Dog bite claims · 50 states

The dog that bit you probably belongs to someone you know.

That is the reason most people never file a claim. It is also the reason most people never find out who actually pays.

In most cases the money in a dog bite claim comes from a homeowners or renters insurance policy, not from your neighbour's savings account and not from your brother-in-law's paycheck. Liability coverage exists for exactly this, and it usually follows the dog off the property — to a sidewalk, a park, a friend's yard. People who decide not to make trouble are very often protecting someone who was never at financial risk in the first place.

Roughly 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs in the United States every year. In 2025, insurers paid 28,450 dog-related injury claims. Almost everyone in the gap between those two numbers had a claim and never made one.

Your state Where were you bitten? Alabama — table onlyAlaska — table onlyArizona — table onlyArkansas — table onlyCaliforniaColorado — table onlyConnecticut — table onlyDelaware — table onlyFloridaGeorgia — table onlyHawaii — table onlyIdaho — table onlyIllinoisIndiana — table onlyIowa — table onlyKansas — table onlyKentucky — table onlyLouisiana — table onlyMaine — table onlyMaryland — table onlyMassachusettsMichiganMinnesota — table onlyMississippi — table onlyMissouri — table onlyMontana — table onlyNebraska — table onlyNevada — table onlyNew Hampshire — table onlyNew JerseyNew Mexico — table onlyNew YorkNorth Carolina — table onlyNorth Dakota — table onlyOhioOklahoma — table onlyOregon — table onlyPennsylvaniaRhode Island — table onlySouth Carolina — table onlySouth Dakota — table onlyTennessee — table onlyTexasUtah — table onlyVermont — table onlyVirginia — table onlyWashington — table onlyWest Virginia — table onlyWisconsin — table onlyWyoming — table only Show me the law

Ten states published with verified citations. The rest show their framework on the comparison table.