Legal Question in Personal Injury in Florida

Re: Dog Bite and tresspasing

Florida law makes a dog owner responsible for damage unless the house is posted with a "Bad Dog" sign. Do not let your emotions take over. You may need a personal lawyer to review the facts and urge the insurance company to settle or pay its limits to prevent a jury verdict for more then the $100,000 policy limits. Your cousin was badly injured and should be properly compensated. That's why we buy insurance. Be thankful she was not injured more seriously. People are more important than animals. That is why the law imposes responsibility on dog owners. Your idea of "tresspasing" is is inappropriate to a social visit by a family member.

Re: Dog Bite and tresspasing

Your mother's idea of accusing your cousin of "illegally tresspasing" into her home is a very bad idea. Instead of concocting a phony claim against a family member who appears to have suffered a serious dog bite injury, you should simply make sure that the homeowner's insurance carrier covers the claim and pays up to the policy limits in order to resolve the case and prevent the injured claimant from pursuing the matter further, which may ultimately end up in a jury verdict for an amount far greater than the policy limits, possibly exposing your mother to personal liability for the excess judgment. One of the reasons your mother has a homeowner's policy is to cover these types of incidents. All of you should be grateful that the cousin did not suffer a more serious injury. I doubt very seriously that your cousin's intention was to secretly visit your mother's home to scare the dog into attacking her so she could get 30 stitches and then file a lawsuit. And as for wanting money, that is what virtually anyone in your cousin's shoes would want in order to pay for medical bills, future medical treatment, pain and suffering and other recoverable damages. Do not take the claim as a personal attack on your family. Instead, you may want retain personal counsel for your mother so he/she can follow up with the insurance carrier to make sure the carrier covers and settles the claim within the policy limits. Good luck.