Yesterday, near the end of a one hour bike ride workout, I was finishing a long, steady hill climb when out of the corner of my eye I noticed some motion and heard a guttural growling.  I turned my head to see a large, tan colored dog bearing down on me with two of his cohorts in close pursuit behind him.  I was in a low, hill climb gear but had enough time to gear up to a higher gear, stand up on my pedals and let adrenaline do the rest.  Fortunately I was able to outrun these mongrels but believe me, my heart was pounding.  Later the emotion of fear was replaced by one of anger.  If I had been bitten, I’m sure I would have reacted negatively and forcefully against the dog owners that let them run loose in their yard, free to attack anyone using the road.  How ironic that this week is National Dog Bite Prevention Week.

Dog bites claims are on the rise all across the nation and the payouts for these claims is rising quickly as well.  From 2010 to 2011, the number of dog bite claims rose 16% and they have increased by a total of 48% since 2003!  The Insurance Information Institute says that in 2011 dog bite claims totaled $479 million in the US with a total of 16,292 claims filed.  We all joke a bit about the Postal Service and dog bites but the numbers don’t lie.  The Postal Service reports that nationwide there were more than 5500 postal workers attacked in 1400 cities last year.  These attacks cost the US Postal Service close to $1.2 million last year.  And what do you suppose is the last thing most postal workers heard just before they were attacked?  The answer:  don’t worry my dog won’t bite. 

The Postal Service has created a list of the top 25 cities in the US for dog bite claims.   Topping the list is Los Angeles, followed by San Diego.  North Carolina only has one city on that list, Charlotte, which came in at number 24, tied with Orlando. 

With medical costs climbing, the cost of paying for your dog’s attack on someone else has skyrocketed over the past few years.  So will you have any insurance protection if your dog bites someone?  Well, if you have a standard NC homeowners policy, then you will have protection under the liability section of your policy.  Your medical payments coverage, also a part of your NC homeowners insurance policy will also be available to pay the medical costs of the bite up to the limit of coverage.  Of course, with the NC homeowners insurance market in such current disarray, the last thing you want to have to do is file a claim against your home insurance for a dog bite claim.  That could lead to a cancellation or a dramatic rate increase for you.

So what are some of the tips for preventing a dog bite claim from one of your much loved pets?  First of all, understand that any dog has the potential to bite someone.  You don’t want to be one more person advising your mail carrier that your dog doesn’t bite, just before he attacks.  You should work to socialize your dog so that it knows how to act with other people and other dogs.  It is best to do this while the dog is young.  Discourage children from disturbing a dog that is eating or sleeping.   Don’t expose your dog to new situations if you are unsure of your dog’s response to that situation.  Never approach a strange dog and always avoid eye contact with a dog that appears threatening.

At Clinard Insurance Group, we want all insurance consumers to be informed buyers.  If you would like personal, one on one help with any of your insurance needs, from home and auto insurance to life insurance or business insurance, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557.

As an agency with a niche specialty in car dealers insurance, Clinard Insurance Group sees a lot of hail damage claims.   A well timed hailstorm can quickly do tens of thousands of dollars in damage to a dealer’s inventory.   What if you had a warning that would give you the time that you need to get your most valuable cars out of harm’s way?  How much could that save you in deductible costs, lost time and effort in repairs?  Now there is a way to know exactly when your inventory is at risk as well as a way to know when the more general warnings that are broadcast do not actually apply to your lot.

AccuWeather has developed a service that they call SkyGuard.  This service puts meteorologists at work evaluating the weather risks for your lot’s specific longitude and latitude to inform you if your inventory is at risk.  In addition, you will also know when a more general warning really won’t affect your specific location.  These warning notifications can be sent to you by both text and email and SkyGuard will follow up with you until they receive a receipt that you received the message.

With hail storms, SkyGuard targets a minimum warning time of 30 minutes.  They can also warn you of tornadoes, lightning, rainfall, flash flooding, snow, high winds or ice.   They can customize your warning criteria so that you can choose exactly the information that you need to know.

Now none of this is going to be much help to you if you don’t have a safe place to put your most valuable inventory in the event of an approaching storm.  But if you do have some expensive inventory items and a safe place where you could park them in the event of a storm, then you might want to consider this service for your used car dealership.   As of this time I have not found a dealers insurance policy that is providing any premium reduction for those who purchase this service, but I have no doubt that the time will come when this kind of warning service will be subsidized by your insurance company.  When that time comes, I will certainly blog about it to let you know.

This is also a good time to remind those of you dealers out there with comprehensive coverage on your inventory that most dealers insurance policies have a per vehicle deductible for comp claims like hail.  In most cases this deductible has a maximum that is equal to five times the per vehicle deductible.  There is one insurance company that does not have a per car deductible for comprehensive claims.  This company, one that we use to insure many of our dealers, has only a per event deductible.   To show how this could benefit you, assume that you have a $500 comprehensive deductible with a 5 car limit on your policy.  After your lot is hit by hail, you will have to pay a $500 deductible on the first five cars that were damaged for a total of $2500.  If you had instead chosen a per loss deductible, then you would only be paying for the first $500 of damage in this same loss scenario.

At Clinard Insurance Group, we insure more than 300 used car dealerships all across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.  We want all used car dealers to be informed consumers when it comes to buying insurance for their dealership.  If you would like help with your dealers insurance, please visit us on the web at www.TheAutoDealersHelper.com or call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.