A dog damaged my pool. Will the dog owner's insurance cover it?

A neighbor has an electrified fence. The fence was temporarily damaged with a bobcat (not sure if the neighbor commissioned the bobcat). His dog got loose. The dog got into our pool destroyed the liner and died while we were out of town. Our insurance won't cover it because a domestic animal caused the damage. Will our neighbor's insurance cover the damage?

This is an interesting matter. It does seem to me that you may be liable for having an unguarded "attractive nuisance." That the dog could get in is evidence that it was unguarded, and you knew or should have known that animals such as a dog could be killed on the site in the order of things as they existed. I'd ask lawyer who does a lot of liability work.

Secondly, though I have forgotten specifics, you will find that owners of animals are liable in varying degrees or not at all for different animals. Cats go free, and maybe dogs unless they attack a person or a person's property, eg. sheep, etc. Even then, in some states, the damage must reach some money figure before you can shoot the dog or sue his owner. Court won't listen to a complaint about a dug up garden.

Even owners of horses are often held to a different standard than cows under the old law of some states if the animal trods on your vegetable garden.

It's been years since I looked at case law, but you will be surprised. I would watch out for a counter-claim for the loss of the dog.

I would guess that you have All State or State Farm. They rarely pay the full damages even were the claim is valid. I think you should sue them with the argument that the "domestica animal" exclusion envisions only the pets of the insured and not feral animals.

Recently when All State held out a substantial amount of a claim for an accident where their insured was entirely at fault, I filed an action myself, just drew up the cause of action and took it to the clerk and served the company at a local office. That was Wed. and they called Monday. I got all my damages plus the $75.00 filing fee. When it comes to insurance companies, even if you make a simple small claims case, they will not want to defend it. It will cost them far more to retain counsel where you are than the pool cover. Besides, they may lose in any case. Even a half-assed kitchen-talble lawyer want a couple hundred an hour now. SUE THE BASTARDS!!! And do it yourself, pro se.

Yes, it should. Most homeowner's policies have some coverage for "damage of property of others". In Ohio, policies typically come with $500 on the policy.

the short answer is it should but there may be other issues. is there a leash law in your town? is there any requirement for a pool fence there? you may have a case against the bobcat operator as well. how long was the dog in the pool before he was discovered? if it was a long period of time you could use that to show the owners did not have control of their dog. you should win but it may take a fight and cause troubles with the neighbor

Unless your neighbor is a homeowner himself, you can't sue them. Who are you going to sue? Most people only have dog medical insurance. You can't sue the tenant, if they have no assets, but if they are homeowners than you can sue. The other question is...do the homeowners actually have coverage for their dog? some do and some don't. There's nothing you can do if your neighbor is not the owner. You could only file a lawsuit and take them to court for your damages.

No
But he can sue you for killing his dog