Home owner's insurance and dogs...

Gosh I don't know for sure but homeowner covered dogs - bites and other acidents.  My heart dog Duke (now at the bridge) did damage to a neighbor's car and my homeowners repaired the car.  Funny story; my kids were playing hide and seek with Duke using the neighbor's Vet as home base (brand new red Vet) and when they keep running around the car away from Duke he decided to jump on the hood to get to them - slipping and sliding on the hood scratching it bad!  So my homeowners paid to repair it, thank godness!!

Homeowners also replaced my front door that Duke broke trying to scratch his way out.  Haven't made a claim in years so don't know if things have changed.  Shortly after those claims a tree fell on my shed and the insurance company cancelled me after that claim was paid.

I wouldn't buy a policy from a company that even asked about your pets. Put the restrictive ones out of business by refusing to do business with them.

Thats the reason for the thread. I don't know what companies do or don't.  

every insurance company is different - whereas one might accept GSDs another might not, etc. Many won't even accept a mix of any of the "banned" breeds. It would be very difficult to come up with a list. There are so many little not nationally known companies also.

I work for my insurance agent and she even has companies that won't accept rottie mixes, dobbie mixies, etc. Especially if the dog has the look of one of the banned breeds.

The problem isn't damage done by a dog (doors, vehicles) the problem is physical damage done to a person rather than property. It's the medical involved with such claims that can skyrocket that has caused this.

The medical and then possible counseling say for a kid who had been badly bitten by a dog. That care can easily run into tens of thousands of dollars and be milked for sometime.

It's not an insurance company problem....it's a people problem, people who can't/won't control their dogs and people who see an opportunity to sue. The last 2 times I was at my vets people (different people) have had HUGE rotties and obviously should have had gentler smaller dog. Both owners got bit during the dogs' exam. One couple was older and my vet said they had absolutly no control of the dog at all and she gave them hell for allowing the dog to become the way it was. She told them he's a liability waiting to happen. Imagine the claim if he ever got someone

I have State Farm also and we've never been asked about our dogs. A former coworker had the same insurance company though and his dog bit the gardener when he came in the backyard. The guy filed a bite report and the insurance company insisted they either get rid of the dog or they'd cancel his policy. That's the kind of thing that scares me.

Someone posted a list on our local Craigslist a few years back. I'll have to see if it's floating around the internet somehwere still.

I think ban breeds are so silly, my parents have a harmless looking little shi-a-poo. He recently bit the cable guy. Luckily, they didn't sue.  

Ours asks, but I didn't get the feeling we couldn't get insurance through them if we had a banned breed, I think it would just raise our rates. Our house was VERY hard to insure since it's extremely old and has some issues, so we had to take what we could get.

I found this list, we have Safeco and I have to say, it's excellent insurance, very cheap and they are good with handling claims:

Below is a list of insurance companies that are reported to not discriminate against homeowners based upon the breed of dog that they own:


Allstate
Chubb Group
Erie
Farmers Insurance Group
Fireman's Fund
Kemper
Liberty Mutual
Safeco Corp
State Farm
Travelers
United Services Automobile Association
The Lester Kalmanson Agency Inc. (407-645-5000) specializes in animal-related liability policies.

cakana

I have State Farm also and we've never been asked about our dogs. A former coworker had the same insurance company though and his dog bit the gardener when he came in the backyard. The guy filed a bite report and the insurance company insisted they either get rid of the dog or they'd cancel his policy. That's the kind of thing that scares me.

Definitely another good reason to get a CGC  on all the dogs. You can never be sure what will or won't happen later on.

 My company asks if you have an akita, doberman, pit bull - and a few others I can't remember. I don't know if they would deny coverage or just jack up your rates. I go with them because they are the best deal in town (MEEMIC). It's an ins. company offered only to public school workers. Their rates and customer service are great. I've been with them since I was 16.

Allstate doesn't sell homeowner's insurance in NH. I have a little company out of VT (they only serve northern New England) called Union Mutual. They won't insure only certain breeds (my GSD passes). That's why the list is so difficult. You can't possibly get them all.

cakana

I have State Farm also and we've never been asked about our dogs. A former coworker had the same insurance company though and his dog bit the gardener when he came in the backyard. The guy filed a bite report and the insurance company insisted they either get rid of the dog or they'd cancel his policy. That's the kind of thing that scares me.

Yikes!  That is scary.  I have Allstate for homeowners and I don't think they ever even asked about whether or not there was a dog here.  I should probably check with them someday just to be sure.

Joyce

 My company never asked, I'm not sure what they would or wouldn't cover.  I remember from news reports when VA passed their dangerous dog laws that buying a specific dog bite policy is very hard and very expensive, particularly if the dog has a history, which is a question asked at application.  I remember rates like $1000 per month being quoted for a dog with a history.

HERE...local...N Texas..."Amica" asked my dh TONS of questions about our dogs...what breed, how many, did I breed them, etc etc. He told them that we weren't interested in doing business with such a nosy company and hung up.

rwbeagles

HERE...local...N Texas..."Amica" asked my dh TONS of questions about our dogs...what breed, how many, did I breed them, etc etc. He told them that we weren't interested in doing business with such a nosy company and hung up.

Yup, Amica seems to be picky with everything.  They asked us for SOOOOO much info when we bought our house, they ended up denying us even though we had been car insurance customers forever.