This is the question that stops a lot of legitimate claims, because the homeowner says some version of “you shouldn’t have been on my property” and it sounds plausible.
Florida answered it in the statute. Section 767.04 covers a person bitten while “lawfully on or in a private place,” and then it defines what lawful means:
“in the performance of any duty imposed upon him or her by the laws of this state or by the laws or postal regulations of the United States, or when the person is on such property upon invitation, expressed or implied, of the owner.”
Postal regulations are named in the statute. A carrier on a delivery route is lawfully present by operation of law, not by the homeowner’s permission and not at their discretion.
For couriers who are not USPS, the second branch usually does the work instead: a customer who ordered a package has extended at least an implied invitation for it to be delivered. An accepted delivery route, an unlocked gate, a marked path to the door — these are the facts that establish implied invitation.
Two practical notes. If you were bitten at work, there may be a workers’ compensation claim and a separate claim against the dog owner; they are different systems and one does not replace the other. And employers often have their own incident reporting that runs on a short clock, so report internally as well as to animal services.
