Dog bites and other dog-related injuries accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners liability claim dollars paid out in 2021, costing $881 million, according to an analysis by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) and State Farm.
The number of dog bite claims nationwide increased to 17,989 from 17,567 in 2020–a 2.2 percent increase. The average cost per claim decreased 1.1 percent from 2020-2021, coming in at $49,025 in 2021 compared with $50,245 in 2020. However, there was a steep increase (39 percent) in cost per claims over the past 10 years, according to the analysis.
That increase was “no doubt due to increased medical costs, as well as the size of settlements, judgments and jury awards given to plaintiffs,” said Janet Ruiz, director – Strategic Communication, Triple-I, in a statement. She noted the value of claims also has risen 44 percent over that same period.
California continued to have the largest number of claims in the U.S., at 2,026 in 2021, a slight decrease from 2,121 in 2020. California also had the highest value of claims in 2021, at $120.7 million, and the highest average cost per claim in 2021, at $59,561.
Topics USA Carriers Claims Homeowners
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
‘Catastrophic’ Hack Underscores Public Defender Security Gaps 
Alaska Airlines Vows IT Upgrades After Outage Forces 400 Flight Cancellations 
CyberCube: Insured Loss Estimate From AWS Outage Likely About $40M 
Starr Acquiring IQUW; Starr Managing Agency to Be Among 10 Largest at Lloyd’s From This Issue
