Personal Injury Claim that includes my dog’s I juries

afrogers

Hi,
My dog and I were hit by a van whilst out walking and am looking for a firm that can make a claim for my personal injuries and that of my dog that needed an operation to fix her lameness.

So far the companies I have contacted do not do do both.

Can anyone help please with a company that does both.  Thank you.

JJ_Egan

Its not a Consumer Right .

Try the Insurance board .

Aylesbury_Duck

As above, try the insurance board, but one route would be to make claim for all of your expenses directly from the van's insurance company.  If you have legal cover with home or car insurance they may be able to advise as well.

unholyangel

What is the level of damages? How much will the operation cost and did you have any lasting injuries?

Did the police attend or has it been reported to them? Did the driver stop?

Really, there's nothing to stop them pursuing both claims. If they've said they won't then chances are there's another reason they may not have wanted to say. Were you looking at CFA (successor to no win no fee) or a paid for solicitor?

mattyprice4004

Bear in mind that insurance companies are now rejecting a lot of claims where a vehicle collides with a pedestrian and the pedestrian was negligent; sometimes even coming after the pedestrian for costs in defending the claim.
Was the van driver definitely at fault? I clipped a pedestrian who walked out without warning, no time to react at all and the cheeky cow tried to blame me...
My insurance co are now pursuing their losses through the court in defending her spurious claim.

Sandtree

afrogers said:

Hi,
My dog and I were hit by a van whilst out walking and am looking for a firm that can make a claim for my personal injuries and that of my dog that needed an operation to fix her lameness.

So far the companies I have contacted do not do do both.

All companies should do both, the law sees the dog as chattel and so the costs to fix the injuries they sustained are considered in barely any different way to if you had been carrying a TV at the time and it got damaged in the process. There will be no "pain, suffering and loss of amenities" type claim for the dog, just straight financial losses you suffer fixing it. 

The only possible difference is the lack of a "beyond economic repair" for a dog -v- a TV

Manxman_in_exile

I also find it hard to believe the OP can't find a firm to pursue both claims.

Might it perhaps be that the OP is not asking the "right" question?  eg "Can you make a claim on behalf of my dog for the personal injuries it has suffered in an accident?" rather than "Can you pursue a personal injury claim for me and also recover the cost of vet's bills for injuries to my dog sustained in the same accident?"

In my experience some dog owners do seem to believe that their pets have rights of their own.

Sandtree

I was about to edit my post to say similar, the key is you are claiming for your injury plus damage to your property (pets are chattel or property in law) rather than a personal injury claim for the pair of you.

Similarly its probably worth trying to get past the customer service person and speak to an actual fee earner who'll have a more considered approach.

bris

Op's looking for a no win no fee firm to chase for personal injuries, the dogs injuries should have been covered by the insurance co if it was the drivers fault. This should be taken up with the insurance co.

 There is a difference, they will not try and get personal injuries for a dog.

Sandtree

bris said:

Op's looking for a no win no fee firm to chase for personal injuries, the dogs injuries should have been covered by the insurance co if it was the drivers fault. This should be taken up with the insurance co.

 There is a difference, they will not try and get personal injuries for a dog.

Both are covered by the insurer of the other vehicle. The NWNF solicitors will deal with all the losses sustained by the OP including general damages for their own injury and special damages for any other losses like loss of earnings, taxis, vet bills etc

Undervalued

Any dog, legally speaking, is property.

So it is no different from if, say, you had an expensive camera round your neck and it was damaged in the accident. If the driver of the van was at fault then they are liable for both your injury and the cost of repairing or replacing any property that was damaged.