When I asked Waggel and Red Sands to cough up they agreed to pay you the full £6,000, although they refused to admit liability for the claim. However, there was a catch: you were asked to sign a contract preventing you from talking about the claim.

Included in it was a clause asking that you also impose this on me, effectively trying to kill this article. I asked for the confidentiality clauses to be removed, but the insurer refused. If you didn’t sign, the £6,000 offer would be withdrawn and you would have to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service to get your money. As it knows only too well, this process is lengthy and there would be no guarantees.

Red Sands thought you would take the money and go quietly, but it severely underestimated you. Outraged that you would be banned from telling your story, you rejected the £6,000. You told Red Sands that if it insisted on paying you hush money, it would take more than £6,000 to buy your silence. The price would be £10,000, you told it. 

With just hours to go before the deadline of 5pm on the day the offer expired, it was now a battle of nerves. Would Red Sands raise its offer or did it think you’d cave in at the last minute and sign for your £6,000? Possibly. The deadline came and you refused to sign.

Against my advice to take the money, you felt you would rather take your chances with the ombudsman so you could remain free to tell your story. The attempt to gag you has therefore backfired spectacularly. This was a brave decision that I believe was driven largely by the deep sense of injustice you have felt over this claim, as well as how much Tashi means to you.

The good news is that Tashi is recovering well and is adapting to her new three-legged life in great spirits. As a result of your story I hope Waggel revisits its policy wording around when an accident is an accident, improves the way it handles claims and thinks carefully in future before it tries to buy customers’ silence. Hopefully this tale will also encourage other dog owners to exercise caution over electric boots. I hope you finally get the right result when the ombudsman makes its decision. Do keep me posted.