Dog bites took a bigger meal from homeowners in 2009, with insurance liability claims related to the canine set costing $412 million.
The Insurance Information Institute said dog bits accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claims paid out in 2009. The payouts rose 6.4% from 2008.
An analysis of homeowners insurance data by the III found that the average cost of dog bite claims was $24,840 in 2009, up slightly from $24,461 in 2008.
Since 2003, the cost of these claims has risen nearly 30%. Additionally, the number of claims increased by 4.8%, to 16,586, in 2009.
“The rise in dog bite claims over the last seven years (2003-2009) can be attributed to increased medical costs as well as the size of settlements, judgments and jury awards given to plaintiffs, which have risen well above the rate of inflation in recent years,” said Loretta Worters, vice president at the I.I.I.
More than 4.7 million people in the United States are bitten by dogs annually, and nearly 900,000 of those, half of them children, require medical care, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Of those injured, 386,000 require treatment in an emergency department and about 16 die. The rate of dog bite related injuries is highest for children aged five to nine years old; the rate decreases thereafter. Almost two-thirds of these injuries among children ages four years and younger are to the head or neck region. Injury rates in children are significantly higher for boys than for girls.With more than 50 percent of bites occurring on the dog owner’s property, the issue is a major source of concern for insurers.
Dog bites chewing bigger hole in homeowners insurance policies via IFAwebnews.com .
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