Whose Insurance ??????

dickieg

While on work experience at a dogs kennels from school, the week before the 6 weeks holiday, my son who was 15 at the time was bitten several times by a dog, both on the arms and his back, luckely for my son hes tall or it could have been his face. The kennels phoned us when it happened, so we fetched him and took him to the doctors where he was cleaned up and bandaged in the treatment room. These bites have left scars and he is wary around dogs now. The day after the incident i phoned the school to tell them what had happened they told me they would see my son when he returned to school after the 6 weeks holiday, but nobody did. This as really got me mad because the school, the kennels and the owners of the dog have not been in touch to see how he is, now i want to put in an insurance claim but the school say its the kennels responsibility and the kennels say its the schools responsibility and as for the owners im wandering if they even know their dog as bitten someone, what makes it worse is the fact it wasnt a rescued dog it was a dog in for boarding, any help would be appreciated as i seem to be hitting my head against a brick wall. Thanx in advance

mattymoo

That is a complex one to be honest with you.
The test is who owed a duty of care and who was negligent.

The school owed a duty of care to provide a safe work placement for your son. They should have checked the kennel had adequate, safe working procedures in place. These checks used to be carried out by people like Project Trident who manage work experience placements.

The kennel owed a duty of care because he was a temporary employee, albeit unpaid. They were negligent in failing to supervise the work adequately and / or provide sufficient training for your lad.

The owner would only be negligent if the dog had bitten before and they had not warned the kennel of the dogs propensity to bite.

Best bet is to speak to a solicitor. If you have legal expenses cover with your household insurance policy then this should cover the costs.

The solicitor will normally write to all three parties. Insurers call this "throwing mud" because it will stick somewhere. The kennel, school and owners insurers will then argue it out between them as to who is at fault or share the liability.

Your lad can sue in his own right between 18 and 21. Below 18 he has to do it in your name and the compensation will be approved by a court and put into trust for him.

dickieg

You seem pretty jenned up on this, Im just wandering if a no win no fee agency would do the job as well as anyone???

mattymoo

The problems with no-win no-fee type of stuff is the work tends to be farmed out to the solicitor prepared to pay the most for the case lead. They also may only take you on if they feel it is a simple, clear cut case.

I mentioned legal expenses cover with household insurance but you also get it with some bank accounts or best of all, trade union membership.

PS: Dealt with this kind of stuff between 87 and 94 for an insurer. Used to hate cases involving dogs though - never clear cut.

dickieg

What about legal aid is this a possibility as i only have a part time job, and on work & family tax credits??????

dickieg

This incident happened on 25/6/2007 will i still be able to report it to the police as its been so long???

mattymoo

Not sure about the police. It is hardly a criminal act and unless the dog was a dangerous breed I believe they would be unlikely to act. Would be a different matter if your lad was a baby though.

As for legal aid, I'm afraid it no longer exists for civil cases like this. Assuming you have no other legal expenses cover then no win no fee might be the only way to go. Be aware of the following -

1) No-win, no-fee is the headline grabber but you have to look at the opposite - win - big fee.
2) Defendent insurers are prepared to meet the claimants reasonable legal costs but sometimes the costs are overstated, leaving a shortfall in what they can recover from the schools insurers etc.
3) Some firms allow you to buy an after the event insurance policy that covers this shortfall. In fact, some insist you take it.

I would hope the legal sharks would put their teeth away when dealing with a claim from a minor but please ensure you read any contract carefully.