If your dog bites someone, you could be responsible to pay thousands of dollars, your insurer may not cover the attack, you could spend time in jail, your insurance policy could be cancelled or insurance premiums may skyrocket.
A Santa Rosa, California mother’s nose was bitten off by a 90 pound American bulldog while walking her dog to the school bus stop to pick up her children. The bulldog’s owner stated the dog never bit anyone before nor acted aggressively. The court awarded nearly $1 million to the mother and her family, the upper limit of the dog owner’s insurance policy and the dog owner was sentenced to 4 months in prison and 100 hours of community service.
According to the Insurance Information Institute (III) in 2008: dog bites make up 1/3 of all homeowners insurance liability claims; the average cost of a dog bite claim was $24,461; there are more than 4.5 million people bitten by dogs every year.
A single lawsuit can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and the risks are higher if your net worth is greater. Personal liability coverage may not be sufficient, consider an umbrella policy that can protect significant assets. The umbrella policies range from $1 million to $10 million and covers broad liability. Are you properly protecting your assets from a lawsuit?
What is your net worth? Are you exposed to a lawsuit? Are you properly protecting your assets? Call me for a free consultation. Umbrella policies are affordable.