Third party liability insurance for dogs

There’s been a lot of talk about making third party liability (TPL) insurance mandatory for all dog owners in the UK but just what does third party insurance really cover and do you really need it?

Definition

To find out exactly what TPL, let’s simply look at some terms and conditions. According to More Than:

If your dog kills or injures someone, or damages their property and you are found to be legally responsible, you may claim:

– the amount of any compensation and costs awarded against you by a Court.

– with our written agreement, costs and expenses in defending any claim against you and costs and expenses in representing you at any inquest or fatal accident enquiry.

So basically, if your dog causes an accident and a person gets injured as a result or if your dog bites someone or damages somebody’s property, you could be held responsible to pay compensation money. If that’s the case, you would be covered under your pet insurance policy, generally up to £1 million – which is more than enough.

There is a very strict process to follow when you want to make a claim for third party liability. It’s all explained in the terms and conditions of your policy but in summary you must not admit responsibility or make a payment to the third party. Your insurer may have to represent you in a court of law and if you have paid the third party then you have implicitly admited responsibility. This could invalidate your claim.

Do I need third party liability?

You may wonder whether you really need TPL. If you take out pet insurance, it’s generally included in the policy anyway. I say generally because a small bunch of pet insurance providers do not include it as standard in their cover.

Otherwise, you may want to consider it. Even if you have a small dog, that’s never going to bite anyone, it could easily run off its leash, go on the road and cause a car to swerve and have an accident. In that scenario, you could be held responsible. It can just be the case of your dog being in the wrong place at the wrong time and if damages are serious, people may think of sueing you.

In a nutshell, third party liability cover is probably the second most important benefit in a pet insurance policy after veterinary fees cover. All other benefits are nice-to-haves.

Remember that TPL is for dogs only as under UK law cats cannot be held responsible for damages or injuries.

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