I wonder if you can help me. On 13th May, a black labrador dog suddenly leapt in front of my car, to chase another dog on the opposite side of the road .The dog was on a lead held by a young girl of about 12 years, who was unable to control the dog. Because there were speed bumps in the road I was driving at no more than 20mph, but in spite of this the impact of the dog damaged the bumper and broke the radiator. The dog seemed unharmed apart from obvious shock and a cut on the mouth. The driver of the car behind me kindly came to see if I was alright and gave me his name and phone number as an independent witness. He said the accident was clearly the fault of the dog. He told this to the dog owner, who appeared some minutes later. The owner told his daughter that he would never let her take the dog out again as she couldn't control it. On reaching home I immediately phoned my insurance company Saga, giving them all relevant information. I phoned a week later to find out if they had phoned either the witness or the dog owner, but they had not. I asked them to make a note that I wasn't happy that they had not done so. Another week passed and I phoned again and still no attempt had been made to contact either man. I was quite cross by now. I was informed that because I had not taken out legal protection, I would have to pay £200 excess, because the dog owner might not have pet insurance, and therefore a claim could not be made against him. My brother said that a claim could be made against his public liability insurance. I have just received a renewal note from Saga informing me that my renewal premium has been increased because I've made a claim. But if Saga is able to claim the cost of repairing my car from the dog owner, will I still be charged with having made a claim? I'm a widow and have never had an accident, so all this bureaucracy is completely new to me. I should greatly appreciate any advice or information you could give me.