Tampa Dog Bite Injuries
In order to bring forward a dog bite injury case, an individual must suffer some sort of physical pain as a result of a bite. This can happen if the dog bites or scratches and causes a person any sort of physical pain, but can also happen if a dog bites an individual, distracts them, and they are injured further, such as tripping and falling or being led to the street and hit by a car.
Due to the various types of injuries an individual may suffer as a result of a dog bite, it is crucial that an individual consults with a Tampa dog bite lawyer as soon as possible. A knowledgeable dog bite attorney can help an individual pursue damages based on their specific Tampa dog bite injury.
Pursuing Compensation
As long as the actions of the dog can be correlated to the injuries the person sustained, that person could file a cause of action as an injury from a dog attack. The severity of the injuries from the Tampa dog bite is what the compensation is directly based off of. The more severe the injury, the more compensation that an individual can recover as a result of their Tampa dog bite injury.
Potential Injuries
Many people end up having to get stitches from lacerations that result from dog bites. They can end up losing chunks on their muscles or tendons based on the injuries sustained from a Tampa dog bite. Many times, infection is the result of a dog bite, and people can lose fingers from a dog bite or have facial disfiguration if the dog severely injured them. In severe cases, an individual may need plastic surgery for some type of dog bite injury.
Injuries can be as severe as a brain injury if the dog is big enough. This dog may attack the person, jump on top of them, and cause them to fall on their head. The injury an individual suffers as a result of a Tampa dog bite can be from any sort of fall, cut, or laceration from the dog’s teeth or claws.
Recovery Options
The first recovery option an individual can pursue after a Tampa dog bite injury is to sue the owner of the dog. A person can sue the individual personally if they have any assets or funds that a person can attack or attach.
The second option that can also help an individual receive compensation is insurance. It is not often successful, however, because most homeowner’s insurances exclude dog bite injuries from their coverage. Sometimes, it will be on a certain homeowner’s insurance or even commercial liability insurance if the attack happens on commercial property.
For example, if an individual is walking by somebody’s house and the dog jumps out and attacks them, if that person’s homeowner’s insurance covers that type of damage, then the individual may be able to recover against the insurance company that covers their home. Most of the time, however, the person must sue the dog owner personally.
Uncollectable Claims
If the owner of the dog is uncollectable, the first option that a person should take is to see if they can get their homeowner’s insurance to attach. If their homeowner’s insurance does not attach or it excludes dog bites from the insured, the individual must look for other avenues to try to get that injury covered.
Some people have general liability insurances or commercial insurance, as well. If the dog owner runs a business out of their house, then the Tampa dog bite injury occurs on commercial property and the person may be able to try to sue the commercial insurance policy for that.
If there is no insurance that covers the injury and the owner of the dog is uncollectable, then the person may just be in a situation where an injury was caused due to no fault of their own but nobody is capable of covering it. Unfortunately, clients can come across this situation too often.