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

Quentin

McKneff wrote: »

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.

No.

You must stop and exchange details with anyone with a reason for asking. Only if there is no-one around after you stopped do you need to report to the police.

DaveMacD

An unfortunate incident, both the accident, and the flaming that has resulted in here.

As a dog owner, I have to say that it's the responsibility of the owner to make sure the dog can't get off the lead. Doesn't make it their fault, but it is their look out.

As a driver, it's a horrible situation to end up in, having hit something and killed it. Obviously it is never the intention of a driver to have that happen, but it is always a possibility.

As an airsofter, I have to say commiserations on missing out on CHD if you lose the cash. I know it's a good event to go to, and I'd go more often if not for lack of money

Given how it could have turned out (multi-car collision with a bus for good measure) I feel that it's probably been the best outcome for the humans involved. Unfortunate for the dog, but them's the breaks. Dogs can be road trained, just like kids can, but obviously some don't learn quickly enough. Cold-hearted or practical, you decide. Remember seeing a guy who wrecked his car when he hit a tree after swerving to avoid a rabbit. Not a good trade IMHO.

danjones

Did you take out legal expenses cover through your insurance? I used to work for some of the major insurers in the UK, specialising in legal expenses cover. We used to put through a number of claims where someone had left a dog off the lead and it had been run over, causing damage to the car. As long as we had the name and full address of the owner we could usually see if they had any home insurance, this is what we usually claimed against. It can avoid court fees and the risk of loosing your case as well as it would be covered through your policy. It may be worth checking if your parents have too!

I've run over a dog myself, its not a pleasant experience. Ignore the trolls on here who have it out for young drivers! Hitting a dog, unless you have aimed for it is not usually your fault :cool:

Jimx26

There are some disgraceful replies on this thread,really not what I thought this forum is all about. Nice to see some genuine advice amongst the idiots with holier than thou attitudes. I hope you get it all sorted out soon OP :money:

bosseyed

Blimey what a thread. Some people on here are, frankly, idiotic to an awesomely entertaining degree.

Its not nice when you hit something, I ran over a fox once on the motorway, and despite being fairly small it did a suprising amount of damage to the car. Luckily an old tatty banger (the car not the fox) so it didn't really matter but I still felt bad. Fox had a rabbit in its mouth too, so I was tortured for a few days thinking of hungry cubs waiting for mum to come home

So good luck OP, ignore the trolls, let us know how you get on. And Airsoft is great fun, supposed to be off to one in Birmingham this month with some friends in an old shopping mall.

propaintballa

DaveMacD wrote: »

As an airsofter, I have to say commiserations on missing out on CHD if you lose the cash. I know it's a good event to go to, and I'd go more often if not for lack of money

I know, really annoying, i can't get the rest of my gear that i need now, still needed mags etc for my PTW. Matt over at Stirling has been nice enough to offer me a refund

Hey guys, thanks for the replies, as far as i know, i don't have the extra legal cover with my insurance, as it still so damn expensive i didn't even think about it, it might be worth a check though.

I do have his address now, before i only had his number, so might also be worth looking into his house insurance.

DirectDebacle

propaintballa wrote: »

It still comes down to HIS dog not being in control. I know you can get harness' which tend to be used for dogs that are a bit "Funky" on the lead, so, whatever the ACTUAL story is that actually happened whether it slipped out or he did let it off, then it could have been prevented if he had taken the correct precautions.

The minute the incident happened and he went to go get his van, i was talking to a passer by and he was saying how he saw the whole thing and there was nothing i could do etc. At that point when the owner came over, he admitted full responsibility, he put his arm around me and said it's not your fault son, there was nothing you could do. Soon after that he was saying how she's a rescued racing dog and how this was the first time she was off the lead...

Attempting to approach this from a moneysaving point of view I would ask you to consider this.

You know that the dog was out of control at the time it ran out in front of you and therefore the owner must take some responsibility for the damage caused to your vehicle by his dog.

At the moment you are losing the enjoyment of driving your vehicle and suffering loss as a consequence. Putting the repaired vehicle back on the road asap is in your best interests

For obvious reasons you do not wish to go through your insurers.

You do have the means to repair the vehicle yourself.

I would suggest you do the repairs yourself, keep accurate records of costs of materials and time spent doing the repairs. Make a claim in the county court to include these costs, court fees and an appropriate amount for loss of use of your vehicle as you see fit.

You know the dog owner is not destitute. He owned a dog which had to be paid for. He owns a van and he has somewhere to live and has money to pay for that. He may even have a job. He claims to have the ability to put £100 towards your costs and therefore acknowledges he has some responsibility.

None of the above has been verified. You do not know if he is telling the truth or not.

I would get in touch with him and explain your intentions. This may or may not produce a more acceptable offer. A letter before action usually does.

Around 75% of small claims are settled before the court date.

If it did go to court and you were successful then if the owner were unable to pay immediately, I believe an arrangement could be made by the court e.g. for weekly or monthly payments.

At least this way your vehicle will be back on the road and you will have preserved your NCD. There is a good chance that some, if not all your costs will be returned.

If I were in your position I would be seriously considering this option. Others may well post with an even better one. I do not see why you should lose out any more than is absolutely necessary.

Good luck.

McKneff

You have made a major mistake here in your post 93 mate, you are quoting someone else and putting my name to it. I did not say any of those things in the boxes - so look agaiin. Without wasting any more time i believe it was Taindraig who said most of what you have quoted.

motorguy

McKneff wrote: »

I think you have made a major mistake her mate, you are quoting someone else and putting my name to it. I did not say any of those things in the boxes - so look agaiin. Without wasting any more time i believe it was Taindraig who said most of what you have quoted.

???

Just checked back through - you said you were incensed by my comments - i checked back further and i made my comments about TAINDRAIGS post on the bottom of the first page not yours - i even quoted it with my comments below. Therefore you can understand my confusion

Also your reason for being incensed was that at no point did you judge the O/P on speed, but then subsequently mentioned it three times?

mcjordi

mollycat- crawl back under your rock will you.. you and others like you are the precise reason why i havent been on here for ages.

propaintballer- welcome from "jordanH" off ukfn bud... dont worry the majority of the people on mse are a great help.. but you always get one or two complete !!!!!!/