American Family Insurance giving notice to cancel Andy Woodward’s coverage. In Nebraska, Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Andy Woodward was recently contacted by his homeowners insurance company, American Family, which informed him that they were terminating his policy because of the fact that he brings his police dog home with him to care for it. Part of Woodward’s job includes the requirement that he must live with his police dog. The County supported Woodward and originally argued with American Family, saying that all of its police dogs were separately covered by…
Read MoreTag: dog bite claims
The cost of dog bite insurance claims is steadily increasing
Over one in three homeowners insurance liability claim payments are a result of these suits. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, in 2011, more than a third of all of the claims paid out for homeowners liability coverage had to do with a dog bite. In fact, those filings made up almost $479 million in payments in that year alone. The largest American writer of homeowners policies, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, paid out over $109 million to people who were bitten by dogs. It received almost…
Read MoreState Farm Insurance paid out $109 million for claims relating to dog bites
Last year, there were a tremendous 3,800 claims filed relating to these pet attacks. Though the incidents may not make the front page of the newspaper, claims from dog bites have been costing insurance companies millions of dollars each year, as was the case for State Farm last year. The insurer has released its statistics regarding the animal attacks showing they were far higher than 2010. According to a spokesperson from State Farm Insurance, Eddie Martinez, this number was up to $109 million in its payouts, from the $90 million…
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