Landlord's Insurance and Dogs

ajayre

A couple of weeks ago someone put a charity bag through the letterbox. It caused our dog to run up to the letterbox and the person was injured. They say our dog bit them. We say that they were startled by the dog and cut their finger on the letterbox withdrawing it. Regardless they were hurt and our dog was involved somehow.

Now we get a letter from a solicitor for compensation and they want to know insurance details. We rent and we don't have liability insurance cover.

So my question is this (and it's a long shot I know) - is this something the landlord's insurance would cover? Should we contact the LA? We were given permission for our dogs and it's on the lease.

I've already drafted a letter offering to settle immediately but can't send it until Tuesday.

Sigh.

Thanks, Andy

ajayre

Sorry, I should have added this - we brought them into our house, put their finger under water, alcohol swab, pressure, bandage, sat them down, gave them a drink, etc. They were actually thanking us at the time for doing that! So we saw the cut.

Andy

sandsni

Were you in the house at the time or were there any other witnesses to the alleged incident? Is it undeniable that the person hurt their finger (by whatever means) at your door and not someone else's?

If your dog really did bite them then it's your responsibility. If you took your dog to a friend or family member's house and it bit someone would you say your friend or family member was liable?

It's possible the LL's insurance might cover it, but they could try to recover the money from you.

Better_Days

A dog bite is much more likely to be a puncture wound than a cut. If it is a cut it seems to me that it was probably caused by the letter box.

I certainly wouldn't settle at this point. Don't accept the premise of the letter that there is compensation due. The claimant may be thinking that if you have insurance then it won't cost you anything to settle.

I would write back saying you don't accept that compensation is due and asking what evidence they have to support their claim that the wound was caused by your dog.

Sounds to me like a 'no win, no fee' outfit chancing their arm. (or their finger!)

BTW do you have pet insurance? If so there is probably a 'third party' element.

GoldenShadow

Am I right in guessing your dog isn't insured (third party liability is usually present on most policies)?

Out of interest have they suggested a figure re compo?

My dog bit my index finger (tooth went in on the underside and shot up through my nail, damaging the bottom so it wasn't properly attached). He missed the bone. Apart from being a bit sore and annoying as it was thickly bandaged for a few days it was fine, and it doesn't sound like your dog did anything like that, so I'm curious as to what they think they're entitled to.

Did they report the incident to the police and go to A&E for a tetanus if not up to date etc?

ValHaller

Better_Days wrote: »

A dog bite is much more likely to be a puncture wound than a cut. If it is a cut it seems to me that it was probably caused by the letter box.

Devils' Advocate: The appearance of the wound indicates that it was not a bite. The narrative to which everyone will agree is that it occurred when the dog ran to the letter box. So we could argue as to whether it was a bite from the dog or a cut sustained on the letterbox. But if it was a cut sustained on the letter box, is OP any less liable ????

kitschkitty

ValHaller wrote: »

Devils' Advocate: The appearance of the wound indicates that it was not a bite. The narrative to which everyone will agree is that it occurred when the dog ran to the letter box. So we could argue as to whether it was a bite from the dog or a cut sustained on the letterbox. But if it was a cut sustained on the letter box, is OP any less liable ????

Obviously!

If someone was surprised by the dog and injured themselves that's their problem.

If the dog injured someone (directly) it's the owners problem.

dgtazzman

I swear the country is turning into the USA, compensation for this, compensation for that. What kind of loss could a little cut on the finger, which you properly treated, possibly have caused.

I'm not a solicitor, but if I were a judge, I'd be laughing this out of court and sending a bill to the claimant for wasting the court's time.

Really just sounds like a no win - no fee outfit trying some scare tactics. I'd stand my ground and see if they dare take it any further.

Sagz_2

Have a look at http://www.doglaw.co.uk :

If you do not have insurance cover available and you face a claim for damages caused by your dog, then (as a general rule) you will be liable if:-
The incident was due to your negligence (ie, you did something you should not have done or you failed to do something that you should have done), or
Your dog has behaved in a similar manner on a previous occasion and you were aware of it.

They also have a phone advice line, but at £1.53 per minute it's a bit pricey!

dacouch

Try writing back and deny the claim, make sure you mention you have no insurance in place, if you are extremely poor mention it.

PI solicitors are not actually like they are on the adverts, they do not make the claims due to their concern for justice, their only concern is actually getting paid by someone. If there's genuinely no insurance for them to claim their fees and client's compo they worry about recovering their fees. This is often enough for a PI solicitor to drop a case, if you're also genuinely poor with little hope of them getting their money it increases the chances of them dropping the case even more.

krlyr

If your dog isn't insured then I'd recommend joining the Dogs Trust - £25 a year and it gives you third party liability cover on any dogs in your household. May not be of any use for this matter, but it'll give you peace of mind for anything your dog may do in the future.

As others have said, though, I can't see this going very far in court, and I wouldn't be offering to settle at all. If it were me, the first letter would probably be binned (well, I may keep it just incase, but I wouldn't act on it), further attempts might be responded to with either a firmly written "on your bike!" letter or perhaps even one of those paid solicitor's letters back (companies will do headed, signed solicitor-esque letters for a small fee) to show them you're not going to play ball.

Also, just incase it's playing on your mind - I don't believe the DDA has been completely amended yet - there have been proposed changes to make owners liable for dog attacks on private property, e.g. postman getting bitten through the postbox, but I believe current laws mean it's only a civil matter. So no need to worry about the police turning up on your doorstep or anything in regards to a dog bite.