Homeowners insurance is who actually pays a dog bite claim

You are not collecting from the person holding the leash, not really. You are collecting from a liability policy that person (or their landlord, or their parents) already paid for. That is why these claims settle, and why insurers staff them.

The three pockets inside a typical policy

• Medical payments (med-pay). Small, no-fault, often a few thousand dollars. Useful. Not the claim.
• Personal liability. The real policy — commonly $100,000, $300,000, or $500,000. This is the fight.
• Umbrella. Extra liability on top, if they bought it. Worth asking about in a serious injury.

Exclusions people discover too late

Some carriers exclude specific breeds or “animals with a prior bite.” Some renters policies are thin. Some homeowners policies do not follow a dog that lives at a different address. None of that is your problem to solve in the street; it is why the owner’s carrier and the landlord’s carrier both get letters.

Do not sign their paper

A check that requires a release is the whole claim, forever, including the scar that has not finished declaring itself and the infection that shows up on day nine. Med-pay should not require a release of liability. If the words “full and final” appear, stop.