Category Archives: dog bite insurance settlements

Liability Insurance A Must for Dog Owners

With dog attacks estimated at 4.5 million each and every year, as a dog owner, can you really neglect securing a dog bite liability insurance policy? After all, you’re responsible if your dog bites someone and you could be exposing yourself to costly judgments you likely cannot afford to pay if your dog injures someone.

You not only have to be concerned if your dog bites a total stranger, but also if a friend or relative is the victim, at the very least you’ll wind up paying medical bills that could cost you thousands of dollars. Keep in mind that children are often the victims of serious attacks, and dogs don’t realize that they just want to play and may become easily agitated.

Your home or renters policies may be insufficient

While most homeowners and renters insurance policies do provide coverage for injuries related to pets, the amount of coverage may not keep you properly covered. In other words, you might want to purchase a stand-alone policy. In fact, there are homeowners and renters policies that exclude certain breeds of dog so you may want to do a little research.

Some insurance companies have been known to deny coverage to many breeds of dog considered to be aggressive by nature. This generally includes pit bulls, Rottweilers, Akitas and Chow-Chows, just to name a few of the more common breeds. Insurers, while sympathetic to your needs, feel the risk is just too great. Again, there are policies that don’t offer adequate coverage, which is why pet owners need to do due diligence when shopping for the proper coverage for their particular situation.

Read the contract carefully. While you certainly may opt for the minimum limit for personal liability coverage, which is around $100,000, you may be better off increasing the limit to $300,000, which is often more appropriate, especially if you own a medium sized dog or larger.

If you discover that you have purchased a homeowner policy or renter’s policy that excludes canine-inflicted injuries then you’ll want to buy a supplemental dog bite liability insurance policy that covers you in the event that anyone is ever bitten by your dog.

Liability Laws for Dog Bites

If you own a dog, it is important that you carry dog bite liability insurance. You also should know your liability under the law. In some cases, you may not be liable if your dog bites someone.

While every state has its own laws, in general, each state will set the rules for when an owner is liable if his or her dog bites another person. One type of law that a state may have will hold the owner liable if the dog bites anyone who wasn’t provoking it. Another type of law is that the owner may be held liable for any bite if the owner knew the dog was likely to bite. The last type of law is basically a negligence law that states a dog’s owner is liable because it was reasonable to assume the dog would bite.

You should also carry dog bite liability insurance to make sure you are covered if your dog does bite someone. Insurance will help to pay any damages that you may be ordered to pay by a court. Even if the court sides with you in a lawsuit, you will still have legal fees that your insurance may cover.

Understanding the law and protecting yourself with insurance are two smart things to do if you own a dog. Even if you don’t think your dog will ever bite someone, you should still be prepared.

Dog Bites: What You’re Responsible for

If your dog injures a person or animal, you can be held responsible. While most people know this, there are still many that don’t have insurance on their dog. For some, they don’t realize how much they could be responsible and how much dog bite insurance settlements will pay out on their behalf. You don’t have to suffer a loss of money on top of everything else. If you aren’t sure what you could be held responsible for, there are four main components.

First, you can be responsible for any medical or veterinary bills that the other party has had to pay. Also, if your dog caused any injuries that forced a person out of work or if they bit an animal that was a source of income, you could be responsible for the loss of income for however long it took to heal. This can be a giant loss for you. There is also property damage and pain and suffering that you could be liable for.

All of this could cost you a lot of money without dog bite insurance settlements. It’s important to have insurance to protect you and your pets from a lawsuit that you can’t afford. Having a pet is a huge responsibility but insurance can make it easier.