"Having a cracked side walk in front of a house is a hazard that can lead to bodily injury liability issues for the homeowner. Insurance companies inspect the properties they insure from time to time and can require that cracked sidewalks and driveways be repaired as a condition of continuing to insure the home. To learn more, call Elissa at 707-935-6294 x 102 or Email your question."

One and three-quarter inches. That’s a number property owners should think about in the upcoming weeks. It’s a number that is crucial in a project the city is considering to repair sidewalk trip-hazards. And it is the threshold beyond which expensive sidewalk repairs could be required that, under state law, property owners will have to help pay for.

Dog bites accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claim dollars paid out in 2012, costing more than $489 million, according to the industry’s Insurance Information Institute (III) and insurer State Farm.

While the number of claims fell by 1.4 percent in 2012—the first decline since 2010—the costs of settling dog bite claims continued to rise, by 1.2 percent, last year, according to an analysis of homeowners insurance data by the III.

The average cost paid out for dog bite claims was $29,752 in 2012 compared to $29,396 in 2011.