Insurance for Dog Bites
Most usually, an individual who has been bit by a dog or animal in general, seek compensation through the courts. In certain circumstances though, the person who was bit, does not always want to press charges. If your dog bit your friend, it can be assumed that your friend does not want to lose money. Therefore, the injured party looks for other ways for compensation. As a result, they almost always turn to insurance companies. To clarify, if a person’s dog bites someone, their insurance rates will go up. Lastly, the cost of the homeowner premiums will go up as well.
Homeowner's Insurance
A homeowners insurance policy will usually cover the costs associated with a dog bite on their property. “According to the Insurance Information Institute, there were about 16,500 homeowner’s insurance claims involving dog bites in 2012, averaging $30,000 per claim.” In addition, “the average amount of liability coverage in homeowner’s policies is between $100,000 and $300,000.” However, this only covers the first incident most often. Most Importantly, individuals should be aware that some breeds are not covered by certain insurance companies.
Car Insurance
Under most circumstances both your homeowners and car insurance will cover dog bite which occur in a vehicle. However, if your homeowner’s insurance does not cover it, your car insurance most likely will. In situations where both are willing to cover expenses, the two companies will fight to see who is responsible. During this process, the injured individual is not presently involved. Therefore, it is strictly up to the battling insurance companies to figure out who will cover your loss.
Animal Insurance
People should be aware that animal insurance does exist, separate from other insurance entirely. To clarify, specialty insurance companies are out there to provide pet owners insurance. As stated above, most insurance companies will not cover repeat offenders. Therefore, this type of insurance is some pet owner’s last hope. In short, these types of specialty insurance companies will allow you coverage on your pets when no one else will.
