In April, I wrote a blog on “What does a dog bite cost”. A dog bite that becomes a claim can result in,
- Your current carrier cancelling or non-renewing you
- Large increases in the premium you pay for home insurance (renters too)
- Severe restrictions on what companies will write your insurance
- Potential exclusion of liability on dog bites in the future (you’ll pay out of your pocket)
Financially, this can work out to average increases of about $1,000 a year on your home policy.
Have you ever wondered what the numbers are on paid claims? I did and came across an interesting article by Sue Manning of the Associated Press that was published in May. Here are some interesting numbers and points;
- State Farm paid $109 million on about 3,800 dog bite claims nationwide last year
- In 2010 State Farm paid about $90 million on about 3,500 claims nationally
- The insurance Information Institute estimated about $479 million in dog bite claims were paid in 2011 and $413 million in 2010
- California leads all states with the most claims (people & dogs too)
- 527 claims were filed in California last year and $20.3 million in claims were paid
- There are about 4.7 million people bitten by dogs each year
- More than half of those people are children
- 800,000 victims seek medical attention
- About 16 people die annually from dog bites
- The 3 highest risk groups are;
- Children ages 5 to 9
- Seniors
- Letter carriers
- After California, the next two highest states were;
- Illinois with 309 claims & $10 million paid
- Texas with 219 claims & $5.1 million paid
- State Farm paid an average of $28,799 nationally in 2011
- California’s per claim average was $38,500, New York’s was $45,900 & Michigan’s was $38,700
If you want to save a lot of time, money and any emotional baggage that would come from having your dog bite someone, then invest the money and time to get it trained. What’s your experience been? Share it with us in our comments section below or on our Facebook page.
