I got attacked by my best friend’s dog and it was covered by her homeowners insurance. How much should I settle for with them?
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I got attacked by my best friend’s dog and it was covered by her homeowners insurance. How much should I settle for with them?
Dog was a lab who had attacked someone before and the homeowner admitted this to her insurance company. I have a large dark brown scar on the back of my calf, and a hole in the front of my leg which had staph in it and has taken months to heal, and still isn’t, quite. I have missed out on several things I enjoy doing, including sleeping through the night, kneeling in church, sex, had to quit my second job because of the pain, it made a hole in my bone, bruised my knee bones, and sprained my ACL. I now have panic attacks, also.I can give more details, if needed.
Asked on June 20, 2009 under Personal Injury, Missouri
Answers:
Mike Harvath / Harvath Law
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
Hi. I am a Missouri injury attorney that handles claims throughout the entire state, and has experience with dog bite litigation. There are many factors that go into the determination of what a reasonable damage, or settlement value for a case such as this should be. In addition to all medical costs for treatment relating to the physical injury, you must remember to also include any lost wages for time missed from work, additional value for future medical treatment, if the injury is on-going or permanent, costs for any psychiatric or psychological treatment, emotional distress, pain and suffering, and more. The value of the intangibles, such as pain and suffering, which can be quite significant, are themselves based on various factors, such as the permanency of the injury, any embarrassment caused by scarring, the actual pain the injury causes on a day-to-day basis, and more. A few additional details, such as the cost of medical treatment incurred, and the extent of emotional damage and anxiety caused by the incident would be needed to provide an approximation of a reasonable settlement amount. My e-mail is [email protected]. Thanks.
NOTE: This answer is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship or privilege between the user and the attorney responding.
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
You have a very substantial set of injuries, and I would very strongly advise you to talk to an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area. One place to find qualified attorneys is our website: http://attorneypages.com
All of the details might well be important, and the settlement value of a case depends also on where the case would go to trial if it were to come to that. But this injury sounds life-changing, and you deserve to be fully compensated. I would be pretty certain that if the insurance company has made an offer, it's too low - and that if you took a guess at the value, you'd come out on the low side as well. You need to put this in the hands of a professional, who handles claims like this for a living.
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