A vehicle struck the claimant’s back patio, which caused it to detach from the house. The claimant heard the crash and opened her back door and stepped onto the patio, not knowing that it had detached. She fell through a gap to the ground. The insurer argued that the claimant was not injured in an “accident”. Adjudicator Hans concluded that the incident was an “accident” under the SABS, as it met both the purpose and causation test. The vehicle that struck the patio was being operated in a typical (though negligent) manner, and that the gap through which the claimant fell was directly caused by the use of the vehicle.
