North Augusta Dog Bite Lawyers

The Liable Party in a North Augusta Dog Bite

When you begin a dog bite case, before you can truly bring the claim, you have to be able to find out who the liable party was in the incident. Then you need to determine whether or not this person is actually responsible for what happened based on the circumstances of the incident. In most cases, with only a few exceptions, you typically identify the liable party as the owner of the dog.

South Carolina is hard on the owners of dogs who behave in an aggressive way. This is a fairly unique scenario in which the owner of the dog will always be liable of the damages that the dog has done regardless of if they were aware of the dog’s vicious tendencies. Essentially, you can typically turn to the owner of the dog for a dog bite case.

The Laws for a Dog Bite in South Carolina

 Something that you need to be aware of after you have been attacked by a dog are the laws that South Carolina have. If you are educated early on about these laws, then you have a better chance at full compensation. You risk ruining your case if you are not well versed in a dog bite case.

The first thing that you absolutely need to know is how much time you are given to bring your case. In South Carolina, you are given three years starting from the date of the accident to bring your case. While three years may seem like it is a long time, it goes by quickly, and you want your lawyer to have as much time as possible to get you the compensation that you deserve. If you delay, you make your lawyer’s job harder and this may mean that they cannot help you in a limited amount of time. If you miss the deadline, you are no longer eligible for compensation

After you have brought your claim before the statute of limitations runs out, you need to be able to show the insurance company that you did not bring the attack on. Part of that means proving you were not trespassing on someone’s property which resulted in the attack. That would be an instance where the owner of the dog would not be liable for someone’s injury.

Frequently Asked Dog Bite Questions

What should I do after a dog bite incident?

I was talking to someone in North Augusta the other day who had been recently attacked by a dog, and they wanted to know what steps they should take upfront to make sure that they were able to present a credible case to the insurance carrier at a later date. What I told that person was that, first off, dog bite cases are different in many ways from other types of cases and definitely different from car wreck cases because, often, you do not have incident reports that are filled out. You don’t have a responding police officer in many cases of dog bites. It’s up to you to make sure that you, early on, get witness statements, if you can, and get phone numbers of the people who saw it so that later on your attorney can speak to them.

You also want to make sure that you are vigorous in seeking medical treatment. A lot of times, people will delay in seeking medical treatment, waiting sometimes for the insurance company to contact them and thinking that that insurance company somehow has to pay for their medical expenses. I would say, make sure you get the medical treatment that you need right away, and make sure that you get the witnesses and the phone numbers of those witnesses, and then make sure that you get in touch with an attorney.

I think in the context of dog bite cases, it’s very important to go ahead and get in touch with an attorney very, very early in the case, because that attorney can go ahead and get statements from those witnesses, start guiding you through the process of seeking medical treatment and getting better, and then present your claims to the insurance company.

If anyone out there has been the victim of a dog bite, please contact our office. We’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Will a 'Beware of Dog' sign affect my ability to recover compensation?

I was recently speaking to someone from South Carolina who was attacked by a dog, and they wanted to know if a dog warning sign would prohibit them from bringing any type of claim. My response to that was probably not. Unless they were attempting to trespass into the yard, that sign is, for the most part, meaningless. If you’re on someone’s property, they have a responsibility to alert you of dangers that are there and to also prevent those dangers, so it’s not simply enough for someone to put up a sign warning you that there is a dog there if you’re on someone’s property.

Also, in South Carolina, again, you have strict liability when it comes to dog bites, and it’s very hard to get around that. The owner of a dog is almost always responsible for that dog attacking someone in South Carolina. I would say that it usually does not make a difference and that you should go ahead, in any event, and contact a trial attorney who has experience in handling dog bite cases as soon as possible.

If anyone out there has been a victim of a dog bite and has questions about the process and how to proceed, please contact my office. We’d be more than happy to talk to you.

Can I file a personal injury claim after being attacked by a dog?

I was recently talking to someone from North Augusta who was attacked by a dog, and their first question was, “Is this an actual personal injury case?” The answer to that, in South Carolina, is almost always yes, really, because South Carolina has strict liability in terms of dog bites. In some states you have to show the violent propensity of the animal. In South Carolina, the owner of that dog has liability for any dog bite or attack that that dog inflicts on another person. That is the context of a personal injury case.

From there, what were your damages? What kind of medical treatment did you have to have? What were the circumstances of the attack? From there, you can build up your personal injury case. I would say it’s very important that, if someone has been the victim of a dog attack or dog bite to go ahead and get in touch with an attorney early in the process, so that that attorney can immediately begin the process of developing and prosecuting your case.

