Online tools often ask for basic inputs (medical costs, injury type, wage loss) and then spit out a range. That can be useful as a starting point, but it won’t reflect the specific facts that Hewitt insurers commonly scrutinize—especially when the incident happened in a residential neighborhood, at a friend’s home, or near a busy household routine.
In practice, the strongest settlements typically track to documentation such as:
- ER/urgent care records that clearly describe the bite and treatment
- Photos taken close to the incident
- Follow-up notes showing whether infection, scarring risk, or ongoing wound care occurred
- Any witness statements about the dog’s control and the moments leading up to the bite
If those records are incomplete, insurers often argue the injury was less severe—or that the bite wasn’t the cause of the full extent of damages.


