Dog bite injury claims
When most people think of legal cases involving dog bites, they probably imagine the kind of high profile case which hits the front pages from time to time and involves dangerous dogs like Pit Bull Terriers and Dogo Argentinos. Whilst cases such as these are doubtless traumatic and shocking, they don’t actually represent the average dog bite case. The sad fact is that absolutely any dog has the potential to become violent and turn on somebody, biting, clawing and injuring them. Children, in particular, are vulnerable to dog bites since they often operate at a level which means they are face to face with dogs, and they lack the experience and know how to realise that dogs can be dangerous creatures and shouldn’t be touched, poked, prodded and teased.
It’s simply not enough, in the case of a dog bite, to write it off as the actions of an animal and thus not really the fault of anyone in particular. In legal terms and also on a moral basis, the owner of a dog has a responsibility to keep it under control and stop it behaving in an aggressive manner. Certain dogs have to be muzzled by law, and if anyone is attacked by one of these dogs the case for dog bite compensation is very clear.
In the case of more ‘ordinary’ dogs, however, it will be necessary to enlist the aid of an expert injury lawyer when building a case. The lawyers at claims4negligence.co.uk have many years experience dealing with such cases and they’ll bring all of this knowledge to bear when building a case on your behalf. The compensation awarded in the case of a dog bite will be calculated by working out the expenses that have been incurred as a result of that bite. Initially, these expenses will be things such as prescription charges, medical bills, travel expenses and the cost of replacing any clothes which may have been damaged in the attack, and in the longer term they may well include any earnings lost while recovering. Allied to this will be an amount calculated on the basis of the severity of the attack and the injuries sustained.
The process of building a claim will be based upon gathering as much evidence as possible in the aftermath of the attack. That’s why it’s vital to report the incident to the police immediately, both to get a crime number and a record of the events and to discover whether the same dog has been found to be violent or aggressive in the past. Together with a police report, anyone making a dog bite claim should gather together their own account of the incident, details of any witnesses, photographs of the injuries, the name and address of the owner of the dog, if it’s known, and receipts of any expenses which have arisen as a direct result of the attack.
A dog bite can be highly traumatic, resulting in both physical pain and psychological stress and trauma, and the effects can take an awful long time to recover from. If you call us FREE on 0808 231 5942 with details of your incident, we’ll decide if a claim is viable and, if it is, we’ll pursue it to the best of our abilities without charging you a penny. We only take on cases which we think we’re going to win, and if we do win, we hand over every last penny of the compensation that’s awarded.
