{"id":3119,"date":"2019-04-10T16:04:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T20:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.greatflorida.com\/blog\/?p=3119"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:50:04","slug":"florida-ranks-among-the-top-for-dog-bites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/2019\/florida-ranks-among-the-top-for-dog-bites\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Ranks Among the Top for Dog Bites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millions of households across the U.S. own a dog. The American Veterinary Medical Association<\/a> (AVMA) reminds us, any dog can bite, if provoked. Half of all dog bites involve a dog owned by the victim\u2019s family or neighbor.<\/p>\n

Approximately, 4 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians<\/a> (AAFP). They also report, about 800,000 require medical attention. Children are usually the victims, 44 percent are under 14 years-old.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn Florida, if your dog bites someone even if it is a first-time occurrence, the owner is held liable,\u201d reports Dustyn Shroff<\/a>, Vice President of GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a>, Florida\u2019s top independent homeowners insurance<\/a> agency. Florida is a \u201cstrict liability\u201d state regarding dog bites. This means a dog owner is liable for any damage to a person, even a non-bite injury.<\/p>\n

A report by the Insurance Information Institute<\/a> (III), reveals, Florida had 1,281 dog bites or other dog related injury claims last year, second only to California. Over $56 million was paid out in Florida with the average cost per claim being $43,893.<\/p>\n

The report also notes a trend\u00a0in higher costs per claim being attributable not only to dog bites but also to dogs knocking down children, cyclists, the elderly, etc., which can result in injuries that impact the potential severity of the losses.<\/p>\n

Dog bites and other dog related injuries accounted for nearly a third of the money paid out in 2018 for homeowner liability claims, totaling $675 million nationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomeowners insurance<\/a> and renter\u2019s insurance<\/a> policies generally cover dog bite liability legal expenses,\u201d says Dustyn Shroff<\/a>, Vice President of GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a>, Florida\u2019s largest independent homeowners insurance<\/a> agency.<\/p>\n

Each insurer is responsible for checking into their liability limits<\/a>. The dog owner is responsible for damages that exceed claim limits.<\/p>\n

Whether you own or rent your home, insurance should be a priority to protect your family and belongings. GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a> works with reputable insurance companies to provide dependable homeowners insurance<\/a> and renters insurance<\/a> at affordable prices. For more information go online to www.greatflorida.com<\/a> or call us today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Millions of households across the U.S. own a dog. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reminds us, any dog can bite, if provoked. Half of all dog bites involve a dog owned by the victim\u2019s family or neighbor. Approximately, 4 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, according to the American Academy of Family […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1219,"featured_media":3129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1,13,8,89,9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-homeowners-insurance","8":"category-floridainsurance","9":"category-healthcare-insurance","10":"category-renters-insurance","11":"category-travel-insurance","12":"category-umbrella-insurance"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3119"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14178,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3119\/revisions\/14178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}