If anyone out there has been the victim of a dog bite, please contact our office. We’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have.

How much is my dog bite injury claim worth?

I recently spoke to a man who was attacked by a dog on the street, and one of his first questions, like many people, was, “What is the value of my case?” The answer to that is that it depends. Each case is a little bit different. It depends on how badly you’re injured. It depends on the extent of your medical treatment. Did you have to miss time from work? Did your spouse have to miss time from work? What kind of affect did it have on your family?

Sometimes, in rare cases, there’s also possibly a punitive aspect to a dog bite, and that will act to bolster the damages. It depends on a variety of factors. The important thing for someone who has been the victim of a dog bite to do is select an attorney who has experience in those types of cases, who knows the types of damages to allege, and who is a trial lawyer who will file suit and who will see the case to its end.

If anyone out there has been the victim of a dog bite, please contact our office. We’d be more than happy to answer any questions that you have.

How long does it take to resolve a dog bite claim in North Augusta?

I recently spoke to a woman in South Carolina who was attacked by a dog, and one of her first questions was, “How long does the process take?” My response to that is, first off, the process takes at least as long as it takes for the person to get to what they call maximum medical improvement. You only get one chance, really, to settle any case against an insurance carrier. You get one bite at the apple, and you want to make sure that you have an understanding of all of your damages, so you can tell the insurance company the full story of what happened to you. If you don’t have that story yet, if you’ve not gotten to maximum medical improvement, then you’re only telling the insurance carrier a partial story.

Often, it depends on how reasonable the insurance company is going to be. Some insurance companies would rather fight the case to the end, and some are more reasonable. The important thing is, for anyone who has been the victim of a dog bite, to pick an attorney who is going to prosecute that case as quickly and as vigorously as possible. If anyone out there has been attacked by a dog, please contact our office. We’d be more than happy to talk to you.

What if the dog owner doesn't have insurance?

I recently spoke to someone from North Augusta who was attacked by a dog, and the owner of the dog did not have insurance. This person wanted to know what they should do and if they still had a claim. The answer to that is, yes, you do have a claim. You have a claim regardless of whether there is insurance to cover the event or not. It does make it more difficult, because you are limited to going after that person’s assets. You are limited in your ability to be able to collect directly from that person; in that case, it really depends on the type of assets that that person has.

I think that, in any event, it is very important to go ahead and, if you have been the victim of a dog bite, to go ahead and hire an attorney early in the process. That way, that attorney can go ahead and take a look at the facts of the case and give you a realistic idea of what you may be able to recover.

If anyone out there has been the victim of a dog bite, please contact our office. We’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Will homeowners' insurance cover a dog bite incident in North Augusta?

I was recently contacted by someone from South Carolina who was attacked by a dog. One of their first questions was, “Who actually pays for my injuries? Is this covered by insurance?” The answer to that is, most of the time, yes, it is covered by insurance. Homeowner’s insurance policies cover many different things and are much broader than a typical automobile insurance policy. Most times, those homeowner’s insurance policies will cover dog bites, even if those bites occur off of the property.

The important thing is that you hire an attorney early on in the process, so that attorney can go ahead and get in touch with the insurance carrier and at-fault party, and go ahead and start developing the case and see what is in that insurance policy. You want to make sure that you get an attorney who is a trial lawyer, who has experience in interpreting insurance policies and experience in handling dog bite cases.

If anyone out there has been the victim of a dog bite, please contact our office. We would be more than happy to talk to you.

What should I consider when selecting a dog bite lawyer?

We were recently contacted by a woman in Aiken who was attacked by a dog. The dog attacked her while she was walking her dog. One of her first questions was that she was trying to find a good attorney and didn’t know how to go about doing that. My answer to that would be that you want an attorney who has experience in handling the issue that you’re presenting to them. If you have been injured in a dog bite case, you don’t want your dog bite case to necessarily be the first dog bite case that that attorney has handled. You want to have an attorney who has handled dog bite cases in the past, and an attorney who is a trial lawyer who can see your case all the way through to the end.

If anyone out there has been injured as a result of being bitten by a dog, please contact my office. We’d be more than happy to talk to you.

Call Our North Augusta Dog Bite Lawyers Today

We understand how traumatic it can be to get a dog bite and have to deal with the injuries that come after that. You are likely in a lot of pain and we are sorry you have to go through this.

Our North Augusta dog bite lawyers want to turn this tough situation around and get you the fullest and fairest amount of compensation possible. We will work tirelessly to win you the compensation that you deserve. Please call our office today to set up a free initial consultation to go over the details of your case.