The volume of third party pet insurance claims has increased in recent years. It seems the public are readily seeking cash compensation from the courts when they are harmed in incidents involving other people’s dogs. Dog owners that do not possess this relatively new third party pet insurance might therefore be at significant financial risk.

Pet insurance companies are claiming to have forked out millions due to third party liability claims made by dog owners in the last few years and the trend is still spiralling upwards. It appears that third party cover is deemed not so much an optional extra nowadays but a downright essential. In fact, many pet insurers now insist on including third party liability cover automatically in their policies.

Once a dog owner has been proven to be legally liable for the illness, death or injury of a third party caused by the involvement of their dog, a successful claim can usually be made to a pet insurance company. However, if an owner does not possess this type of insurance, they may well be liable themselves to pay any costs and compensation awards against them or face a huge legal bill in order to defend the claim. This is a daunting prospect for any dog owner!

People might be lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that they are safe from these incidents because their dog is well behaved, loyal and simply would not hurt a fly. Think again! There have been all manner of occurrences where the pet is not malicious or dangerous but a claim has been made none-the-less. For example, one case was cited where an over-protective dog chased the local postman out of his garden, a perfectly normal behaviour response for any dog. However the postman fell and badly injured himself. A subsequent personal injury claim coupled with a loss of income and legal fees raked in a sum of £65,000!

Another frightening example is that of an owner out walking his dog, who possessed third party liability cover with a well-known pet insurance company. The dog became excitable at seeing a passer-by and jumped up, knocking an old, frail lady to the ground. The lady was so badly injured that damages came in at around £40,000. In this case however, the costs were fortunately covered by the third party insurance policy.

It is quite clear that short of never letting dogs venture outside, the types of claims made in these examples could happen to any dog owner. This seems an extremely high and somewhat unfair price to pay for what could be little more than an unfortunate incident. In today’s litigious society, the public is becoming increasingly educated in their rights to claim damages when they have been aggrieved or injured in some way. Pet owners must also therefore ensure they are educated in a way that will give them, as well as their pets, security and protection.

Pet insurance customers should not make the assumption that their policy automatically covers them for third party liability if there is an incident with their pet. It is worth scrutinising the small print in the policy very carefully. Customers that do find they are covered for third party liability can hopefully rest in the knowledge that their policy will cover any compensation damages or pay for the defence of a claim.

Third party liability cover typically covers dog owners in a variety of eventualities, such as when damage to someone else’s property occurs or if someone is injured, killed or made ill due to an incident with the owner’s dog. The exact specifics will vary with different companies and policies however and so, just to re-iterate, one should always read the small print!

In March 2010, the UK government was on the verge of forcing all dog owners to take out third party insurance anyway, as a means to protect the public against the increasing numbers of savage attacks by dangerous dogs. In the end this proposal never materialised because it was deemed unworkable. For one thing, the policies would not cover breeds deemed as dangerous (such as the pit bull terrier) because they are already banned under the law anyway and yet responsible dog owners might end up being penalised unfairly.

So dog owners are left with the free choice of third party pet insurance. In the end, it is a case of weighing up the risks of an incident occurring against the cost of the insurance and in times where the economy is struggling, this decision is not an easy one.