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05

Dog bites accounted for more than one third of US homeowners liability payouts

Open-access content Wednesday 20th May 2015 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Dog bites and other dog-related injuries accounted for more than a third of homeowners liability insurance payout in the US in 2014, costing more than $530m (£341m).

2

According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), a non-profit insurance information organisation, and State Farm, US writer for home insurance, the number of dog-bite claims nationwide dropped by 4.7%, to 16,550 in 2014, but the average cost per claim was up by 15%. The average payout for these claims was $32,072 (£20,614), compared with $27,862 (£17,902) in 2013. From 2003 to 2014 the average claim cost went up by 67%.

Loretta Worters, III's vice president, said: "The average cost per claim nationally has risen more than 67% from 2003 to 2014, due to increased medical costs as well as the size of settlements, judgments and jury awards given to plaintiffs, which are still on the upswing." 

III said California had the largest number of claims in the US at 1,867. Ohio had the second largest number, at 1,009. New York had the third largest at 965 but it had the highest average cost per claim, costing insurers $56,628 (£36,385). 

III explained the increase in claim costs was attributable not simply to dog bites, but also to other injuries, such as dogs knocking down children, cyclists, the elderly, and more. The organisation said this trend resulted in fractures and "other blunt force trauma injuries that impact the potential severity of losses".

Estimated number of cost of dog-bite claims and other dog-related injuries from 2003 to 2014

Year Value of claims ($m) No of claims Average claim cost ($)

2003  324.20                     16,919          19,162

2004  318.9                       15,630          20,406

2005  321.1                       14,295          22,464

2006  322.4                       14,661          21,987

2007  356.2                       14,531          24,511

2008  387.0                       15,823          24,461

2009  412.0                       16,586          24,840

2010  412.6                       15,770          26,166

2011  490.8                       16,695          29,396

2012  489.7                       16,459          29,752

2013  483.7                       17,359          27,862

2014  530.8                       16,550          32,072

This article appeared in our May 2015 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
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