Does Home Insurance Cover Dog Bite Attacks?

Now, personal injury law is without a doubt an interesting area. There are quite a lot of potential causes for a case but dog bites remain one of the most peculiar. You might be interested to understand that dog bites damages are actually covered by your home insurance policy. The Province of Ontario has clear legislative provisions which govern this specific situation and it’s worth taking a closer look into it.

What to do if you have been injured in a dog bite case?

If you have suffered damages resulting from a dog bite on the territory of Ontario, you are legitimately entitled to proper compensation. Depending on whether you know the animal or not, you should take certain specific steps in order to ensure the success of your claim. For instance, if you’ve been attacked by a dog in a public space, you should make effort to find the owner of the animal as well as his contact information. As soon as it is actually possible, you should go ahead and take photos of the injured area and write down as much as accurate information as you are able to. Write down the time, date, location as well as witnesses and their contact information, if there are any. If you hire a lawyer to negotiate with the dog owner for compensation, this information will come in handy.

Governing Legislation

The dog bites on the territory of the Province of Ontario are governed by the Dog Owners’ Liability Act. This particular piece of legislation states that the dog owner is held liable. However, there is also an institute which is called contributory negligence. In case the attacked contributed for the damages by provoking the attack, for instance, the dog owner’s liability could be reduced. Of course, there are certain exceptions to the strict liability. For instance, if the dog was protecting property and the bitten person was committing a crime but in this case you are in need of a criminal lawyer.

Do I sue the owner?

The short answer is no – you don’t sue the lawyer. The reason is quite simple – dog bites are included in the coverage of the regular owner’s home insurance. This means that the owner of the dog is likely to be completely disengaged from a potential process. You would be handling the matter with the insurance company but this shouldn’t bring you any comfort nor should you think that you can go without an attorney. Insurance companies are incredibly well prepared and they have entire legal teams and departments dedicated to fending off claims of the kind. This is why you might want to have some legal reinforcements on your own. Make sure that you are properly represented and choose a lawyer with a lot of experience in the field. With plenty of such cases happening all over the cities in Ontario, a plethora of legal firms cater to representing your rights.