In a dog attack, the dog’s owner is responsible and should pay for your medical bills, etc.

 

Video Transcript

If you’re attacked by a dog, who pays for your damages? Who pays for your medical bills, lost wages and things like that?

Hi, I’m Darrell Castle and I’m an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee. And the answer to that question is the owner of the dog should pay the damage. If the owner of the dog has insurance, then it’s a simple matter.

Let’s say the owner of the dog lives in a home – has a mortgage in other words – well then that person has homeowner’s insurance. And that homeowner’s insurance should cover the attack by the homeowner’s dog against you.

You’d be entitled to have your medical bills paid and any lost wages you lost from time off work. But also for other things like pain and suffering, future lost income. All of those things could be covered and should be paid by the homeowner’s insurance.

But say the person does not have homeowner’s insurance. What if the person is a renter?

Well, that’s a problem folks. You might have to look at just the owner of the dog. And if that owner is penniless, just as many people are today, then you might be stuck with the damage yourself. That’s just the fact of life.

But sometimes that person might be a renter and that renter rents from someone who owns the house. The homeowner has to be aware that the animal is there. He can’t be liable for it if he didn’t know about it.

So those are all things that fit into whether or not you can recover from the owner of the dog. But to sum it all up, if the dog owner lived in a home that he was buying, then he has insurance that will pay for it.

Somebody has got to pay for that damage and if you don’t find that person, then it could be you.

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