Dog-Bite Claims Up 5.5%; Insurers Pay Out $483M In 2013

May 16--During the same week the property-casualty insurance industry dubbed "national dog bite prevention week," a video coincidentally went viral online of a cat racing to fight off a dog attacking a small child.

The dog attacks a boy on a tricycle, and the family cat attacks the dog -- chasing it off the property.

Perhaps State Farm has a new mascot?

On Wednesday, the Insurance Information Institute issued its annual statistics about insurance claims related to dogs biting, scratching or knocking down people.

It turns out, dog bites account for more than a third of the money insurers pay in homeowners' liability claims. Last year, dog bite liabilities in the U.S. cost insurers $483 million, according to the insurance institute and State Farm, the largest insurers of homes.

In Connecticut, State Farm paid 38 claims totaling $1.9 million last year, up from 17 claims for a total of $628,860 in 2012.

The number of dog-bite claims nationwide was up 5.5 percent last year from 2012, but the average cost of a claim dropped 6.4 percent. An average dog-bite claims cost $27,862 last year, down from $29,752 a year earlier.

The old journalism expression is, "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."

When a cat bites a dog -- or at least chases one away -- that's a YouTube sensation.

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