Title: Dog caused me to crash

Date: 23 November 2011

Question

Riding in Bedfordshire last week a dog suddenly darted out in to the road causing me to swerve and fall off. Its owner had it on an extending lead and it suddenly went off the kerb, apparently because it saw another dog on the other side of the road. My bike (BMW R1200) has £1,500 or so of damage to it. The lady who owned the dog says she has no money to pay me. What can I do?

Ron McVitie, Luton

Answer

I assume that you have got the lady’s contact details. You have 2 choices. You can claim from the lady personally although clearly this would only be worthwhile if she could pay you the compensation to which you are entitled. Therefore perhaps make some enquiries as to whether she owns her house or has a job. If she owns her house you could ask the court to enforce sale to meet the damages. Otherwise an attachment to earnings order could be appropriate if she is in employment. It may be that she simply has this amount of money in a bank account and details of her savings will be a matter for disclosure once you have commenced court proceedings if she fails to pay up after you send her a letter of claim. The second option would be to make enquiries as to whether or not she has pet insurance which would have third party liability cover (usually of at least £1 million). It may be that she does not know about this cover. Most responsible dog owners have such insurance.

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