In California, dog bite victims can usually hold dog owners liable and get help paying their medical bills and covering other damages.
California Civil Code (CCC) 3342 explains the responsibility for dog owners:
“(a) The owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness…”
Maison Law of McKinleyville offers a free, no-obligation consultation to all Humboldt County dog bite victims. It’s a no-risk way for victims to determine the level of support they may need to recover and how to make sure a homeowners insurance provider is held fully accountable.
Do I Need a Lawyer After Suffering a Dog Bite?
After suffering a dog bite in Humboldt County, you may have critical wounds. The consequences may last far beyond your trip to the emergency room. If you suffer a serious injury, like a broken bone or a deep tear, it’s a good idea to talk over your case with a lawyer.
Significant injuries will come with higher medical bills, and that can trigger insurance companies to use their most unfair tactics to avoid blame. They may try to blame you for what happened. They can also use their own doctors to declare that your injuries aren’t as bad as you claim. A McKinleyville dog bite lawyer helps you fight back against ridiculous claims meant to rob you of compensation.
Maison Law fully investigates what happened and backs your claim with strong evidence. Your attorney files your claim for you and handles the frustrating negotiations with insurers. At the same time, you are allowed to focus on getting better with far fewer worries. Maison Law can often get injured victims much more in compensation than victims could by handling their cases themselves.
Who Is Responsible for Dog Bites in California?
California law makes it clear that dog owners are to be held financially responsible for almost all dog bite incidents. The civil code describes a legal concept called “strict liability.” It means that there is no “one bite rule” as in other states.
Dog owners are responsible for bites, even if it’s the first time the dogs have shown aggression. Other states let dog owners off the hook if it’s the first bite incident on record for the dog.
Dog owners are responsible in California, except in a few cases:
- The victim can’t have provoked the dog.
- The victims can’t have been trespassing on private property at the time.
- The victims must have suffered an actual bite. The bite doesn’t have to have broken the skin to count, though. Strict liability can only be used when a bite occurs.
If you are hurt after being knocked down by a dog, without a bite involved, you can still seek compensation from the dog owner. However, different personal injury laws would apply. Strict liability could not be used to determine who was at fault.
The dog owner could be held accountable, but more proof would be needed to show that the pet owner and the dog caused the fall. Your McKinleyville dog bite attorney would help you collect the evidence needed to hold the dog owner accountable.
Compensation Available to McKinleyville Dog Bite Victims
Dog bite victims should demand support for every medical setback they’ve endured and the cost of every doctor visit. Every hardship should be listed in a claim because anything left off is something the homeowners insurance company can ignore. It becomes an expense the victim has to cover.
You don’t have to worry about missing out on compensation. Your Maison Law Attorney takes care to submit a complete list of your economic and non-economic damages and files your claim for you.
Then, with our lawyers’ negotiation skills, these and other factors earn substantial compensation for a dog bite victim:
- Totals on all medical bills and those expected in the months to come.
- Compensation for permanent disfigurement or disability caused by a dog bite wound.
- Compensation for physical pain. The pain of a bite and a challenging recovery in physical therapy. Chronic pain and arthritis are also possibilities that should earn support.
- Compensation for emotional pain. This includes anxiety and depression due to a loss of enjoyment of life. This is common for victims who suddenly can’t participate in family activities. Victims may also need help getting over the PTSD symptoms from a dog attack and even a fear of all dogs that could understandably result.
- Compensation for lost earnings while the victim is unable to return to work.
- Compensation for property damage, like any damage to clothes, eyeglasses, and backpacks.
- Additional support for a child who becomes a dog bite victim. A bite injury to children can affect their development as they grow. Medical experts will need to determine the amount of support they’ll need to cover any complications their injuries could cause in the future.
- Wrongful Death Benefits. Families who have lost a loved one to a dog attack can ask for financial support from a dog owner. This civil claim would seek money to pay for a funeral and any leftover medical bills. The income the deceased can no longer provide to a spouse or children in the future should earn additional settlement funds.
Contact a McKinleyville Dog Bite Lawyer
After you or a loved one is bitten by a dog, contact a McKinleyville Dog Bite Injury Attorney as soon as possible to discuss your case. There are benefits available to you and your family that an insurance company may never mention.
Contact Maison Law for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injury should be worth and how to demand that support from an unhelpful insurance provider.
And you shouldn’t worry about how you’ll pay a lawyer if you end up needing one. You won’t need any upfront money when trusting your case to Maison Law. We work on a contingency basis. This means we don’t get paid unless they win your case. Then, the fee comes out of the settlement award you receive.
