Lawsuits Can Take a Bite Out of Your Wallet; Be a Responsible Dog Owner

Dog bites accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claims paid out in 2009, costing $412 million and up 8.70 percent from 2008, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). An analysis of homeowners insurance data by the I.I.I. found that the average cost of dog bite claims was $24,840 in 2009, up slightly from $24,461 in 2008. In fact, over the six-year period since 2003, the cost of these claims has risen nearly 30 percent. Additionally, the number of claims increased by 4.8 percent to 16,586 in 2009 from 15,823 in 2008.