Dog Bite / CWU / Compensation?

[brykins]

Got bitten today by a big German Shepherd....rural part of my walk, farm house, dogs that I know to be very vocal and excitable. I waited two feet from the farm gate (outside the property) for the resident to come and take their post from my hand, when out of the blue the dog came flying head and shoulders through the bars of the gate and bit my right wrist. Broke the skin a number of times, blood running down my hand, very painful.

Went to Drs staight away - they confirmed that there's no damage to the bone/wrist but could be tendon bruising/damage as there's pain all the way from my wrist to my elbow. It's making driving difficult and delivering impossible for the next few days.

Couple of questions I could do with help with:

(a) My manager has covered my walk tomorrow, but asked that if I feel up to it could I go in and help (even one handed) with some prep. I'm inclined to say no.
(b) I am on annual leave Monday - Saturday next week. If I self-cert myself as unwell to work, will I get my holiday back?
(c) As soon as I walked in to the DO the first person said to me "talk to the union for compensation". Is this the norm? Am I likely to be able to claim a few quid?

Any advice would be good - my first "proper" dog bite.

[spen]

I was bitten by a dog, drew blood still got the scar to prove it and had to have tetanus injection and wound cleaned,,,, filled in the Erica report in and the union automatically sent me the forms to claim compo so filled em in and posted them off, never heard a thing off them so i wouldn't hold your breath. I was told that the union gets a referall bonus off the solicitors just for you filling the forms in

[TrueBlueTerrier]

1. If you are a member then compensation is always an option - however don't forget that Royal Mail will claim lost earning back out of the compensation.

2. Make sure the ERICA (Accident Book) is completed.

3. Yes you can self certify up to 7 days and you can't be on sick and annual leave at the same time. But watch the timings you'll have to either get a fit note from the doctors to take you up to when you return, or call work and advise them that you will be fit to return. Any remaining days will revert to annual leave.

[noggin1969]

Had the misfortune to be bitten 3 times in my 25+ yrs in the job and I have always claimed. Take photos of the injuries and keep all receipts for prescriptions , car parking etc. Claims can take awhile to be sorted and there is a bit of paper work but mine have ranged from £750 to £5000 pay out. Fill in the accident report and get it reported to the DWP as an AOD.

[whatgwan]

I was bitten,several times by a Pitbull terrier.
The dog was deemed dangerous and was destroyed,
The owner was prosecuted by the police and banned from keeping animals for several years..
A solicitor was appointed by the Union to make a claim on my behalf-in brief,after almost 2 years of trying,the solicitors dropped the case as the dog owner had no insurance or means to pay any compo..Also In their opinion it wasn't worth chasing up as I personally couldn't prove the animal had previously shown aggressive tendencies..
They suggested I try claim off my own contents insurance for reverse liability-I tried,but was informed I should've informed them within a couple of weeks of the incident(the Solicitors failed to know this)..
I was then advised to try and claim from the criminal injury compo scheme-this was turned down as it would be impossible to prove the owner was negligent...
Also the dog warden service refused to provide prosecution files-simply because in their opinion "they didn't have to"
I honestly feel the CWU and the appointed solicitors let me down!

[spen]

That's how i felt,, let down by cwu, solicitors and royal mail,,, it took me 5 days of constant nagging to get management to even log it on the Erica system,,, one manager told me on the Tuesday he couldn't log it as he was going on holiday on the Friday,,

[brykins]

Well....the good news is that I might at least get an additional week's holiday. Had the police round last night and they said that I'd get compensation......the £7.65 that I spent on a prescription for antibiotics!