Delivery drivers in San Diego often work long hours to drop off food, letters, packages, and other goods at our front steps. Their jobs are physically demanding and thanks to some negligent dog owners, their routes can also be very dangerous.
Thousands of mail carriers, Amazon and UPS drivers, and food delivery employees get bitten by dogs each year. In California, dog owners are responsible for the consequences of these attacks, but insurance companies can also refuse to offer support until the victim proves what happened.
A Free Consultation for Delivery Driver Dog Bite Victims in San Diego
Delivery drivers must face hazards each day as they carry out their duties, and that includes entering the property of customers to drop off orders. This duty often leaves drivers vulnerable to dog attacks, but victims don’t have to face the cost of recovery alone.
Contact a San Diego Dog Bite Lawyer to find out what your dog bite injury may be worth. Dog owners should provide full support for your medical bills and the income you forfeit while unable to make your deliveries.
Liability in San Diego Delivery Driver Dog Bite Cases
According to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), 5,400 of its employees were victims of dog attacks in 2021. In their 2022 report, USPS also listed the top cities in America for dog attacks on postal carriers. San Diego made the top 25 list with 31 incidents reported. Our city was ranked 11th nationally. In comparison, Los Angeles was ranked 4th on the list with 44 attacks documented.
It’s a massive problem for any company that relies on deliveries to U.S. homes and businesses. Fortunately, dog owners don’t get a free pass when their dogs injure a delivery person. California is a “strict liability” dog bite state. It means that dogs don’t have to have a history of biting in order to hold a dog owner liable after a bite incident. Dog owners can face a lawsuit after the very first bite committed.
San Diego Delivery Workers and Implied Invitation
This liability doesn’t always apply when victims are on private property when they are bitten. However, California law makes an exception for delivery personnel. Delivery drivers are protected by the concept of implied invitation.
Delivery drivers operate under an implied invitation to enter a homeowner’s or a business owner’s property due to their delivery duties. Dog owners who are negligent and allow a dog to roam free around a mail carrier or Grubhub driver will face full civil accountability.
Who Pays in a San Diego Dog Bite Case?
Each dog bite case is different. A skilled San Diego dog bite accident attorney will fully investigate what happened to determine every party and insurance provider that should be included in an injury claim.
The following insurance companies and other sources can all be required to provide financial compensation to San Diego delivery driver dog bite victims:
- Homeowners Insurance: In many cases, the dog owner’s homeowners insurance policy covers dog bites that occur in the home or in the surrounding yard.
- Renters Insurance: Not all tenants sign-up for renters insurance, but if they do, victims are usually able to secure compensation from the insurer.
- Car Insurance: An auto insurance company should compensate injuries and damages to a person when a dog is left in a car with an open window, or when the dog is exiting the car with its owner.
- When There’s No Insurance: Dog owners are forced to provide support out of their own pockets when insurance coverage isn’t available.
Compensation Available to Delivery Drivers After a Dog Bite
Dog bites can result in broken hand, arm, and ankle bones. They can leave behind permanent nerve damage and facial disfigurement. Delivery drivers could be forced to give up their careers and could need medical treatment for the rest of their lives.
These costs and hardships should never be the victim’s burdens to face alone. It’s important to list every damage the dog bite victim has suffered and those potential hardships they could face in the future in a dog bite injury claim.
These and other damages can all earn compensation in a San Diego dog bite injury settlement:
- Past medical bills and any future medical bills anticipated in the years ahead.
- Lifelong support for permanent disfigurement or disability. This may include career support if a victim can’t return to delivery duties. The cost of finding a new career should be covered.
- Pain and suffering. This includes the emotional trauma the driver must cope with after a frightening dog bite attack. This could include debilitating anxiety about entering any yard for deliveries.
- Wrongful Death Benefits. When delivery drivers are tragically killed in dog attacks, the families left behind are encouraged to file a wrongful death claim. This claim earns support for family members as they face a future without the guidance and economic assistance a loved one would have provided.
- Past lost wages and benefits in connection with the attack along with any loss of wages reasonably expected to be suffered in the future.
Contact a San Diego Delivery Driver Dog Bite Lawyer
Delivery drivers who are hurt in a dog bite incident must protect themselves financially as they heal. Insurance companies can try to reject claims that would help pay for costly medical care and replace lost paychecks. A skilled San Diego Dog Bite Lawyer works to hold dog owners and their insurance providers fully liable so our clients can get back on their feet as soon as possible.
Schedule a free consultation with our San Diego dog bite lawyers here at Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys, APC. We can talk about what happened, how it happened, and how it has affected you and your family. After that, we will go over all of the legal options available to you.
There’s no obligation and if you do hire us to represent your delivery driver dog bite injury claim, you won’t need to have any money with you. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you.