Homeowners Insurance and Dog Bite Liability

Ways for dog owners to protect themselves against dog bite liability.

Nearly 40 percent of American households have at least one dog, according to an annual survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. The average number of dogs per household stands at 1.7, with the total number of dogs in the United States topping 74 million. Dogs are everywhere.

Like all domestic animals, dogs descended from wild ancestors, and they still have wild instincts hardwired deep within their brains. One of these instincts is to protect their territory, their food, their young, and even other pack members—sometimes including their human owners—by barking, growling, and even biting. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year. That is an average of 12,876 dog bites per day. Only a fraction of these bites—800,000—are serious enough to merit medical attention, but that’s still more than 2,000 per day. Some 386,000 of these cases end up in hospitals, making dog bites the second leading cause of injuries treated in emergency rooms (after softball/baseball injuries).

Sadly, children make up half the dog bite victims who visit emergency rooms. In fact with group with the highest incidence of dog bite injuries is boys aged 5 to 9 years, with 60.7 victims per 10,000 persons. Because of the large number of children bitten, the median age of dog bite victims is only 15. Because of their diminutive stature, children are often bitten above the shoulders. Nearly three quarters (73 percent) of children admitted to emergency rooms for dog bites were bitten in the face and neck. Only 30 percent of adults suffer bites in the same areas. The CDC states that on average 16 people die from dog bites each year. It is a miniscule portion of dog bite victims—just 0.0002 percent of the total number—but it is a chilling fact nonetheless.

The states are not united about how to govern dog bite liability. Some states apply traditional legal standards of liability, requiring a showing of negligence on the part of the dog owner. If the dog has bitten before, acted aggressively toward others, or in some other way given an indication that it was a danger to people, the owner could be held liable for the dog bite. Other states do not require a showing of negligence before assigning liability to the dog owner. California has a law that reads, in part: “The owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness.”

In the past, homeowners insurance policies offered blanket coverage for dog bite liability, but no more. Some insurers exclude all liability arising from dog bites. Others provide coverage for most but not all breeds. Breeds considered prone to biting, such as the American Pit Bull Terrier (pit bulls), German Shepherd, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, and Doberman Pinscher, are now excluded from liability coverage by some insurers. The CDC, which has studied dog bite injuries and fatalities in depth, does not agree with the premise of these exclusions. “A CDC study on fatal dog bites lists the breeds involved in fatal attacks over 20 years,” states the CDC website. “It does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic.”

As with all liability coverage, read your homeowner insurance policy carefully to see if dog bites or the bites from the breed of dog you own are excluded. If you have questions about liability, call your agent. You might be able to add a rider to your policy to cover dog bite liability. Do not delay. A dog bite can occur in a fraction of a second, but the consequences can last for years.

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