Dog bite claims have two unusual features. The payer is usually the owner's homeowner's or renter's insurance. And scarring, especially facial scarring, drives value in a way ordinary injury math undercounts.
Most states impose strict liability: the owner is responsible for a bite even if the dog had never bitten before. A minority of 'one-bite' states require showing the owner knew the dog was dangerous. Landlords, dog sitters, and property owners can sometimes share liability. Almost all of it lands on a homeowner's policy, which typically carries $100,000–$300,000 in liability coverage.
A bite with modest medical bills can still be a substantial claim if it leaves visible scarring, because permanent disfigurement earns a higher multiplier than the bills alone suggest. That goes double for facial scars, and double again for children, whose scars get argued in terms of decades. Plastic-surgery revision estimates belong in your damages even if you haven't had the surgery yet. Our scar compensation page has the full banding.
Dog bite claims are won in the first two weeks: photos of the wounds at every healing stage, the animal-control report, witness names, and the owner's insurance information. File that animal-control report even if you feel bad about it, because it also protects the next person. Rabies-verification and prior-complaint records against the same dog are discoverable gold in one-bite states. Medical follow-through matters doubly here, because infection is the complication that turns a moderate bite into a serious claim.
Most dog bite victims are children. Claims for minors typically require court approval of the settlement, and in many states the statute of limitations doesn't start running until the child turns 18. Evidence still decays every year, so documenting early matters anyway. Insurers know a child's facial scar ages badly for them at trial. That leverage belongs to you, not to them.
The multiplier framework applies, with scarring as the lever. Resolved puncture wounds run toward the lower bands. Permanent visible scarring supports 3–4×, and facial scarring or bites to children 4–5×+, with plastic-surgery revision estimates added to the economic base. The homeowner's policy limit, commonly $100k to $300k, is the practical ceiling.
In most states, yes. Strict liability makes the owner responsible for the first bite. In the minority of one-bite states you'll need evidence the owner knew the dog was dangerous: prior complaints, warning signs, the dog's behavior history.
Almost never. Homeowner's or renter's insurance pays dog bite claims, which is exactly what the owner has been paying premiums for. Filing the claim is not suing your friend personally. Letting an insurer's deadline pass out of politeness helps nobody.