California Law Makes Dog Owners Strictly Liable For Bite Injuries
Legally, the rules in California are favorable to dog bite victims. Unlike the laws in many other states, where you have to prove that the owner knew or should have known of the dog’s vicious propensity,
The law provides for strict liability for bites in:
- A public place
- Private property, when you had a legal reason or right to be there (such as an Amazon delivery person who must drop a package off on the doorstep)
Strict liability is a legal doctrine that keeps you from having to prove negligence. In other personal injury cases, you will need to prove that the responsible party acted unreasonably. With strict liability, the mere fact that an incident happens shifts the burden onto the responsible party to show why they should not be liable for what happened. It does not matter whether the dog has been aggressive before or this was the first time that the dog bit someone.
The Insurance Company May Try To Blame The Injury On You
Once a dog bite happens, the owner must show that the dog bite victim did something wrong. The law states that strict liability does not apply when the dog is annoyed, harassed, or provoked.
Most often, the dog’s owner and their insurance company might claim that the dog bite victim did something to provoke the dog. However, this is not an easy defense because the victim must have done something relatively extreme to make the dog angry. The standard may be even higher when the dog bite victim was a small child.
In Some Cases, You May Need To Prove Negligence
There are times when you may need to prove that the dog owner was negligent. In this case, you may need to apply the “one free bite rule” that shows the owner knew about the dog’s dangerous propensities and did not take measures to protect you. You will need evidence to accompany your dog bite injury claim in this case.
In California, strict liability applies to dog bite injuries. However, you may have suffered a dog-related injury that was not a bite. For example, you may have fallen and injured yourself when trying to avoid an aggressive dog.
Strict liability also does not apply to trespassers on the dog owner’s property. In these cases, you must prove that the dog’s owner failed to act reasonably under the circumstances, as an ordinary dog owner should. Your focus will be on the safety measures that the dog owner should have taken to protect you.
Dog Bite Claims Mean Dealing With An Insurance Company
When you file a claim for dog bite compensation, your claim will be against the responsible person’s homeowners insurance policy. Insurance companies get thousands of claims each year, and they are very experienced in dealing with these situations. Insurers know the market so well that they can publish an annual survey with average dog bite compensation across each of the fifty states.
In a recent year, a major insurer paid $23 million in total compensation for 388 dog bite incidents in California. This breaks down to an average of almost $60,000 for each dog bite claim. California and New York have the highest national average of compensation for a dog bite claim. The average compensation continues to rise each year as medical costs escalate. This is only one of many carriers in California paying dog bite claims. Nonetheless, their facts and figures are influential because other insurance companies pay attention.
If you have an injury, the Modesto dog bite attorneys from Silva Injury Law are ready to help. Contact our office for more information and a free case evaluation.
Your Dog Bite Injury Compensation Can Be Significant
However, you should not be focused on the average dog bite compensation when you are pursuing a claim. Your claim can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and thinking of your settlement in terms of the average can cost you money. Insurance companies want you to be happy with an average settlement because they know that your case is worth far more.
You may receive compensation for:
- The complete cost of your medical expenses – Depending on the severity of the dog bite, you may need reconstructive surgery. In addition, serious infections also require aggressive and expensive medical interventions.
- Lost income – You may recover compensation for the time you miss from work. In addition, if the dog bite leaves a prominent scar, it can reduce your earnings capacity.
- Pain and suffering – Dog bites can cause physical and emotional discomfort. The experience of being helpless in the face of an aggressive and vicious animal can leave a lasting emotional impact, especially for a small child. Dog bite victims can develop a lifelong fear of animals.
- Scarring and disfigurement – Dog bites can leave you permanently scarred. Besides an impact on your appearance, they can also cause permanent nerve damage that might reduce the function of your limbs.
- Loss of enjoyment of life – The trauma and scars of the dog bite can reduce your enjoyment of life, especially when you are living in fear of animals
Dog bites involving small children may be worth even more money because they have to go through their entire lives with the memory of the attack. These injuries tend to be more severe since they cover a larger part of the child’s body and affect their future.
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