Legal Question in Personal Injury in Pennsylvania
dog bite
my daughter found a credit card in a atm machine and contacted the ownwer from matching her name on the credit card to a name in the phone book.the woman came to my daughter's house to pick up her credit card and when she came to the door upon seeing my daughter's dog started screaming get the dog away from me and was flalling her arms and yelling causing the dog to bite her.she went to the emergency room and we called the police and filled out a report,she was not seriously injured,just a smallpuncture wound that did not require any treatment and we paid the hospital bill and the prescription bill and now we have a notice from a lawyer making a claim,she caused the attack are we liable?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: dog bite
Your homeowners insurance will defend you from the claim and provide a lawyer if it goes to the point of a court action. Notify your insurance company and let them take care of it.
It's not possible to say if you're liable. These are not black and white issues. Dog bite claims involve a lot of different fact questions, like whether the dog had dangerous tendencies, whether you had notice of the dog's character, whether you used reasonable care to control the dog, whether she provoked the bite, etc. So that evidence needs to be developed before a judge or jury can decide whether there's liability.
I'm puzzled that you said she didn't need treatment, but then you paid her medical bills. It would have been better if you had reported the incident to your insurance company right away, they would have paid the medicals at least... Generally homeowners insurance will provide no-fault payment of medical expenses to anyone hurt on the property, without any admission of liability. Maybe they'll reimburse you for your out-of-pocket.
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