In California a dog’s owner is strictly liable if their dog bites you. Typically, the injuries and property damage that a dog causes are paid for by the dog owner’s homeowner’s insurance policy. Many people who have dogs do not own homes, and typically don’t have homeowner’s insurance, nor do they carry renter’s insurance which sometimes also covers the actions of their dog.

Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that if a dog’s owner is uninsured, it will be difficult to recover compensation for the injuries you sustained from the dog attack.

The first step will be to ascertain your damages, such as the full cost of your medical bills, plastic surgery, lost wages, and other pain and suffering.  Once you figure out with your attorney how much you think you are entitled to financially, your attorney can send a demand letter to attempt to get the dog’s owner to pay you.  In most cases however, the dog’s owner won’t have enough money to pay for your medical and financial losses.  They will either ignore the demand letter altogether, or at a minimum respond to your lawyer stating that they don’t have any money.

The next option is for you to file a dog bite lawsuit since there is no insurance policy/carrier  with which to negotiate. However, even when you win your lawsuit and are awarded a “judgment”, the difficult part will be actually collecting any money from the defendant.  Once you have a judgment you can file a lien against their home (which as we discussed, they probably don’t own), you can garnish their wages if they have a job, and you can search their bank accounts and execute a bank levy.  You can be left with very little recovery in a successful dog bite case, even though you proved that the dog owner was at fault.

Many dog owners do not have insurance

Many dog owners do not have any insurance policies to cover their liability for their dog biting you. This is typically covered by their homeowner’s or renter’s policy, so if a dog owner has neither of these types of insurance policies, your only option is usually for the owner to pay you out of his/her own pocket.

Even though pet owner insurance is available to people when they are taking out an insurance policy, some people decline to have it included because it would increase their insurance premium. Also, certain breeds of dogs such as pit bulls are excluded by insurance policies or would otherwise make the policy significantly more expensive. These added costs can often make the dog owner decline insurance, even though their dogs are more likely to injure someone.

Renters with dogs are even less likely to have liability insurance that would cover dog bites. Unlike homeowner’s insurance where a mortgage company can require the homeowner to have insurance, the same is not also true for people who rent. Renter’s insurance is usually optional and many people don’t have it in order to save a few dollars.

The average renter’s and homeowner’s insurance policies provide $100,000 in liability coverage. The average cost of an insurance claim for a dog bite in 2018 was approximately $39,017.Dog bites and attacks by larger dogs can cost even more. We have had cases where the cost of the injuries far exceeded the typical $100,000 and in such cases we’ve requested the owner contribute out of their own pocket to properly compensate our client. 

Without insurance, chances of recovery can be low

If there are no available insurance policies or if the insurance policy reaches its limit, dog bite victims are left trying to get the owner of the dog to pay out of their own pocket. In our experience however, even if they were responsible for the injuries caused by the dog bite, they are unlikely to be able to compensate the victim

Unless the dog owner has ample financial means (a lot of money), getting them to pay out of their own pocket is usually fruitless. Most people do not have thousands of dollars in their bank account. For most people, the equity they have put in their home is their most valuable asset. If we file a lawsuit, we do have the option of putting a lien on their home in an attempt to eventually collect from the judgment. 

In many instances, the dog owner can and often will file bankruptcy in order to wipe out any amounts owing as a result of the dog attack. Since dog bites are generally not excluded from bankruptcy, they can be successfully discharged, leaving the victim to collect nothing.

Other parties can be held responsible

If the dog owner lacked insurance, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re totally screwed. This is why it’s important that you call the lawyers at Accident Pros LLP in order so that we can evaluate the situation and see if there is someone else we can pursue to get compensation for your injuries.

For example, if the dog owner rents their home or apartment, sometimes we can pursue the landlord. In some cases, we can hold a landlord liable if they were aware of a dog’s dangerous characteristics, but failed to do anything to remove the dog from the property. Under the law, landlords have to take reasonable care to remove dangerous conditions. Dangerous dogs can be considered to be “dangerous conditions” on the property.

The standard of care is slightly different for landlords of commercial properties, such as stores, malls, and office buildings. These commercial landlords can be held responsible if it is reasonably foreseeable that the dog would bite someone. It is not a defense that the commercial landlord did not actually know of the dog’s dangerous propensities. If they should have been aware of the hazard that the dog posed, the landlord can be held responsible for not taking action to remove the dog.

Landlords of residential properties (houses and apartment complexes) are less likely to be held liable for a dog bite caused by a tenant’s dog. In California, the landlord needs actual knowledge of the dog’s viciousness and an opportunity to remove the dog.

Landlords can also be held liable for dog bites if they fail to take proper care of their property, and that leads to an injury. For example, victims can hold landlords liable for not repairing a broken fence that the landlord knew was used to confine a dog.⁵ Negligence like this can hold a landlord liable for a dog bite, even if it happened off the property.⁶

Other avenues that we may be able to pursue if you’re bitten by a dog include:

• The victim’s employer, if the bite happened on the job, (worker’s compensation)
• Store owners that allowed the dog on the premises.

Contact our California Dog Bite Lawyers at Accident Pros LLP to see how we can help you!