Statutory Report to Legislature Outlines Top Dog-Related Home Insurance Claims by Massachusetts Insurers

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Under Section 32 of Chapter 219 of the Acts of 2018, licensed admitted homeowner insurance companies are required to provide annual reports to the Division of Insurance during the calendar years of 2020, 2021, and 2022 of specified information concerning the nature of dog claims made during the preceding calendar year.

In total, the Division notes that its information is based on the 428 total claims with injuries caused by dogs received by seventy-seven of the Massachusetts home insurance companies in 2020.

In order to consolidate the data into a more digestible format, the Division of Insurance requested that carriers submit their information to the Division first so that it could compile and forward the report to the appropriate persons in the Massachusetts Legislature. The Division then highlighted certain notable items from the reported information. All of the tables below are reprinted from the Division’s report to the Legislature.

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Which ten breeds of dogs were associated with the most submitted claims?

Dog Breed	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
Undefined	129	25.6%	107	25.0%
Mix	89	17.7%	90	21.0%
German Shephard	48	9.5%	48	11.2%
Labrador Retriever	52	10.3%	48	11.2%
Pit Bull	53	10.5%	41	9.6%
Terrier	38	7.6%	22	5.1%
Golden Retriever	18	3.6%	9	2.1%
Beagle	12	2.4%	8	1.9%
Siberian Husky	8	1.6%	7	1.6%
Doberman Pinscher	2	0.4%	6	1.4%
Other Dog Breed	54	10.7%	42	9.8%
Total	503	100.0%	428	100.0%

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What is the gender of the dog associated with the claim?

Gender	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
Male	348	69.2%	289	67.5%
Female	125	24.9%	113	26.4%
Unknown	30	6.0%	26	6.1%
Total	503	100.0%	428	100.0%

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Has the dog associated with the claim gone through obedience training?

Obedience Training	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
No	197	39.2%	166	38.8%
Unknown	162	32.2%	127	29.7%
Yes	144	28.6%	135	31.5%
Total	503	100.0%	428	100.0%

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Was the dog associated with the claim ever declared dangerous in its own municipality?

Dangerous in Own Municipality	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
No	421	83.7%	337	78.7%
Unkown	65	12.9%	78	18.2%
Yes	17	3.4%	13	3.0%
Total	503	100.0%	428	100.0%

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If there was a claimed injury to a person, what was the person’s age?

Age of Injured Person	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
under 12	40	8.0%	43	10.0%
12-17	19	3.8%	10	2.3%
18-64	395	78.5%	309	72.2%
65+	41	8.2%	40	9.3%
Unknown	8	1.6%	26	6.1%
Total	503	100.0%	428	100.0%

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Was the dog associated with the claim leashed at the time of injury?

Leashed Dog	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
No	382	75.9%	318	74.3%
Yes	22	4.4%	95	22.2%
Unknown	99	19.7%	15	3.5%
Total	5.3	100.0%	428	100.0%

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Was the dog associated with the claim provoked before the injury occurred?

Dog Provoked	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
No	412	81.9%	323	75.5%
Unknown	65	12.9%	78	18.2%
Yes	26	5.2%	27	6.3%
Total	503	100.0%	428	100.0%

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Did the claim injury occur on the owner’s property or elsewhere?

Injury on Owner’s Property	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
Elsewhere	253	50.3%	226	52.8%
Owner’s Property	249	49.5%	202	47.2%
Unknown	1	0.2%	0	0.0%
Total	503	100.0%	428	100.0%

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Was the injured person committing a crime upon person/property of the dog owner?

Injured Committing Crime	2019 Count	2019 %	2020 Count	2020 %
No	495	98.4%	421	98.4%
Unknown	6	1.2%	6	1.4%
Yes	2	0.4%	1	0.2%
Total	503	100.0%	428	100.0%

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For those interested in the official report

A copy of the official report, from which we obtained the above tables can be accessed below.