Dog ran out and damaged bike

I was recently involved in an accident on my way to work. I rode out of my street when a dog ran across my path causing me to come off. Luckily I wasn’t going fast so had no injuries but my brand new motorcycle was damaged. The owner refuses to pay for the repairs and told me that I should have been able to stop in time! Can you help?

Richard, Wimbledon

Answer

The dog owner had a duty to keep control of his dog. The Highway Code states that dog owners must not let a dog out on a road on its own. If the dog was off its lead and ran into your path you are likely to have a good case against the owner for failing to control it. I suggest you ask the owner if he has public liability / pet insurance as these can cover this type of incident. If not then you will need to consider whether it is worthwhile bringing a claim against him personally and all the hassle that will entail.

Alternatively, if you are comprehensively insured you can use your own insurance policy to cover the repairs and the insurer can use their recourses to recover these costs from the dog owner. Depending on the terms of your insurance you may be left to pay the excess, but this may be a preferable option when compared to bringing against the owner personally.

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https://www.bikelawyer.co.uk/cms/documents/dog-running-out.pdf