Dog bites cost home insurers 6.4 percent more in 2009 than in the prior 12 months, with the average claim exceeding $24,000 for the third straight year, an industry group said.
The injuries cost $412 million in 2009, compared with $387.2 million a year earlier, the fifth straight annual increase, the Insurance Information Institute said Wednesday. The number of claims increased 4.8 percent to 16,586.
Dog bites account for about a third of homeowners' insurance liability claims, the institute said. The cost to the industry climbed more than 25 percent since 2003 as medical expenses for victims increased.
More than 4.7 million people in the United States are bitten by dogs each year and almost 900,000 require medical care, the group said, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
