Dog bite scarring and disfigurement claims.

What insurers and juries weigh

• Location. Face, neck, hands, and other always-visible areas command the highest values. Trunk and limb scars under clothing settle lower.
• Size and contrast. Hypertrophic, keloidal, and color-contrasting scars value higher than thin linear scars.
• Permanence. A board-certified plastic surgeon's opinion that the scar is permanent is essential. Optimistic prognoses cut the demand.
• Victim age. Children — longer worklife of visibility, more developmental impact.
• Psychological sequelae. PTSD, social withdrawal, and cynophobia, documented by a mental-health provider, add a separate damages component.

Plastic surgery and the timing trap

Scar revision is a future-medical claim. A typical revision sequence is 1–3 procedures spread over 12–24 months, with cost estimates from a plastic surgeon running $5,000–$25,000 per revision. Settling before revisions are documented means the policy money meant for them does not arrive. Wait for the revision plan and the post-revision photograph before demanding.

Documentation that wins

1. Serial photographs at fixed intervals (day 0, week 1, month 1, month 3, month 6, month 12) under consistent lighting.
2. Plastic-surgery consultation with written revision plan and cost.
3. Mental-health evaluation if symptoms warrant.
4. Day-in-the-life statements from family describing observable changes in confidence, social interaction, or school engagement.
5. For children: pediatric or developmental notes documenting impact.

Per-square-inch frameworks

Some plaintiff lawyers anchor demands with per-square-inch scar values, especially in trial argument: a published reference point from one Florida verdict reporter places facial scarring values at $5,000–$15,000 per square centimeter for adults. These figures are jury-argument tools more than negotiation anchors; insurer software does not run them directly.