Dog hit the side of our car

[finaldj]

The owner of the dog was walking about 20yds in front of a grass area a few weeks ago, suddenly my wife pulled to one side as she saw a black shadow run out into the road on my side and pulled the car to the right and it bounced off the passenger side front wing.

 

We got out the car and saw it run off, looked like a big dog lurcher or something, the guy shouted you just run into my f'ing dog then run off himself.

 

I told my wife to go the way he did and that I would go the other way in the hopes of catching the person. I didn't see where she went but she caught up with him and saw the dog run into a house so she parked outside and phoned the police who weren't helpful at all.

 

The guy must have noticed and he came out saying that his dog was ok had a bust lip and apologised. my wife at this point didn't explain to him the damage to the car as she was on her own and I couldn't reach her on my mobile.

 

She explained that she would have to go to the police and report hitting a dog he was ok with and left his detials e.g. mobile, his name his address and his girlfriends address as said it was her dog and she lived across the road from him.

 

The damage to the car is the front side passener wing now has a dent in it about the size of a small football and its pushed it back about 1 inch which is now catching on the passenger door when its opened and started to chip the paint. we also lost our aerial as it was on that side of the car the dog must have slid up and caught it snapping it as went back the accident scene and it was on the floor.

 

Contacted the insurer who wanted us to claim first and then persue the other person later. We refused saying the car was safe to drive which it is and know how long cases can take to claim. our insurance is due in april and didn't want to lose our no claims.

 

We got a letter from the legal department to say case was closed due to insufficent other party details. so phoned the insurer up and explained that we had given them the other parties details and informed them that CCTV from the council was in the area where the incident happend and asked if they could look at that also.

 

We had to give them after chasing down the CCTV people the number and where they were based. they wouldn't even take down a witness statemtment from me as said it wasn;t needed.

 

In the next comment she said what happens of the guy has no house insurance, pet or car insurance do we persue the cost of my car through the courts as she has legal cover with them.

 

This women said well you did hit the dog, we were like no the dog ran into the side of the car not the front of it and we were on the main road the dog wasn't even on a lead.

 

Just wondering if we have a leg to stand on here because I dont want a huge bill having to repair the car.

[Surfer01]

Similar happened to us about three weeks ago and we reported it to the police. Luckily no damage to the vehicle buy as the dog was not under control i.e. on a lead, if there had been any damage the dog's owner would have been responsible. Generally a claim like this would be handled under your household insurance third party liability but if they do not have any insurance then they have to cough and pay up..

[sailor sam]

Deffo agree with surfer, if the dog was not on a lead then the owner is fully responsible. I would send the TP (the dog owner) copies of your quotes and inform him that you require that he pays for the damage to your car within 14 days to avoid the matter progessing to the small claims court. Conclude the letter by saying that you suggest that he passes the letter to his insurers should he wish them to deal with it on his behalf. Send by recorded post and keep copies. Alternatively, use your insurance legal cover.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

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[finaldj]

If we were to take this ourselves through the courts what fees would I need to pay out (roughly) as would represent ourselves

[Surfer01]

If we were to take this ourselves through the courts what fees would I need to pay out (roughly) as would represent ourselves

If the damage is under £5000 you can take it through the small claims court yourself. Costs will vary but I think the maximum you would pay is about £150 which you would claim from the other party. Others will be along to give you a more informed answer. At what stage are you now as from your earleir post it seems court is still a long way off? Have you had quotes or the car repaired? Have you sent a preliminary request in writing for them to pay up etc?

[grahamengineering]

You could take him to court but personally I'd just let my insurer deal with it. Firstly, you have to prove he allowed his dog to run into your car. He will likely say no this lady came barreling alone and ran straight into my dog as we were starting to cross the road. As the court will be unable to prove either way you cannot win.

 

Then take the cost of repair versus cost of starting the claim, taking time off work and the added stress. Family car wing could be replaced and painted for most cars for under £200.

[Surfer01]

You could take him to court but personally I'd just let my insurer deal with it. Firstly, you have to prove he allowed his dog to run into your car. He will likely say no this lady came barreling alone and ran straight into my dog as we were starting to cross the road. As the court will be unable to prove either way you cannot win.

 

Then take the cost of repair versus cost of starting the claim, taking time off work and the added stress. Family car wing could be replaced and painted for most cars for under £200.

The dog was not on a lead and that would be the main argument.

[sailor sam]

The dog was not on a lead and that would be the main argument.

 

I think that it would give a lot of weight to the OPs claim. The fact that the dog was off the lead would by definition prove that the owner was not in control of it but still responsible.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

 

[finaldj]

Yeah court is a long way off yet, just need to get in contact with the insurance company now as the last time we spoke to them 2 weeks ago they were passing the persons details onto their legal team and not heard anything since, I was either waiting for some kind of statement from the other party or at least the insurance company to send forms through the post to get some prices on the damage to the car but so far they haven't done anything so will be giving them a call today. I'll update further once I know more.

