Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York

Re: dog bite injury

Notify your insurance carrier immediately.

Re: dog bite injury

You could be held liable as could your boyfriend. Assuming a jury believes the other side about what happend, they would still have to prove that you knew the dog has a "vicious propensity," which can be shown if the dog has ever attacked anyone before. The safest thing is to notify your insurance carrier just in case a claim gets made. If you don't and you wait until the claim is made, the carrier could disclaim coverage based upon late notification. I don't know what happens to your rates. This e-mail is meant to be informational only and is meant to be legal advise as there is no attorney-client relationship.

Re: dog bite injury

Call an attorney immediately. If you have homeowners or renters insurance, you must notify them promptly in writing or you they will gladly deny your claim based on late notice.

Your attorney will know what to put in the letter and how and where to send it. If your insurance does not disclaim, they will hire an attorney (of their choosing) to represent you at no cost. If you have no insurance and are sued, you will need to pay the private attorney.

You haven't supplied sufficient facts so I can't give you an outlook on the merits of a lawsuit. However, I can tell you that in order to hold you liable for the dog attack, the injured party must prove that you knew or should have kown that the dog had vicious propensities and that you failed to take reasonable precautions to safeguard persons visiting your premises from being attacked by the dog.

Please contact me if you require further assistance.