Posted on 05/27/2010 7:59:53 PM PDT by Daffynition
A car insurer has asked a Canadian family to pay for repairing a broken bumper after their dog was struck by the vehicle and died, local media said Thursday.
The traffic accident occurred in March while Jake, a 12-year-old yellow Labrador, was out for his daily stroll around a quiet neighborhood in Aurora, Ontario, north of Toronto.
Kim Flemming had let the dog out when she arrived home from work. Moments later, a man knocked on the door to say a car had run over Jake.
"I got to the road and he was dying," Flemming told the Toronto Star. "He died in my arms."
Two months later, the family received a bill in the mail for 1,732.80 Canadian dollars (1,648.95 US) from State Farm Insurance.
The letter said Flemming had been found responsible for damage to the vehicle. "As such, we are looking to you for reimbursement," it reportedly stated.
[snip]
State Farm was not immediately available for further comment.
"We've lost a member of our family but we're supposed to pay for the damage to her bumper? That's just wrong," daughter Katherine Flemming said.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
If it is posted on FR it must be a pitbull.
Can’t be. Pitbulls can swallow cars whole.
Was the car an SUV?
The woman let her dog out unsupervised. She should have to pay damages to the car, and she should be ashamed for neglecting her dog.
Heartwarming story placemarker.
You're only saying that because you believe in personal responsibility and that actions have consequences.
/johnny
If the dog wasn’t on a leash, then the dog’s owner is responsible for its death, as well as damage to the vehicle. It sounds to me like this dog owner became accustomed to be a poor master.
I gotta side with the insurance company on this one. Control your animals, or pay up. You are responsible. I hit a German Shephard in my Chrysler Sebring - did over $2500 damage to my car. Ran out in front of me on a rural road. Car was un-driveable until I got it fixed. It was worse than the deer I hit. I guess the higher center of gravity of the deer let it bounce over the top instead of pushing the bumper back into the engine like the dog did.
As much as I dislike State Farm ... I think they are correct on this one.
If the dog was really a member of your family, he wouldn't have been left loose to run around in the street.
Amen.
$1,700 sounds like a lot of money for a bumper.
Sounds cheap to me if it is OEM
Pay up.
Often, when encountering a animal in the road, drivers swerve, and in the aftermath, cause more serious injury to property and life. Glad you weren’t hurt, except in the wallet.
and playing on the road!
Hardly. No in this day ‘n age. ;(
Car repairs are extortionate. I scraped a car while parking and it cost me $1250 because the plastic bumper cover was cracked.
As sad as it is for the family, they let their dog out without a leash and he was hit by a car. It is their responsibility.
I bet the neighbors are going to miss that dog crapping on their yards everyday.
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