Homeowners’ Insurance and Your Dog Bite Claim

Personal injury lawyers file fewer lawsuits than their websites and advertising billboards might lead you to believe.  It is usually possible for personal injury attorneys to get clients the money they need without going to court.  This is true not only in car accident and slip and fall claims, but also in dog bite cases.  The fact that you can probably get the medical bills for your dog bite covered without going to court should come as a relief, since many dog attacks are by dogs that the victim has met before.  There is no such thing as dog bite insurance, but various other types of liability insurance policies can also pay out claims related to dog attacks.  Filing an insurance claim is a straightforward process, but getting the insurance company to pay you enough to cover all your injury-related medical expenses is not so easy.  The best way to get a fair settlement related to an insurance claim related to a dog attack is to contact an Atlanta dog bite lawyer.

Homeowners’ Insurance Is About the Liability of the Owner, Not the House

Most people associate homeowners’ insurance with paying for accidental damage to the house or its contents, but that is not the only thing that homeowners’ insurance can do.  Some homeowners’ insurance policies include personal liability coverage.  This means that the insurance pays for any damage that the policyholder causes or for which the policyholder is vicariously liable.  Vicarious liability is when a person is legally responsible for damage caused by his or her personal property, including domestic animals.  In other words, homeowners’ insurance has more to do with the owner than it does with the home.  Therefore, even if the dog bite does not happen on the dog owner’s property, the owner’s insurance may still pay.

Likewise, some homeowners’ insurance policies include medical payments coverage.  These policies designate a certain amount for the medical bills of people injured by the policyholder’s property.  These policy limits are usually around $1,000, which should make the claim simple to resolve if the injuries are minor.

What Happens If the Owner of the Dog Was Renting the House?

Homeowners’ insurance applies to attacks by dogs that belong to homeowners, but what happens if the dog that bit you belonged to someone who was renting a house or apartment?  Especially if the attack happened on the premises of the rented home, then you might be able to get your claim paid through the dog owner’s renter’s insurance.  In other words, the party responsible for the dog attack is the tenant who owns the dog, not the landlord who rented the house to a dog owner.

Contact Zagoria Law About Dog Bite Cases

An Atlanta personal injury lawyer can help you if the dog attack that caused your injuries happened at a tenant’s home, or if a homeowner’s dog bit you while it was out in public.  Contact Zagoria Law in Atlanta, Georgia to discuss your case.

Source:

nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/homeowners-insurance-cover-dog-bites