Dog bite...is it worth me claiming

[beanmuncha]

It Sounds like a genuine accident , Not some misrepresntation of wrong doing on the house holders part.
Get real. If you think that was good advice . Then yes it is time for change.

Yes this was an accident but one that could've been avoided if the householder had made the dog more secure.
By the way your talking you believe we should accept this as part of our job well we shouldn't, the postman was doing his job and got hurt by no fault of his own.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

It Sounds like a genuine accident , Not some misrepresntation of wrong doing on the house holders part.
Get real. If you think that was good advice . Then yes it is time for change.

The house to which I was delivering has a box for letters on the outside gate but this day had a packet. I could see dog behind a closed gate to rear of house so went to door. There was no reply and as i was leaving the dog jumped at the closed gate a couple of times and opened it and attacked me.

No wrong doing - you may be right.

However they have a responsibility to ensure the safety of visitors on to their property, part of this is to make sure their dog is secure at all times. If they maintained the gate in good condition and this was a one off random occurrence they should be okay. If they haven't then they are negligent. I am not making either judgement thats up to the insurers/lawyers of both parties but homeowners have to take responsibility for their pets and the level of injury should have no bearing on the matter, whether is small puncture wounds as in this case, or the case of Keith Davies who "had his arm nearly ripped off" when he was savaged after the dogs apparently burst through a gate.

Dogs/Dog bursting through a gate - not much difference between the 2 incidents except for the level of injuries. In this case I believe the owner was not prosecuted in the end (although 2 were charged), but Keith is taking a civil case out against them last I heard.

Glady the Union and Politicians of various parties don't agree with your position which is why there are moves to change the law.

See some bad cases of CWU members being attacked by dogs at http://www.cwu.org/52211/case-studies.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kasper]

It Sounds like a genuine accident , Not some misrepresntation of wrong doing on the house holders part.
Get real. If you think that was good advice . Then yes it is time for change.

Yes this was an accident but one that could've been avoided if the householder had made the dog more secure.
By the way your talking you believe we should accept this as part of our job well we shouldn't, the postman was doing his job and got hurt by no fault of his own.

So by your way of thinking , The house holders should also be able to claim of the postman,
Any time they post private letters to the wrong address.

As their privacy is your responsibility while you are delivering their mail.
Because as far as you say. No one should be aloud to make mistakes.

And you wander why postmen receive less and less respect from the public.

[BettySwollocks]

It Sounds like a genuine accident , Not some misrepresntation of wrong doing on the house holders part.
Get real. If you think that was good advice . Then yes it is time for change.

Yes this was an accident but one that could've been avoided if the householder had made the dog more secure.
By the way your talking you believe we should accept this as part of our job well we shouldn't, the postman was doing his job and got hurt by no fault of his own.

So by your way of thinking , The house holders should also be able to claim of the postman,
Any time they post private letters to the wrong address.

As their privacy is your responsibility while you are delivering their mail.
Because as far as you say. No one should be aloud to make mistakes.

And you wander why postmen receive less and less respect from the public.

I "wander" why i have less and less respect for people when they can't spell simple words such as "wonder" and "allowed"

[TrueBlueTerrier]

So by your way of thinking , The house holders should also be able to claim of the postman,
Any time they post private letters to the wrong address.

As their privacy is your responsibility while you are delivering their mail.
Because as far as you say. No one should be aloud to make mistakes.

And you wander why postmen receive less and less respect from the public.

Umm - they can can't they. Although not from the Postie directly but his employer Royal mail.

Its called Mis-delivery, is frowned upon and Royal Mail has sanctions and procedures in place to try and stop it.

Also are you saying that there is no difference between a mistake causing harm and one that causes inconvenience. To take that argument to absurd levels there would be no difference between a referee mistakenly awarding a penalty in an under 10s league game and a Global Company gassing thousands at Bohpal - they are both mistakes after all.

[kasper]

So by your way of thinking , The house holders should also be able to claim of the postman,
Any time they post private letters to the wrong address.

As their privacy is your responsibility while you are delivering their mail.
Because as far as you say. No one should be aloud to make mistakes.

And you wander why postmen receive less and less respect from the public.

Umm - they can can't they. Although not from the Postie directly but his employer Royal mail.

