A Dog Bite Insurance Claim May Cost Above $30K in 47 US States

Dog bite claims map with NC highlighted. Source/Credit: public.tableau.com

You may know that Wake County ranks top in the nation for snake bites, but did you know North Carolina ranks 46th in cost-per-bite, but 14th in total number of dog bites?

On July 23, 2019, QuoteWizard® released a report on dog bite settlement costs across the United States. In 2018 there were over 17,000 thousand dog bite claims in the US, totaling $673 million in total claim value.

Some states are more costly than others for a dog bite claim. The average settlement was $36 thousand in 2018.

Key Findings:

New York saw an average cost of $59,789.82 with 821 total number of dog bite claims, totaling $49.09 million.
New Jersey saw an average cost of $55,522.75 with 586 total number of dog bite claims, totaling $32.54 million.
Utah saw an average cost of $45,760.48 with 116 total number of dog bite claims, totaling $5.31 million.
Standard renters and home insurance policies come with $100,000 in personal liability. Given the average dog bite claim is $36,000 and the highest state average is $59,000, the $100,000 in coverage should be enough.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) estimates that there are over 43 million dog-owning households in America.

QuoteWizard analysts collected data from AVMA, the Insurance Information Institute and State Farm® dog bite claim data to see which states had the highest average cost per claim. Rankings 1 (highest) to 50 (lowest) are based on average costs per dog bite claim in the state.

Additional figures show the total number of dog bite claims and the total dollar value paid out in the state.

To view the report, visit quotewizard.com/news/posts/dog-bite-claims-by-state (ranked by cost-per-bite as below) or see data mapped by state (ranked by number of bites).

States with highest average dog bite claim
Rank	State	Average cost per claim	Total Number of claims	$ Value of claims (millions)
1	New York	$59,789.82	821	$49.09
2	New Jersey	$55,522.75	586	$32.54
3	Utah	$45,760.48	116	$5.31
4	California	$45,542.87	2,166	$98.65
5	Arizona	$44,522.64	393	$17.50
6	Florida	$43,893.33	1,281	$56.23
7	Wisconsin	$42,589.50	418	$17.80
8	Vermont	$42,360.85	37	$1.57
9	Mississippi	$41,431.98	142	$5.88
10	Virginia	$40,060.11	359	$14.38
11	Montana	$40,034.51	57	$2.28
12	Missouri	$39,764.12	338	$13.44
13	North Dakota	$38,519.62	34	$1.31
14	Louisiana	$38,283.63	249	$9.53
15	Kentucky	$37,769.02	201	$7.59
16	Wyoming	$37,542.84	34	$1.28
17	Indiana	$37,474.86	368	$13.79
18	Rhode Island	$37,452.06	69	$2.58
19	South Carolina	$37,434.74	289	$10.82
20	Maine	$36,906.11	68	$2.51
21	West Virginia	$36,561.66	73	$2.67
22	New Mexico	$36,326.27	84	$3.05
23	Alaska	$35,718.14	28	$1.00
24	New Hampshire	$35,704.04	100	$3.57
25	Connecticut	$35,644.40	537	$19.14
26	Illinois	$35,553.26	822	$29.22
27	Michigan	$35,468.42	760	$26.96
28	Pennsylvania	$35,423.95	780	$27.63
29	Texas	$35,257.41	922	$32.51
30	Massachusetts	$35,177.01	403	$14.18
31	Washington	$34,938.69	317	$11.08
32	Nevada	$34,730.65	118	$4.10
33	South Dakota	$34,419.28	40	$1.38
34	Nebraska	$34,377.94	117	$4.02
35	Alabama	$34,048.30	230	$7.83
36	Idaho	$33,964.80	61	$2.07
37	Oklahoma	$33,808.16	224	$7.57
38	Georgia	$33,429.52	448	$14.98
39	Iowa	$33,343.20	150	$5.00
40	Hawaii	$33,139.28	59	$1.96
41	Arkansas	$32,447.77	134	$4.35
42	Tennessee	$32,426.31	293	$9.50
43	Minnesota	$32,198.41	370	$11.91
44	Delaware	$31,765.58	50	$1.59
45	Maryland	$30,521.04	284	$8.67
46	North Carolina	$30,252.83	399	$12.07
47	Kansas	$30,004.36	172	$5.16
48	Colorado	$29,600.34	357	$10.57
49	Ohio	$28,900.18	727	$21.01
50	Oregon	$27,876.43	184	$5.13

QuoteWizard is an insurance comparison marketplace for consumers looking to save on insurance. Based in Seattle, QuoteWizard was founded in 2006. It is a Lending Tree company. LendingTree is the nation’s leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. For more information, go to www.lendingtree.com.

Source: QuoteWizard