Will your dog bite claim succeed?
To find out whether your dog bite claim is likely to succeed, contact us for a free case assessment and details of no win, no fee funding.
Until all the facts are known and the dog bite claim is fully investigated it is difficult to say for certain whether a dog bite claim will definitely succeed. There are however some indications which we look at from the outset and which give us some pointers on whether or not a claim is likely to be successful. These include:
- Have you suffered a physical or psychological injury? – If no one was injured then there is no claim.
- Can we indentify the dog owner? – Without someone to claim against, it is very difficult to recover compensation. However, this might not prevent an application to the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority (CICA) if the dog attack can be classed as a criminal incident.
- Has the dog attacked anyone before? – If we are able to show that the dog has a history of aggressive behaviour and that more could have been done by the owner to stop it attacking you then a claim is more likely to succeed.
- Is the dog on a “banned list”? – There are certain breeds of dog which are specifically mentioned in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. If one of these dogs attacked you then the claim has a very good chance of succeeding.
- Is the dog owner insured? – An uninsured dog owner may not be worth pursuing. Without insurance they would have to personally pay the compensation and legal fees and people simply don’t have that money. In such cases there might still be the possibility of making a CICA claim.
Every case is different and the outcome of a compensation claim will depend on the individual facts. We therefore operate a free legal helpline that you can call for a free assessment of your case and details of No Win, No Fee funding.