Dogs Trust 3rd party public liability insurance

I wasn't quite sure where best to post this but figured this was important for other staffie owners to know about.

For the last four years I have paid the annual £25 Dogs Trust subscription, which includes 3rd party public liability insurance and the headline makes it seem like you are covered up to £1 million come what may if your dog injures another person or dog etc.

Digging deeper recently I discovered this only covers the costs of legal representation and not any damages that might result if a legal prosecution is involved. This makes me think there is very little incentive for them to actually win a case and you could potentially be left with huge bills if something unfortunate happened or even through a malicious claim.

Personally I shall be looking for an alternative solution but I don't know if there are any good options limited purely to 3rd party public liability and excluding vet bills.

NB It might be worth checking other policies you might have to see what they actually cover.

Thank you! I'll look into that as we've just gone down that route too.

eta - I've googled what the Dogs Trust insurance covers and can't find anything to say it's legal costs only. Could you point me in the right direction?

This was the explanation they sent following my enquiry. Basically you are covered for civil claims but no damages or compensation that might arise from a prosecution. In my view this is not made clear on their website.

"Thank you very much for your email and I would like to apologise for the delay in responding to your enquiry while I consulted with our legal department.

The membership covers:
• Bodily injury to any person or death of or injury to any animal
• Loss of or damage to property other than property belonging to the member
• Legal representation where the member is prosecuted and appears before a court

If, for example, a member's dog caused injury to another person, two things could happen:

1. the member could be prosecuted. The cost of legal representation is covered under the membership insurance however if the member is ordered to pay a fine and/or compensation this is not covered under the membership insurance.

2. the member could also have a personal injury claim brought against them. The cost of legal representation and any compensation payable is covered under the membership insurance.

Please note that the cover is there for the policy to respond in the event that the member is found to be negligent. If the insurers deem the member not to be at fault, they will defend the claim which means that no settlement will be made to the claimant.

If you have any further questions, please call Dogs Trust on the number below and ask to speak to a member of the legal department."

I have the Dogs Trust subscription. Must admit I presumed everything was covered in that but then again it's my fault for presuming!

Mistys Mum wrote:I have the Dogs Trust subscription. Must admit I presumed everything was covered in that but then again it's my fault for presuming!

That was my mistake as well for the last 4 years. I only found out because I recommended it to my father who has a new Jack Russell. He started looking into and felt the insurance was not quite as water tight as I imagined. He was right.

I am going to look at alternatives but want to make sure that anything else is better before committing to a policy.

It does cover more than just legal fees, though. What that says to me is that you are covered for injury/damage with or without prosecution. What you are not covered for is a fine/compensation. That's clearly potentially a large sum but I don't think it negates that you do still get the cover you do. For £25 a year it still looks good to me even for just one dog, but especially for us with 3 dogs.

I think the problem here is that you are far more likely to face prosecution with a staffie than most other breeds if something happens and also less likely to meet a sympathetic judge or jury.

I recall a few years ago walking in an open area when a collie charged up to my girl and went for her. Luckily I grabbed her by the collar as she was starting to tell off the Collie and managed to pull her off in a few seconds.

You might think that is no big deal but the owner who appeared a few seconds later was some old man on a motorised vehicle for disabled people with no control at all over his dog and he didn't seem to care at all.

Had his dog or himself been injured I imagine it would have ended up in the newspapers and probably become a police matter but realistically nobody would give the staffie owner any benefit of the doubt in that scenario. Was I being negligent?

"1. the member could be prosecuted. The cost of legal representation is covered under the membership insurance however if the member is ordered to pay a fine and/or compensation this is not covered under the membership insurance.

2. the member could also have a personal injury claim brought against them. The cost of legal representation and any compensation payable is covered under the membership insurance."

i'm not sure i understand this - in the first instance it says compensation won't be covered but in the second it says it will? am i missing something? or is it because in the second instance it's a personal injury claim?

My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that if it remains a purely civil matter you are covered, however should an element of the case progress to a criminal matter you are on shaky ground. Given tough recent changes in dog laws it's much more likely that matters will escalate to a criminal level.

In that case they will cover your legal fees but tough luck with the rest if found guilty and under those circumstances it could cost you dear. Also what happens if a civil claim for damages is launched after losing a criminal case?

It doesn't even specify if you have to pay legal expenses up front and then claim back after or if they just take care of everything, possibly even deciding who acts as your legal representative. The very fact that these points are open to misunderstanding suggests they are not watertight.

When you sign up it doesn't mention any of this https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/get-involved/membership/

right, yes, i see that now.

it's very shady, isn't it, not clear at all? and certainly not what we are led to believe.

gillybrent wrote:right, yes, i see that now.

it's very shady, isn't it, not clear at all? and certainly not what we are led to believe.

That's my point exactly. I slept easier for four years thinking it was all covered by a very black & white policy with no small print but they don't even specify these points in the FAQ on their site. It would be interesting to know though if this is standard industry practice or if other policies more comprehensive.