I Hit A Dog With My Car - Advice On Court Action

propaintballa

Hey everyone, basically, i'm going to copy and paste a post a made on another forum.

Hey guys... On this days lovely morning, myself and some friends were off to play airsoft. On the way there, a dog decided it would sprint out on me whilst i was going 60...

Obviously, i slammed the brakes on, but still hit the thing. Dog hit car... Dog is now dead.

Was a pretty awful feeling, this guy had let his dog off the lead for the first time, was a racing dog i think he said... Here's the damage





She's going to need a new light, new bumper (Is broken in several places, looks worse in real life), new grille, new plastic bit just behind the grille, and most likely a new bonnet too...

What a month so far...

Just adding on to that, this happened probably about a month ago now. This blokeys story has changed several times, so i'll put things straight. He has admitted that it was his fault (which it was), the dog infact slipped out of it's collar, he apparently has no money, i'm being left to pay for all of the damage because i'm 18 and dare not go through insurance.

Where do i stand if i took this to small claims court? What happens if he infact has no money? Will i have to pay the fees etc?

Thanks for any help

dacouch

You would need to prove negligence eg the accident was avoidable by the actions of a reasonable person. If the dog slipped his collar this MAY prove he had taken reasonable steps.

If he has home (Some exclude it) or pet insurance the liability part of the policy would cover claims he is LEGALLY LIABLE for eg where he has acted negligently

Mankysteve

You have pay fees up front £32 if memory serves me right. Have you got a confirmed address of the person?

tandraig

what do your insurance company say? isnt this why you have insurance?
I am fairly sure you should have informed your own insurance company at the time. its not your fault I know - but the insurance people for some reason like to be informed about accidents.
I am sure the dog owner was fully insured, was coherent (but maybe not - his dog had just been run over).
oh and you were going 60 - and this stupid dog owner let his dog off the lead by a motorway????
or were you doing 60 on an urban road??? in which case I hope the dog owner got your plate no.

Doozergirl

tandraig wrote: »

oh and you were going 60 - and this stupid dog owner let his dog off the lead by a motorway????
or were you doing 60 on an urban road??? in which case I hope the dog owner got your plate no.

Please tell me you haven't passed a driving test yet. There are more than plenty of roads where you can drive at 60mph without being on a motorway.

You should be speaking to your insurer, OP - what if he decided to claim against you? If you have legal cover with your policy then perhaps they could advise you on what to do. Indeed, our dog's insurance includes cover for public liability which I presume would be for a very sad incident like this one

mikey72

You can do 60 100yd from my house.
Racing dog, good chance he has insurance.

Jakg

tandraig wrote: »

what do your insurance company say? isnt this why you have insurance?

Insurance at 18 is already expensive enough without a claim as well - that'll keep your premium over a grand for several years to come!

Paradigm

I may be way off here but don't some house contents insurance policies cover this?

I have seperate insurance for my dogs but I seem to remember seeing something in my contents policy but I can't be arsed to fish it out

Quentin

propaintballa wrote: »

Where do i stand if i took this to small claims court? What happens if he infact has no money? Will i have to pay the fees etc?

Yes, you will have to pay all court fees up front.

If you win, then they will be added on to the amount you win, and the defendant ordered to pay you.

However if he cannot pay, then the fees are non refundable.

So be sure the defendant can pay before embarking on court action.

McKneff

dacouch wrote: »

You would need to prove negligence eg the accident was avoidable by the actions of a reasonable person. If the dog slipped his collar this MAY prove he had taken reasonable steps.

If he has home (Some exclude it) or pet insurance the liability part of the policy would cover claims he is LEGALLY LIABLE for eg where he has acted negligently

Good sensible post there dacouch.

OP, you pay insurance for such eventualites,

Its only money and its only metal, you and any one of your mates could be lying in a morgue tonigt and apart from anything else this poor man has seen
his dog killed by a teenager doing 60 miles an hour. Wonder what he's going through tonight.

McKneff

Am i right in thinking that all dogs which are hit by traffic and killed still have to be reported to the police by law,

I know it used to be the case.