Help im being sued!

somethingcorporate

balloo wrote: »

I am not on his side, but what if he was illiterate or children after a football?

Luckily the law doesn't work like this, if we could sue for everything that could have happened then we'd all be in court all day every day.

What if a child was stood in the middle of the motorway whilst I was driving down it?

Luckily the law only is really concerned with what did occur (and intention) and not what didn't

paddyrg

Take proper legal advice. Or get your FIL to. The signs you put up about the dogs could easily be interpreted by an aggressive lawyer to be an implied admission that your dogs were dangerous. Just because the man was not invited does not necessarily make it trespass, and even if it is you still havea duty of care. Take proper legal advice, seriously.


The guy has probably found an ambulance chaser lawyer firm who try it on but won't pursue a dud case if they realise there is no chance of big juicy no-win-no-fee cost award. They need to know this, but be told by one of their own.

MrRedundant

The whole tresspass etc stuff is a moot argument.

The main points are did you owe him a duty of care and did you breach it?

1) Duty of Care - I would argue a dog owner owes everyone a duty of care to ensure their dogs are not unsafe and there is all criminal law to back this
2) Did you breach this - Hard to say? A sign isnt necessary enough and your defence is damaged by the dogs death as you will really struggle to prove they werent unduly aggressive or ill/injured which lead to this.

Whilst you would probably have a defence I wouldnt rule out either side in this case. I dont think your FIL's solicitor should even refer to you; as landowner or not I think you as the dog owner would be liable in this case as the FIL had no duty of care to control your dog's thus its not appropriate them making any comment about how you might or might not defend or settle the case.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I'd be inclined to ask if he is in the habit of entering homes where vulnerable women are alone and if he has any convictions relating to this - especially if the FIL is the sort of person to find out information about others.

paddyrg

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

I'd be inclined to ask if he is in the habit of entering homes where vulnerable women are alone and if he has any convictions relating to this - especially if the FIL is the sort of person to find out information about others.

That would be a separate case. You could not prove his intent when visiting and proving the dog knew that he had previous will be a tough one. May be interesting background, but nothing to do with what the lawyers letter was about.

kazwookie

Why was he trying to enter the house via the back door in the first place?

If the model plane (or whatever) was in the back field, surely he should have been making his way there, not in to the house.

peachyprice

dmg24 wrote: »

Do you not have legal cover with your pet insurance?

The dogs are both dead now, one poisoned 6 weeks after the event.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

balloo wrote: »

I am not on his side, but what if he was illiterate or children after a football? A solicitor might go down that road.

.

It wasnt though so that bears no relation to the case whatsoever.

MrRedundant

Jeff_Bridges_hair wrote: »

It wasnt though so that bears no relation to the case whatsoever.

Actually it wouldnt because the OP has a duty of care in such circumstances and would have to show the only reason the attack happened was because the person tresspassed or acted in an undue manner rather than the dogs just attacking anyone who ended up in the garden.

midget_gems

back to being a little on-topic here.

I dont think the OP has anything to worry about really. As soon as i read the OP i came here to post about contacting the local CAB, which it seems they have done. Its pretty apparent that its just some ambulance chaser poking in the dark and hoping to get lucky, and any actual court proceedings will earn the guy nothing more than a swift and embarrassing exit from the courtroom.

If it were me, i would go buy an Air Rifle, square it with the Landlord and anything that ends up clearly trespassing into my airspace would be the recipient of a nicely placed lead pellet to the wing. Think of it like free clay pigeon shooting! especially if you have a shotgun licence.