Dog Bites

Admin Personal Insurance Leave a Comment

 

For every family a dog can bring companionship and fun. Dogs can also provide headaches for the owner’s by ruining furniture or making a mess in the house. In unfortunate circumstances Dogs can put a financial burden on their owners if they were to injure a third party (i.e. people, other pets, or other property). In Massachusetts, any liability damage by a dog to a third party will find the dog owner negligent.

A recent article in The Standard, a weekly insurance magazine, addressed the issue of dog bites, citing that “Dog bites accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claim dollars paid out in 2011, costing nearly $479 million.”* $479 million is an astonishing number. One that makes dog bites a more prevalent issue for dog owners. Especially when purchasing an insurance policy. Dog bites are typically covered under your homeowner’s policy for a certain limit of liability. However, most insurance companies have a list of dog breeds they will not provide coverage for. Make sure to contact Deland, Gibson, so we are aware of the breed and certain that the insurance company will indeed provide coverage.

 

Ways to mitigate dog bite costs:

  1. The most obvious: Do not own a dog.
  2. Confirm your dog is not on the insurance carriers do not write list (for dogs)
  3. Have adequate liability limits.
  4. Purchase an umbrella policy.

 

*For theMassachusettslaw on liability damage caused by a dog please click here.

http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter140/Section155

*The Standard, June 1 edition, page 4.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.