 

Thanks

[sailor sam]

You will deffo need quotes so you may as well save yourself some time by getting some now. I suggest you get 3, one from a main dealer and 2 others from approved body shops. No point waiting untill the insurers ask you to.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

 

[finaldj]

A further update for this.....

 

Wife phoned the insurance company in January as we haven't had any updates....They had applied for CCTV and had the date of the incident down for the 21st November, she informed them that the date was teh 20th November when the incident happend not the 21st the 21st was when she reported it to them.

 

So they logged it in the computer and said we will let them know the right date then. Wife had to ask them to be informed of what they do and keep her upto date as unless you ask as we foung out they wont tell you anything.

 

So on Saturday 25th Feb wife gets a call from her insurance company. They told her the CCTV doesn't show any footage of her or a dog in the area...when she asked them the date they had CCTV footage of the 21st November so she got annoyed with the person on the phone so they went away and called her back 20 mins later and said that they couldn't get the CCTV footage for the 20th November because the council wipe the tapes once a month.

 

They went onto say that they would have to take this person to court and the only way to do this was by her claiming off her own insurance getting the car fixed and then taking the guy to court. in the meant time we lose all our no claims bonus and our insurance is due again end of April. at the moment with 2 years no claims the costs are around £130 a month now we will lose 3 years no claims.

 

The person said that the only other way to do it was to take them to court seperate with quotes and get a solicitor. We asked the person if our legal cover would cover solicitors fees but we are waiting till monday to find out.

 

I'm so annoyed so much that I am reporting the insurance company to the FSA

[finaldj]

Further to add this guy with the dog has told the insurance company that his dog was on a lead and she was speeding now without CCTV we can't prove this.

 

The only thing we can go on now is I was a witness, if the dog was on a lead how the hell did it manage to get on the road and hit the side of the car, If it was our fault why did the guy not call the police. we had to chase the guy down as his dog run off so did he. He passed all his detials onto us. His address, name and telephone number and we went and reported the matter the same day to the police.

[sailor sam]

Further to add this guy with the dog has told the insurance company that his dog was on a lead and she was speeding now without CCTV we can't prove this.

 

The only thing we can go on now is I was a witness, if the dog was on a lead how the hell did it manage to get on the road and hit the side of the car, If it was our fault why did the guy not call the police. we had to chase the guy down as his dog run off so did he. He passed all his detials onto us. His address, name and telephone number and we went and reported the matter the same day to the police.

 

Neither can they prove what they are saying. Your other option is to take the dog owner to court yourself which should protect yor NCB. Send a copy of the estimate to him with a letter stating that as his dog was off the lead, you consider he is responsible for the damage to your car. State that you will commence proceedings against him in the Small Claims Court 14 days after the date of the letter unless you receive payment to cover your damages. Should this action be necessary, indicate that interest will be claimed as well as any subsuiquential losses and court fees.

 

End the letter by advising that he may wish to pass this letter to his insurers who may deal with the matter on his behalf. Send by recorded post.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

 

[Surfer01]

Good advice by Sailor Sam!

[finaldj]

He doesn't have any insurance of any kind thats the problem if we went to court the judge would have to fine him the costs

[Endymion]

He doesn't have any insurance of any kind thats the problem if we went to court the judge would have to fine him the costs

 

If you obtain a judgment against him that is summarily assessed at below £5,000 then you can obtain a warrant of execution against him - if he doesn't pay up.

 

If he doesn't pay up after you get a warrant, then you can ask the Court bailiffs to go to his house and take goods to the value of your judgment against him.

 

However, if you have a look on the bailiff threads on here, this aint as easy as it sounds...

[sailor sam]

If you obtain a judgment against him that is summarily assessed at below £5,000 then you can obtain a warrant of execution against him - if he doesn't pay up.

 

If he doesn't pay up after you get a warrant, then you can ask the Court bailiffs to go to his house and take goods to the value of your judgment against him.

 

However, if you have a look on the bailiff threads on here, this aint as easy as it sounds...

 

Before you get to that stage, I always suggest applying for an Order to obtain information from a debtor [previously known as oral examination]. This will enable you to determine the 'respondent's' ability to pay. He has to attend the hearing as well although he will be given a max of 3 opportnuities and then he can actually be arrested and made to attend. Sometimes the very idea of this prompts people into paying.

 

Here is a useful link which details the small claims process; http://smallclaims.me.uk/index.html

 

But remember, you have to write to the other party to give them the opportunity to pay by sending the letter on th lines of what I suggested in my previous post.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

 

[Surfer01]

He doesn't have any insurance of any kind thats the problem if we went to court the judge would have to fine him the costs

 

If he doesn't have any sort of insurance that is his problem as then he should definitely not allowed the dog off a lead! Just means he has to pay up out of his own pocket!

[finaldj]

Wife has spoken to them today and we are getting this in writing that, we can go out and get 3 full quotes for the car, then they will take it to court that way for the cost of repair rather than getting the repair done first.

