Dog Bite Cases Costly to the Insurance Industry – Over 400,000 Claims Made in 2009 Increasing Annually
Surprisingly one third of all homeowners insurance liability claims are a result of dog bites according to an analysis by the Insurance Information Institute. Insurance companies had to pay out 6.4% more in 2009 than 2008 for dog bites. Allstate Insurance Company is now excluding certain breeds from coverage in homeowner policies. Currently some Allstate insurance policies exclude Pit Bulls, Doberman Pinschers, and Rottweilers.
In Pennsylvania over 70% of all seriously injured dog bite victims are children. The Philadelphia dog bite attorneys at Reiff & Bily have a successful track record holding dog owners responsible for injuries caused by their dogs. We recently achieved a successful outcome for an 11-year old boy who was bitten in the face by a neighbor’s dog causing permanent scarring. Not so surprisingly, at the outset when the claim was presented, the insurance company stated that the dog owner was not responsible and that the case was being tagged as a no pay, no liability case. We were able to hold the dog owner liable under Pennsylvania law and prove that he was negligent and irresponsible in the handling of his dog which was the cause of the client’s injury and permanent scarring.
Many of the nation’s leading insurance carriers are reviewing and changing their approach to handling dog bite liability issues and now more than ever if you or a loved one has suffered injuries as a result of a dog bite, you need aggressive legal representation with an experienced dog bite lawyer.
Last year, there were approximately 17,000 dog bite claims in the United States which is a small percentage of the 4.5 million individuals who are bitten by dogs annually with more than 300,000 visits to U.S. hospital emergency rooms according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The highest rate of dog bite related injuries was among children ages 5 to 9. The Pennsylvania dog bite lawyers of Reiff & Bily offer a free consultation with a no recovery no fee guarantee. For more information please contact us at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
