It is very easy to forget about property damage issues when working on a bed bug injury claim. The biggest portion of time spent on a bed bug claim stems from the personal injuries suffered by victims. Bed bug bites can be extremely painful and leave permanent marks on the skin if not properly treated. Apart from the physical impact of bed bug bites, the mental anguish suffered can last for months or 
years. However, when encountering a bed bug infestation, it is important to remember that bed bugs can travel with you. Often attaching themselves to your clothing or luggage, bed bugs are expert hitchhikers. This post will focus on the property damage aspects of a bed bug injury claim.
What property gets damaged by bed bugs?
When travelling for vacation or for business, we bring things with us. We travel with suitcases, shoes, clothing and other personal items. Any personal item present in an infested hotel room when traveling is at risk of affected. When encountering bed bugs, it is important to know that they are experts at travelling. Bed bugs are small insects with 6 legs and feed on human blood. A bed bug will attach itself to any porous surfaces like clothing or suitcases and can easily be brought home after traveling. Any hotel can be infested with bed bugs. Bed bugs infest 5 star resorts just as easily as a cheap roadside motel.
Who’s fault is it that my property was damaged by bed bugs?
Negligence liability under the law applies to both personal injury and property damage. Most states laws include “replacement value of lost personal property; loss of appraised fair market value of real property; costs of construction repairs, including labor, overhead, and profit’ and any other economic loss that would not have occurred but for the injury giving rise to the cause of action” within the meaning of “economic damages” that are recoverable in a negligence lawsuit.
Property damages are often based on the reasonable cost of repair or replacement. However, sometimes property damage can’t be fixed. In that case, the court will examine the fair market value of the property when the accident or other negligent activity occurred.
Bringing bed bugs home with you after travel, what to do?
The worst case scenario in any bed bug related claim is bringing bed bugs home with you. Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to get rid of once they have infested your home. The cost to properly treat a home for bed bugs could reach into the thousands. We have spoken to pest control professionals who specialize in bed bug treatments for their opinion. The best type of treatment for a home or apartment is through using heat. Pest control experts can use special space heaters which will heat a room to over 160 degrees in order to kill bed bugs and their eggs. This heat treatment is very expensive and can destroy furniture and other household items. When this happens, it is important to keep close records of all damaged property and receipts for any replacement items.
Contact Us Today
Our staff is available any time to discuss your bed bug property damage claim. A member of our team will discuss your options if you have property damaged because of someone else’s negligence. Our experienced staff will help you assess the reasonable cost of repairing that damage and the fair market value of your property before the damage occurred.