Insurers paid out more than $1 billion in dog-related injury claims in 2022, a 28 percent increase over 2021 even though the number of claims decreased last year, according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) and State Farm.

There were 17,597 dog-related injury claims in the U.S. in 2022, down from 17,989 in 2021, according to a Triple-I analysis of homeowners insurance claims data. Despite a 2.2 percent decline in the number of claims, the total cost of claims increased significantly—from $882 million in 2021 to $1.13 billion in 2022.

The average cost per claim was $64,555 in 2022, a 31.7 percent increase from $49,025 in 2021. Across the U.S., the average cost per claim rose 131.7 percent from 2013-2022 due to increased medical costs as well as the size of settlements, judgments and jury awards given to plaintiffs, which are trending upward.

More than a third of the dog-related injury claims in 2022 were filed in five states: California (1,954 claims), Florida (1,331), Texas (1,017), New York (969) and Michigan (905). California also had the highest average cost per claim at $78,818, followed by Florida with an average cost of $78,203.

Source: Insurance Information Institute