
Dog bite accident claims in Utah can happen more often than you think. Many individuals can get bitten by a dog when a dog is not on a leash near the owner’s homes. Dog bites can also occur while an individual passes a dog while on a walk. Dog bite accidents can also occur at a friends house or a family member’s house. Many dog owners don’t know how a dog will react around a stranger. Dog owners are used to how the dog acts around the owner and assumes that the dog will act the same around strangers at the door.
However, dogs react and behave much differently when there is a stranger with an unknown scent near the home and will start to behave aggressively toward the stranger including barking, growling, and showing the dog’s teeth. A stranger may also take a wrong step toward or around the dog and the dog may react to the unwelcome approach and bite the individual.
Since you have incurred injuries at your own cost, you should be compensated for your injuries from the dog owner’s home insurance policy. Typically, homeowners insurance policies cover incidents such as dog bites and you should hesitate to resolve the case with the homeowner even if it is a close friend or family member. Our personal injury attorneys can help you properly resolve the case.
Dog bites can be serious. A dog bite can become infected and cause more serious damage internally. Dog bites can also rip skin and flesh and cause severe wounds to an individual that can require major bandages, stitches as well as more serious permanent injuries. Also, if it is unknown whether or not the dog has had its rabies shots, a person also may have to take an expensive rabies shots as a precaution depending on how the dog was behaving at the time.
What can I recover from my dog bite case?
With that, most individuals incur medical expenses as damages from dog bites that can be recovered, even amounts that your private insurance may have incurred. A person from a dog bite injury may have to take time off of work as well and incur lost wages and benefits that can be recovered in this type of personal injury as well.
A person may also recover for the physical pain and suffering from the dog bite past and future. If the situation also caused some kind of emotional trauma, that affected and will affect them in the future, they may also recover for those damages.
Utah law also has some of the strongest Utah dog bite laws in the country that help protect individuals that are bitten by a dog in a personal injury case without the need to prove negligence like other personal injury cases.
Our Utah personal injury law firm and attorney can review your case and see its strengths and determine whether it is a case worth pursuing. It is important to document as much as you can from the incident. This can include getting the name, address and phone number of the dog owner and possible home owners insurance policy if they are willing to provide it.
It also includes getting the names and phone numbers and other contact information of any eye witnesses that saw the dog bite. It is also important to document through photos the dog bite injury. You will also need to obtain copies of the medical documents related to any medical treatment as well as any medical billing affiliated with your dog bite and personal injury.
Our Utah Personal Injury law firm offers assistance with these types of cases on a contingency fee basis where you would only have to pay costs once you have obtained compensation for your injuries from the other party. Reach out to our Utah Personal Injury law firm today for a consultation and review of your specific dog bite case.