Location: San Francisco north bay
TLDR; Dog bite on our property but not our dog. What kind of lawyer do we need? And advice on choosing a lawyer? We are really scared about losing our home insurance.
We dog sit for a friend in another north bay county. The dog was in our fenced backyard, when a contractor entered the side gate without warning. One of us was in the yard and the contractor and dog greeted each other amicably. Five minutes later something triggered the dog and she bit him. Didn’t break skin. He sent photos of the bruise and said he missed work, which we immediately offered to compensate him for but he refused. He wants to go after us and the owner for insurance money.
Thank you.
Comments
Maybe a lawyer for personal injury or premises liability.
If your home owner’s insurance covers this, you don’t pick the attorney. You notify the insurance and they provide an attorney to defend you.
If you took money for the dog sitting, you will most likely not have coverage. If it was simply something done for a friend, then hopefully you do. Notify the insurer immediately and see what they say.
Paying a lawyer to avoid submitting this to your home owner’s insurance will likely cost you way more money than you’d save via a hypothetical premium increase.
Since its apparently just a bruise, it might not be insane to defend yourselves in small claims to try and avoid a premium increase on your home insurance. Nonetheless, there is the risk that somehow this is a bigger deal than your thinking. I’d notify the insurance. This is what its for.