How can I find info on court cases on homeowners insurance not paying for a child being bit at another home?
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at
6:07 am
kiddo732001 asked:
My son was bit by a dog at his sitters home and we r in a legal battle with her and her insurance company. She says it was a stray dog and not hers? I would just like to know where I could find some cases to read on the internet. I know I could go tothe libairy but I’m not sure what to look up? So if you have any ideas pls let me know? Thanks and God Bless!!!
I do have a Lawyer I am just going out of my mind and would like to know what I am up against thats all?
My son was bit by a dog at his sitters home and we r in a legal battle with her and her insurance company. She says it was a stray dog and not hers? I would just like to know where I could find some cases to read on the internet. I know I could go tothe libairy but I’m not sure what to look up? So if you have any ideas pls let me know? Thanks and God Bless!!!
I do have a Lawyer I am just going out of my mind and would like to know what I am up against thats all?
Tagged with: Court Cases • Dog Sitters • Lawyer
Filed under: Homeowners Insurance
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You need to start by looking up your state statutes in a digest. Your local librarian can help you find the correct digest to use. Then, you will search by cagetory (they are numbered). Legal research is very difficult if you have no experience. I strongly suggest you hire an attorney and let THEM do the research. You may be able to find some cases at:
Again, if you do not have any experience, it won’t be of much help to you at all.
Dog bite law can be a little complex. She would have to have been negligent in some way to be liable. There’s a saying that every dog gets “one free bite”. Which means that unless the dog bit someone before, she couldn’t know it would bite your son – so no negligence. Also, her homeowners insurance probably won’t cover something related to her business.
try doing a subject search online at findlaw.com
Otherwise, do a google search, at least you can get some case names. Cases can be pretty tedious to comb through, so you might want to try looking for case briefs, which just give you the “cliffs notes” of the case. You will be looking in tort law…and you will need to look for cases that were ruled on in your state specifically…Do you have a lawyer? You probably should get one if you don’t. There are other issues than besides who owned the dog- if your son was being babysat, then the sitter owed him a duty of care..you had a reasonable expectation that he would be safe. Hope your son is ok. Good luck.
What are you looking for money for damages? If so, you will
need an attorney and there should be tons of ones that are
ambulance chasers and will take it on a percentage (contingency)
You public library will be of no help, you will need a legal library of law cases in your state, then in all other states.
Most of this has to be done off of paid internet sites now where you can look up varoius cases, Ie … dog bite, and cross reference.
Remember it is not if the insurancecompany is or is not paying, what has to be proved is responsiblity or liablity.
1. Was the child suppose to be at that part of the yard or house, was he bit in the house or outside.
2. Was the dog tied or was it loose.
3. Was there witnesses that saw someone in the hosue feeding or watering the dog. Had the child seen the dog on the property before.
4. Even if the dog was theirs, did some event happen to cause the dog to bite the person.
5. Was proper care of supervision given to protect the chid from the dog, ( stray or not) If stray and this was a baby sitter, then there is a level of safty that should be expected.
These are going to be the legal issues to be addressed, if fault is proven in court, the insurance company may have to pay.
Again I said may,
If the homeowners insurance was merley homeowners and no business liablity insurance was added, then they will deny the claim since this was a sitters and this was business activity.
( unless their policy allow for some minor buisnes, was this an occassional sitter or a day care situation)
Your lawyer will be working on proving that the homeowner ( sitter) is liable, that is the first and main problem, not the insurance. Once they prove them liable, then determining if the insurance does or does not cover will be the next issue.
If enough evidence is found, often the insurance will merely settle instead of going to court, even if they may not beleive they are liable but cheaper to settle.
But in the end, remember that the idea that accidents do happen and no one is really liable does happen and is commom. So if a stray dog did just wonder up and they were being careful and could not help it, then there may be no case what so ever.
If it was there dog or if it was a stray and the sitter was careless there may be a case.
That are the legal issues of the case, don’t let insurace denying throw you, insurance always denies almsot all claims to start with