When you’re bitten or attacked by a dog, it can be terrifying and leave you with a severe physical injury and emotional trauma. Our dog bite injury lawyers are experienced in helping people make dog bite compensation claims. We make sure you can access the support and rehabilitation you need to make the best recovery possible.
Dog owners and handlers have a responsibility to prevent their dog from acting dangerously and harming other people. Injuries caused by dogs are not limited to dog attacks and bites. Dog injuries can also mean a dog running into the road and causing an accident or if you are knocked down by a dog jumping up at you.
If you’ve been injured in an accident involving a dog, we could help you claim compensation. Call us today on 0800 056 4110 to find out if you could make a claim.
Can I Claim Compensation For A Dog Bite?
Our team can handle many types of dog injury claim for you, however a dog caused you harm. We’ve helped people make claims related to:
- Tradespeople/delivery workers/care staff harmed on private property by uncontrolled dogs.
- Dog bites/attacks
- Children bitten by dogs
- Road traffic accidents caused by dogs (includes cyclists and horse riders)
- Injuries caused by livestock such as cows, that were spooked by a dog.
Dogs should be under the handler’s control at all times, whether on or off lead. If you’ve been attacked and bitten by a dog that wasn’t yours, you could claim compensation.
How Can I Claim Compensation?
You should get in touch as soon as possible after you’ve been injured by a dog. We offer a free initial consultation to discuss what happened to you and whether you have a case. If you do start a claim we can offer different ways to pay, such as no win no fee agreements.
We’ll gather information and try to contact the dog owner to see if they accept responsibility. If they do, we’ll try and get interim compensation payments before your claim settles. This can help pay for things like immediate medical treatment, travel costs, and replace income if you can’t work.
How long it takes to get you compensation will depend on:
- Proving who was responsible for your injury
- If and when that person accepts responsibility
- How severe your injuries are and how long it takes to work out your treatment and rehabilitation needs.
In the majority of cases we’ll be able to get you compensation by settling out of court.
We aim to make the claims process as simple as possible, supporting you every step of the way.
How Long Do I Have To Make A Claim?
You’ll normally have three years to make a dog bite claim from the date of your injury. However, there are some exceptions to this rule:
- Claims on behalf of children – these can be made any time before your child is 18. Once they’re 18 they can make their own claim until they are 21
- Mental capacity – there are no time limits to make a claim on behalf of someone who doesn’t have the mental capacity to claim themselves.
If you’re claiming for a loved one who died as a result of an incident involving a dog, you need to claim within three years of their passing.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an incident involving a dog, it’s best to contact us as soon as possible.
How Much Compensation Can I Claim?
There’s no set amount of dog bite compensation you can claim. Once we know the circumstances of your accident, we can provide more detail to you.
We’ll take a number of things into account to work out how much compensation you should receive:
- How severe your injuries are and how well you’ve been able recover
- The costs of your current and future medical care
- If you’ve lost (or will lose) any income through work absence or unemployment
- Any costs to adapt your home or vehicle needed because of your injury
- Training costs for alternative employment where appropriate
- Expenses you’ve had to pay because of your injury (such as getting to and from medical appointments).
Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim?
Most of the dog bite cases we handle are funded using a no win no fee agreement. This means there’s no financial risk* to you when making a claim. You’ll only have to pay anything if your claim is successful – and even then your opponent will pay most of our fees.
Why Choose Irwin Mitchell?
We have a specialist team of animal injury solicitors who understand what you’re going through. We have experience helping people who have been attacked by dogs, as well as those who have been injured because of an uncontrolled animal.
Our lawyers have helped many people claim compensation following dog attacks which caused extensive injuries and scarring, especially to children.
We’ll use our specialist knowledge to calculate the maximum amount of compensation you’re entitled to. This money can then be put to use helping you make the best recovery possible, as well as in some instances paying for cosmetic surgery.
Our dog bite solicitors are friendly and approachable. We’ll be here to support you every step of the way.
Contact us
For a free initial consultation about your dog bite claim, call us on 0800 056 4110 or contact us online.
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0800 056 4110Or we can call you back at a time of your choice