Dog Story Unleashes Claims Handling Questions A 17-year-old driver turns into his street, heading for home. In an unfortunate coincidence, a neighbor four or five houses down opens the front door at that moment to let the family dog out. The dog runs into the street in front of the young driver who swerves to avoid hitting the dog and instead hits the pickup truck owned by the dog-owner and parked in front of his house.

The police are called and an accident report made. The homeowner apologizes for letting the dog loose. There was no evidence of speeding or recklessness. The policeman does not think there is enough of a case to cite the driver. This is a pure accident.

Simple enough. Guess were done here. The insurance carrier for the young driver will pony up the cost to repair the dog owners truck and, if the kid carries collision coverage on his auto, his car also. The kids insurance rates will go up and everybody goes on about their business.