Provident Lawsuit Loans can review dog bite claims for funding within 24 hours!
We pride ourselves on providing industry-leading rates so you keep more of your settlement in your pocket instead of ours.
Dog bites can be devastating. In addition to huge medical costs, it can affect your work and your livelihood. The defendant may try to take advantage of this to get an early settlement, but with a lawsuit loan from Provident Lawsuit Loans, you won’t have to. Get an advance on your settlement, so you can see the case to its end.
Qualifying for a Dog Bite Lawsuit Loan
As with any legal funding option from Provident, qualifying for a dog bite lawsuit loan is simple. We only have a few qualifications that determine your approval. Assuming you’re over the age of 18, you only need to meet these criteria:
- You received a physical injury from a dog bite – Obviously, if you have any dog bite case, you have received physical injury. The severity will not affect your approval, but we can not fund cases based on emotional damage alone.
- The dog’s owner is liable – In most cases, if a dog is not trained well enough to not bite, the liability falls solely on the owner. Obvious exceptions would be a guard dog attacking an intruder, as in most states the homeowner has a right to defend their property.
- You have hired an attorney on contingency – If an attorney is willing to work on contingency, it shows that the case is strong. It’s a professional endorsement. However, it’s also important because we will work almost exclusively with your legal counsel while writing out the contract.
If you meet these, you are an ideal candidate for legal funding.
How Much Legal Funding Can I Get?
The amount you can get depends entirely on your eventual settlement. Since this is not a loan, but an advance, we must determine a value for us to advance you against. We will work with your attorney to determine this value.
As we only fund for physical damages, this may differ from what you are actually seeking. Emotional trauma is very real and can result in a higher settlement, but it is difficult for us to assign a value to.
Once the value is determined, we will lend up to 20% of that number. With a dog bite lawsuit loan, this can differ greatly. A mild bite on the hand will obviously be worth less than an attack with various punctures.
It’s important to work with your attorney to determine how much you actually need to cover your bills. The more you take, the more interest will accrue, so plan accordingly. However, all situations differ, and it is possible that you need the full 20%.
Learn More About Dog Bite Lawsuits
Dog bite liability varies state by state. Depending on where you were attacked, it may affect the strength of your lawsuit.
If you live in a “one bite” state, the dog’s history comes into play. If the dog has had no history of biting, the owner may be off the hook. The assumption is that the owner had no knowledge of the dog’s aggressive behavior, or perhaps the attack was a result of your own mistakes (e.g. hitting the dog, or entering the property unannounced).
Luckily, negligence is an argument that can be made regardless of your state’s laws. If, for example, the owner disobeyed leash laws and the dog injured a passerby, this is grounds for negligence. Even if the dog has no history of aggression, the owner can still be held liable.
In addition, it is possible to argue that the owner did have knowledge of the dog’s behavior, even if there has been no biting incident. In a one-bite state, this could qualify as negligence, giving you a tight case.
Facts and Statistics about Dog Bite Attacks
According to a 2008 study, the average dog bite-related hospital visit cost over $18,000. That means that if you don’t have full insurance coverage, your medical bills could be astronomical. While the majority of visits do not require a stay at the hospital, even a trip to the emergency room can set you back thousands of dollars.
In another study, the National Canine Research Council found that in 80.5% of incidents, a combination of human factors was involved. These factors included abuse, emotional neglect, lack of supervision, and the owner failing to neuter/spay the dog. In other words, the majority of attacks can very easily be linked to negligence on the owner’s part.
Laws often let negligent dog owners skirt the consequences. However, it is clear that this plays a major part in nearly all dog bites. Proving liability can be difficult in some states, but it can be done, and your case can be clear-cut.