 

At least this way when the insurance is due again end of April we should still keep our no claims when moving to a new insurer while the old one is dealing with this case

[sailor sam]

Wife has spoken to them today and we are getting this in writing that, we can go out and get 3 full quotes for the car, then they will take it to court that way for the cost of repair rather than getting the repair done first.

 

At least this way when the insurance is due again end of April we should still keep our no claims when moving to a new insurer while the old one is dealing with this case

 

I suggested you did that on 20th December! Not only have you wasted a bit of time for yourself, the TP could argue that the damage has occured since!

 

If you have legal cover, whay aren't your insurers dealing with it anyway? Your only probem is that if you have an excess, you may have to sue for that as its an un-insred loss. And if your insurers are unable to recover their costs from the TP, then your no claims bonus will no doubt take a hit unless you have it protected.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

 

[finaldj]

Well we were hoping that the insurance company were going to be really good and get on with it but I guess not they are not great at all. The 3rd party could claim that further damage had occured but we have date and time stamped photos the day after it happend. he could fabricate the 12 or so hours between the incident and the photos been taken but then I guess this would be upto the judge. I would be happy to show a screen shot of the damage to the car?

 

To be honest we thought the insurance company would send out a guy to have a look at the car like another company did a few years ago when a lorry wrote our car off or at least give us a list of credited garages they use but they said to us today that we can go to any garage. they haven't been very forth coming with information and we have only had one letter as stated before informing us of any action being taken.

 

When it goes to court dependant on the repair costs to the car if the quote is something like £70 to get it fixed it wont be worth going through the insurance company if its something like £300+ might as well go through them. if for some reason it doesn't go in our favour its not an MOT failure so will wait and get it repaired once we have enough money as dont want to lose 3 years no claims.

 

But we are going to report the insurance company to the FSA for there total messup of this case so far.

[finaldj]

Well further update on this.....

 

Got a quote on the car and they estimate £850 to get the work done.... car is worth £1200 so I dont know if they would consider the car written off at this point although as stated we are taking the guy to court to recover the cost of the quote so if they say the car would be written off if the repair goes ahead we'll just leave it as it is as its road worthy.

 

Piffed off with this insurance company wont ever use them again...they get the CCTV for the wrong date and now its been wiped then 2 weeks ago we emailed the quote off with pictures of the car the body shop took direct to the legal team after phoning them up and asking for the email address we send them to and the insurance company emailed us yesterday to say that if we dont send a quote in soon they will close the case?? they are like my ass so going to have to call them tomorrow and find out what they have done with our pictures and quote as asked for an email confirmation once they had recieved our email and never got one.

 

The insurance company dont seem to communicate very well with its own legal department as its been ongoing like this for ages one side doing one thing another side doing another.

[sailor sam]

Well there is no way the insurers will pay £850 to repair a car worth only £1200. But it does sound like you insurers have acted incompetently so I would be complaining to the Insurance Ombudsman. I don't quite understand why your legal cover didn't handle this. Have you taken legal advice about it? You seem to be paying for a service that you are not getting!

 

I worry now about taking the TP to court yourself because although you are likely to win and obtain a judgement, getting your money may be a different matter. Don't forget to claim the interest when you put in your claim as well! Re-read my post of the 27th Feb. Have you written to the TP? If so, did you get a response?

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[finaldj]

We have had a problem getting hold of a the person dealing with the case who left a message on the computer saying that if we were to get in contact to let them know they are not taking it any further....other staff we have contacted can't help and this was the person we needed to speak with....have left messages to contact us after 4pm but he has only rung once at 2pm every other time they can't find him.

 

So today have spoken with someone else who has given us his managers name and left a note for them to look into it but he said looking at the notes its the legal team that dont want to take the case on and are going to have to look at the legal policy to see if damage to a car by a dog is covered. so I dont know why they have asked for quotes if they had no intention of doing anything. so waiting now for them to get back to us about anything further....we are taking this to the FSA just waiting at the moment to see where this is going as have got it in writing from Elephant as to our options for going to court it seems their legal team "albany assist" as the ones being the pain in the arse but the 2 go together as we never get informed of anything until we actually phone up and notes are left on the computer to inform us....So going to leave it till June and if nothing further has come about going to give the FSA a ring.

[Bang!]

What type of car have you, and how old is it?

 

Or more to the point, if you have bolt on wings (look at the top edges inside the bonnet), you can undo the bolts and slip it forward a little to prevent it fouling the door. This prevents the risk of more damage while you are sorting things out.

 

That type of dent (if there are no folds) often just pushes out and pops back into place once you remove the plastic wheel arch liner for access to push. If its an older car a wing from a breaker will match the colour better than a new wing resprayed the original colour.

 

If you have metallic paint, you need to paint entire panels/doors rather than just a small section, as the paint will never blend in.

 

If the car is written off, you know its history, buy it back from the insurance company and you could repair it along the above lines for very little, especially if non metallic paint.

 

You would also need to contact VESA to combine the next MOT with a test to say its no longer a write off and roadworthy.