Dogs are popular pets in the United States, especially in Kentucky, but sometimes they turn on humans and bite. A dog bite can tear through skin, muscle and nerves, and cause permanent damage, especially if a child is the victim. So far in 2019, a two-year-old boy and a 46-year-old man died from injuries suffered in Kentucky dog attacks.
Claims and Lawsuits:
In the law of personal injury, a claim operates as a request by an injured person to be paid compensation for the damages that he or she suffered in an accident. An insurance claim is not a lawsuit. A personal injury lawsuit formalizes a personal injury claim through the filing of a complaint seeking damages in Kentucky’s civil courts. The plaintiff in that lawsuit seeks to have one or more defendants named in it held legally liable for the plaintiff’s damages. If liability is established, the plaintiff can then seek an award of damages. The right to seek compensation for the personal injury damages alleged in the lawsuit is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The Claim Stage:
When a claim is made against a person or business entity, an insurance company ordinarily steps in and takes over the defense of the claim. Many dog bite cases are resolved in the claim stage without the necessity of a lawsuit. Doing so can operate in the dog bite victim’s best interests by minimizing the costs that must be paid to maintain the claim. Those might only amount to a few hundred dollars for copies of medical records, reports and bills.
The Lawsuit Stage:
If a settlement isn’t reached in the claim stage, the dog bite victim will be required to file a personal injury lawsuit in order to protect his or her right to seek compensation for damages that were suffered as a result of the attack. What comes to issue is Kentucky’s statute of limitations for personal injury cases.
The Statute of Limitations:
Every state has a deadline for when a personal injury case can be filed. Kentucky only allows a personal injury case to proceed if it is filed within one year of the date of an accident. That’s the shortest deadline in the nation. There are very few exceptions to this deadline. The general rule is that if an injury victim fails to get their lawsuit on file within a year of the occurrence that caused their injuries, he or she will be barred forever from seeking compensation for their damages.
Given the short deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit in Kentucky, it might not be possible to settle a serious dog bite case before the statute of limitations expires. Our objective is to maximize any settlement or award on your behalf in as short of a time as possible. We don’t let client files sit around and collect dust. If you or your child were attacked by a dog and suffered serious injuries, contact our offices right away to arrange for a free consultation and case review.
