# Dog Hit by Car - Whos Liable?



## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Quick question really, a lady in my office had her dog escape through her garden gate one day last week and as it got out and on to the road got hit by a car!!

Firstly, the dog was absolutely fine so no concerns there but the car has a crack in the bumper from the accident. The lady in my office was very helpful and offered to take the car to a friend who runs an official car repair business and have the bumper repaired. However, the car owner is being very funny and wanting a brand spanking new bumper (probably as there are numerous other scratches from previous incidents all over it) that is costing a fair amount more than having it repaired. Apparently the old 'ill be seeking legal action' was mentioned by the driver, as is typical in this day and age.

All i'm wondering is is the lady in my office actually liable for the costs of sorting the car? I'd rather not have opinions (my opinion is to tell the car driver where to go) but does anyone know the 'official' answer as to whether or not she is liable?

Thanks,
Gary.


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

I believe she is liable, yes... But wait for somebody who knows for certain.


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## Kerriebaby (May 12, 2009)

I have emailed the OH ( legal executive...deals with this kind of thing on a daily basis


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Kerriebaby said:


> I have emailed the OH ( legal executive...deals with this kind of thing on a daily basis


Thanks for that :2thumb:


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## Fuzzball (May 16, 2007)

Yes she is liable, this happened to a friend of mine, sadly her dog died but the police told her if the people wanted her to pay for the damage then she would have to, she never heard back from them though.


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## Schip (Mar 31, 2007)

I'm afraid she is liable under the law all dog owners are responsible for any and all damage our animals cause be it accidental or not. Unfortunately we are liable for the care and welfare of said animal as well as its control at all times a dog has to be under control in a public place via Animal Welfare Act, Dangerous Dogs Act either can be used to bring a claim. 

If she has Insurance they will deal with it as most cover for public liability for any damage the animal causes.


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## Kerriebaby (May 12, 2009)

> Not a straight forward question to answer as the law is not clear cut………she could be found liable depending on a number of factors of the individual case


he said he is a little busy ATM, but will go into more detail later. 

Does the lady have Pet Insurance?


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Thanks all for the replies...and yes, she does have pet insurance. I might suggest she rings them to see if they cover it.

Karriebaby - if the OH is too busy tell him not to worry too much, don't want anyone to go too out of their way. I do believe she is going to try ringing CAB for a bit of advice later today as well so see what they suggest.


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

GazEmm said:


> Quick question really, a lady in my office had her dog escape through her garden gate one day last week and as it got out and on to the road got hit by a car!!
> 
> Firstly, the dog was absolutely fine so no concerns there but the car has a crack in the bumper from the accident. The lady in my office was very helpful and offered to take the car to a friend who runs an official car repair business and have the bumper repaired. However, the car owner is being very funny and wanting a brand spanking new bumper (probably as there are numerous other scratches from previous incidents all over it) that is costing a fair amount more than having it repaired. Apparently the old 'ill be seeking legal action' was mentioned by the driver, as is typical in this day and age.
> 
> ...



I'm afraid she is liable. There are no grey areas in this. Any damage caused by a dog, is the dog owner's responsibility. If the car owner wants, he could take it to the small claims court and would win, or if his insurance company gets involved, they will chase her. Ideally she would have photographed the damage including the old scratches on the bumper, to try to defend herself if he insisted on a new bumper.
Most pet insurance will cover public liability damage such as this.
The solution is that if you have a dog, you have to have it under control at all times, ensure that it doesn't 'accidentally' get out of a gate or door and if it did, it should come back when called.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

fenwoman said:


> The solution is that if you have a dog, you have to have it under control at all times, ensure that it doesn't 'accidentally' get out of a gate or door and if it did, it should come back when called.


Thanks for that...i didnt realise :whistling2:

But thanks to all for answering the question. Looking like her best bet is to get on to her pet insurance comapny and hope they will cover any costs then!!

Ta.


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## leenjaidec (Jun 15, 2009)

if not if the dog is completly fine an no witnesses get her to deny it

just an idea the idiot shud av stopped


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

leenjaidec said:


> if not if the dog is completly fine an no witnesses get her to deny it
> 
> just an idea the idiot shud av stopped


:lol2: Maybe more along my lines of thinking that the woman in question. She is too nice and has said all along she is willing to help the driver but is just annoyed he is now pushing for a new bumper as opposed to letting her pay to have it fixed.

Although in all fairness the driver wouldnt have had time to react anyway...she lives i believe in a terraced house on a road so once the dog was through the gate it was pretty much already on the road!!


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## MissG (Aug 1, 2007)

But is she liable to pay for a brand new bumper, when it clearly only needs to be repaired? Surely not.


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## marthaMoo (May 4, 2007)

Yep she is liable, insurance should pay out if its part of the cover.

The dog was totally fine? But it broke the bumper?