Its called Mis-delivery, is frowned upon and Royal Mail has sanctions and procedures in place to try and stop it.

Also are you saying that there is no difference between a mistake causing harm and one that causes inconvenience. To take that argument to absurd levels there would be no difference between a referee mistakenly awarding a penalty in an under 10s league game and a Global Company gassing thousands at Bohpal - they are both mistakes after all.

And was the gate not part of the procedure to try and stop it too.

The wrong person Having your Info, is not what i would call just inconvenience.

[cfcsteve]

I too was biiten on Monday 26th March by a large labrador. The wound is about 1.5 inches long and missed my tendon by a fraction. I had 6 stitches and have so far had to attend hospital a furthur 3 times to get the dressing changed. The stitches are due to come out this Thursday and I am expected to go back to work on Saturday.
The house where I was bitten does not have a fence or gate so I normally just walk up to the front door and post the letters through, on this occasion the cleaner/house keeper opened the door unaware I was there, the dog came out and as I handed the mail over the dog bit me. She was very apologetic and was almost in tears at the severity of the bite.
I have been off work for a week now and although the pain has reduced the wound is still tender.
I understand that the assistant DOM has written to the owners but has not received a reply.
Is it worth me claiming, I am still being paid but obviously missing out on overtime, if I do claim any ideas on how much to claim for ?

[RedBagMan]

Up-to-date walk logs ???

Or - more to the point - was there a walk log available to read ??

[keithposty]

contact your rep or branch legal and medical for an LS3 form AND MAKE A CLAIM

was the WRAP up to date on dog hazards

did you fill in the ERICA form (accident book)

[kawoxux]

card it, who cares, not worth getting bitten is it

[OnAFlyer]

The current laws do not differentiate between unlawful tresspass and someone entering a property during the course of their job, hence it's much harder to prosecute a householder for dog bites etc than it should be.

There is an E Petition regarding these laws online on the government website at present, 100,000 signatures forces a debate on the subject. Unfortunately in 3 months there has only been 10,000 signatures and the petition finishes next month.

Fwiw I would have carded it, the box is on the gate for a reason and that's the delivery point. By all means shout someone or rattle the gate if you think they can hear you, you've at least made an attempt then.

[robg]

Reading this forum is why I docket if there is any dog around, I was delivering to a house with a hazard warning (royal mail getout clause) the dog was in the big yard in front of the house, I stopped at the road and asked them to collect their mail, the girls response was "classic postman, afraid of a dog" the blokes response was "sorry about this he's drying in the sun after his wash, really sorry".

I don't take it personally and he didn't, if you have a dog loose or I think a dog is loose I won't leave the public highway to deliver your mail. You can collect it, or the manager can deliver it.

[R@YAL F@IL]

First of all I hope you have a quick recovery and secondly get in the Union, anybody not in the Union especially full timers then I just do not understand their logic, I know they want to save a few pounds but look at the big picture, nobody knows what is just around the corner what with Royal Fail stabbing anybody and everybody in the back, I have said for years now that full timers are an endangered quantity.
Example: Once we used to collect the mail and then deliver it but now we are responsible for everything from checking vans, uniform, weighing bags and signing a form for everything your line manager tells you,

[Wessex]

Reading this forum is why I docket if there is any dog around, I was delivering to a house with a hazard warning (royal mail getout clause) the dog was in the big yard in front of the house, I stopped at the road and asked them to collect their mail, the girls response was "classic postman, afraid of a dog" the blokes response was "sorry about this he's drying in the sun after his wash, really sorry".

I don't take it personally and he didn't, if you have a dog loose or I think a dog is loose I won't leave the public highway to deliver your mail. You can collect it, or the manager can deliver it.

I used to endorse the letters with ' dog loose ' initials and date and continue doing that every day until it was safe to post.If you get bitten rm will say why did you go in with the dog there it's partially/

wholly your own fault.

It's one of the things I dont miss as a former postie,the people who cannot control their dogs.

[docket]

Over the years I've made 3 claims for dog bites through the union solicitors.Got paid out £1250,£250 and £150.Each claim took about a year to complete.Make sure you keep copies of all correspondance,photos,forms etc because the solicitors will lose them all at some stage and ask you to provide all details again.Several times!!!