so far everything has been covered.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Well this is a twist on the tale of the Brave Little Toaster!

 

[disneynutz]

Disney processes millions of dollars in claims each year. They have a staff and legal team that just reviews claims. Sometimes they deny everything, other times the may help a little, other times they settle for more if they are at fault and it's cheaper than going to court. IMO in your case they have no fault but they may help with your expenses not covered by insurance or they may become non responsive which often happens. Rescue paramedics work for Reedy Creek which is controlled by Disney so that bill may go away. I guess they could bill you for the extra required clean up of your unit.

Bill

 

[CraigInPA]

Interesting to read the answers from a bunch of "Internet lawyers"... This is a complex case involving whether disney would have an expectation that a person would stand on furniture to reach the smoke detector. Make your claim through your personal insurance, and contact an attorney if you feel the need to do so.

 

[kniquy]

That is a scary situation for you and your wife, but thankfully turned out that you are ok in the end - it could have ended much worse.

If i were in the same situation I would only blame myself for taking risks i probably shouldn't have been taking thus causing the injury and the further medical bills. Had it been that i was walking up a stairway and the railing gave way causing my injuries then i would blame Disney for faulty equipment causing my injury.

I can see some comments on trying to go after others insurance for being injured on someone else's property. I will tell you i would never think of doing this if i or someone in my family was injured do to our own fault. Prime example -- At the end of our DD 3rd birthday party one of my boys kicked a soccer ball over our neighbors fence (this neighbor owned the home but was no longer living in the home but in an assisted living). My son jumped over the 4 ft fence, caught his shorts on the fence and landed on his elbow, thus fracturing. Thankfully he healed well after a surgical repair. I was sent letters by my insurance company with them trying to find another person to cover the cost incurred from this "accident" as it appeared it could be someone else who would be responsible. I denied anyone else being responsible because it was our own doing.

I guess it just a hard lesson learned -- leave the smoke detectors alone and just use a towel to fan it so it turns off.

 

[davper]

IANAL But I say you are.
If you have a real question, you should consult a Florida licensed attorney.

 

[Dtw002]

Agree and glad you are ok, that could have been really bad. Can’t see how this falls to Disney unless they were negligent. To put another way, would Disney be responsible if you cut your finger badly while chopping vegetables? Maybe if the knife was faulty, but otherwise it’s on you.

 

[LAX]

Interesting to hear the comments essentially faulting this guy for even thinking about his options and gathering some opinions. The consensus seems to be he caused it / he pays. But that's not how insurance works. You've all heard stories about how a thief invading your home can cut his hand while breaking your window and it can be found that your homeowners ins will pay for his medical. It's an unfortunate thing, I guess, but it's life. These stories or urban legends do not exist because they are fake, they exist because it's always an option to go after homeowners insurance if you're injured on the insured property.

OP... I would look at your bills. Hopefully you are fine and you have good insurance that will cover this. If that's the case, I'd just run it thru your medical. The alternative is to ask Disney, to which they'll refuse to accept fault, but they'll offer what they can to send you off happy. You will likely do better and faster by saving something off your Disney bill than opening up the can of worms that will be a lawsuit. It's an option... But you'd have to show that you were cost something and that something they did caused it. Beyond the price tag of a few days of your vacation and the medical bills (which will otherwise be paid by your ins so no major cost to you there). What would you hope to gain from 2-3 years of headache and making Disney your enemy? Time off work, paperwork, phone calls with lawyers, explaining your silly story over and over -- just not worth it.

Just reread. You've already left. I think there is little you can ask for at this point. You should have talked to the manager while you were there and gotten a free night or two added on to your stay for the days missed.

I think what you described is not quite "how insurance works." It's more how the US legal system works. Your home insurance company pays for the injury to a thief resulting from a break-in to your home because it's cheaper than going to court and fight it. If the thief does not try to file a claim, your home insurance would care less who pays for the medical bills. Going back to OP's case. If he tries to make a claim against Disney/DVD, I am sure its legal team will likely offer to pay some (maybe even all) of the claim. However, what happened sounds like is OP's fault so I don't see how Disney/DVD should even be involved, let alone assigned financial responsibility.

LAX

 

[Dean]

2&1/2 weeks ago,my wife and I were staying at SSR in a 1 BR room for a few days. On the 2nd day of the trip I was scheduled to play golf early on the Sunrise 9 offer. I got up early, quietly got dressed, letting my wife sleep in. I went to the kitchen and put down 2 pieces of French bread in the toaster. The toaster over toasted the bread and scorched the bread. Being frugal, I started to scrape off the burnt areas on the toast. The fire alarm went off apparently from the toaster/burnt toast (though I saw no smoke from the toaster). You could faintly smell the burnt toast. So, the fire alarm was high on the wall near, I think, the dining table, near the kitchen. In my infinite wisdom, not wanting to awaken my wife, I stood on the couch/dining seating bench to reach and turn it off, being vertically challenged. I remember the seating cushion give under my 200# plus weight. I apparently lost my balance and fell backwards off the seating, striking and lacerating the back of my head on the granite counter. I don't know what transpired from the time I lost my balance until the time I regained my lucidity in the back of a Rescue unit on a gurney on my way to the ER. My wife filled me in on my bizarre behavior during this period of amnesia. Long story short, at the ER I had a CT scan of my head and neck & 9 staples put in the resulting laceration. I had the staples removed by my primary care provider in Jacksonville last week and things seem to be healing well. I suffered no subsequent sequelae to date, ie headaches, etc. After the fall, and before we caught a taxi back to the resort, housekeeping cleaned up the bloody mess in the room. Subsequently, I received a couple of followup calls to see how I was doing; and a room visit by one of their staff I suspect had something to do with risk management, asking followup question of what happened. At the end of her questioning, I had but one question; who was responsible for the bills that I'm sure are coming (Rescue, ER, CT scan, radiology charges, etc). She didn't know, but gave me a card to contact Guest Claims. That's all I want to know. No legal action anticipated at this time. I'll contact the people at Guest Claims tomorrow.
My question to this forum is who do you think should be responsible? Has anyone had similar accidents on Disney property? How did they handle it? I understand, in retrospect, it was not a wise decision. But in my mind I'm responsible for anyone injured on my property in most cases. That's why I carry homeowner's insurance.
One thing I learned was 68 year old Geezers should not climb on the furniture, same as toddlers shouldn't.

Ethically I agree with the consensus that you would be responsible. Technically I think that's the answer as well. Whether Disney would contribute anything might be another matter. Regardless your exposure is the direct and real costs not covered by travel or health insurance. You could contact guest services and plead for them to cover your real costs. You could contact an attorney but clearly there's no high dollar issue here so the cost to even send a letter from the lawyer is likely not worth it.

 

[IrishEye]

Interesting to read the answers from a bunch of "Internet lawyers"... This is a complex case involving whether disney would have an expectation that a person would stand on furniture to reach the smoke detector. Make your claim through your personal insurance, and contact an attorney if you feel the need to do so.

Don't forget to mention to that lawyer you wish to call that you were injured in the act of committing a crime. Fla law makes it a gross misdemeanor for disabling a smoke or fire alarm in a motel, hotel or rooming house.

To OPer, the question would be answered by YOUR insurance company when you present them with the bills and explanation. They will be the ones to contact Disney's insurance in the event they choose to challenge the claim. Your insurance exists to cover you in these type of situations and should they choose to seek payment from a third party to lessen their loss they would issue a challenge and possibly go to an administrative hearing to assign percent responsibility.