I'm wondering in these cases how you would prove the collision with the dog actually broke them bumper? And it wasnt broken or cracked before hand.

Plus if its the pet insurance paying out for it they will want it looked at and will want to work out if its cheaper to fix the bumper or buy a new one. Its not up to the car owner. Either way I would tell the car owner he cant touch the car untill the pet insurance people have contacted him about it.


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## 9Red (May 30, 2008)

marthaMoo said:


> Yep she is liable, insurance should pay out if its part of the cover.
> 
> *The dog was totally fine? But it broke the bumper?*
> 
> ...


I agree with Moo, it does seem pretty odd that the bumper has sustained damage yet the dog is unharmed. Unless the dog is super hardcore, or unless an independant witness can confirm the car did hit the dog, I would be suspicious. It could be the bumper was already damaged and the car owner saw an opportunity to try and wangle a new bumper out of the owner by telling porkies.


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## xXFooFooLaFluffXx (Aug 4, 2007)

she is liable to fix the bumper.....surely by gettin it repaired she is doin what she is meant to? doesnt mean she has to pay for a whole new one? i think it is very odd too that the dog was fine n the bumper wasnt, what was it made out of? paper?

as someone said above, any witnesses? cos if not, id deny it was the dog, if the driver is being an arse i would be too.


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## Piecesandjam (Feb 12, 2009)

Hi Guys, 

I was in an accident in 2004 in my car, involving a dog.
I was travelling on a motorway at night (around 9/9.30pm in late Autumn/Early winter). Road conditions were dry. Country area, so no raod lightling.
It was travelling around 55-60mph on the inside lane, when a noticed some eyes glinting in the middle of the road quite a distance down the road, so i took my foot of the accelerator and allowed the car to slow down to assess the situation.
As I got closer, through the darkness I could see dogs carrying on (by this point I was breaking) in the middle of my lane, 1 or 2 of them ran back to the grass verge, then when I thought they were all gone, another set of eyes spun around and galloped towards my headlights (which were on full beam - trying to see!).
I breaked hard, but the dog ran straight towards my car and bounced off the bumper, up onto the bonnet and then fell underneath the car.
I glanced in my rear view mirror and seen the car behind me clip the dog - THEN IT DONE A ROLLY POLLY, GOT UP AND RAN AWAY!!!!!
So I pulled into the layby, as did the car behind me (witness)

To cut this story a little shorter, the dog was fine (scraped nose, broken claw), my car was an economic loss (N reg fiesta), dog was insured, paid out the value of my car, courtesy car until the claim was settled (4-5months!!) and injury claim (whiplash).


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

leenjaidec said:


> if not if the dog is completly fine an no witnesses get her to deny it
> 
> just an idea the idiot shud av stopped


With all due respect, even the best of drivers don't always get the chance to stop for a dog! I didn't and I'm no idiot!! It came flying out of a drive straight across the road, no way could I have avoided it - if you don't know the circumstances of an accident you shouldn't make blase statements like that!


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

feorag said:


> With all due respect, even the best of drivers don't always get the chance to stop for a dog! I didn't and I'm no idiot!! It came flying out of a drive straight across the road, no way could I have avoided it - if you don't know the circumstances of an accident you shouldn't make blase statements like that!


Agreed. I nearly ran over a dog that came running out of a garden straight in front of my car, the dog then proceeded to attack my car! There is so much that can hide a dog from view until it is too late - parked traffic, hedges, fences, long grass... No matter how good the driver, sometimes it is impossible to stop in time.


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## kirsten (Jan 13, 2008)

i know you said no opinions, but the answers have been given, so i jsut wanted to say i'm disgusted!!! if i hit someones dog, i'd be more concerned about the fact i nearly killed someones pet, and damage done to my vehicle is insignificant to the damage i could have done to the persons life if i killed their pet. some people!!! 

i'd have thanked my lucky stars and been on my way with a minor crack. FFS.


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## Sid.lola (Jan 10, 2008)

She is liable but they still have to prove that the damage was caused by the dog. If the dog only caused a little crack you only have to repair that crack, not replace the entire bumper.


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## leenjaidec (Jun 15, 2009)

feorag said:


> With all due respect, even the best of drivers don't always get the chance to stop for a dog! I didn't and I'm no idiot!! It came flying out of a drive straight across the road, no way could I have avoided it - if you don't know the circumstances of an accident you shouldn't make blase statements like that!


i was saying hes an idiot not for not stoppin but because of his actions afterwards


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## teiryklav (Mar 20, 2009)

the problem is we know nearly nothing about it, the car might nearly hit the bog and brake or even turn and hit something (maybe??) so i believe she's responsible, but i do think that the fact that it is a life more important than a car's bumper and if i were in the position with nearly nothing to worry about (except i'm injured or my car badly crashed) i wouldn't ask her to repair or even replace it.


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