Home owners insurance

[Bucky's Mom]

Call State Farm - they don't have breed restrictions (in my area)- do a search through the archives-there is a lot of info on Homeowners Insurance there

[ April 02, 2001: Message edited by: Bucky's Mom ]

[Volunteer]

Taipan -

NERR has a list of rottie-friendly insurance companies that WILL cover rottweilers up to one bite. I would talk to the person processing your application and ask for guidance. I know that one of the companies is State Farm. There is also Farmers Insurance and, if you are active duty military or dependents of a retired military officer, USAA is another option.

My best advice would be to call or email your apps processor or area coordinator and ask them for more information. Send me a PM if you need the area coordinator's email address.

I would NEVER, however, follow the insurance agents advice about not telling your carrier about your dogs. What if they did come out for whatever reason? Now you either have to rehome your dog or you lose coverage. Better to be up-front and know where you stand than live in fear of something happening!

Deb

[Chloesmom]

We told our agent about our dog when we bought the house. Our policy states that should she bite someone, they will cover it that one time. Any subsequent bites, and we are on our own. Good thing Chloe greets everyone with her stumpy tail wagging like crazy and not with her teeth.

But don't try to hide the fact that you have a rott. It would be worse I think, should something ever happen.

[Dale Green Young]

What a bunch of balogna (BALONEY!)

I am in the process of buying a house. So far, no one's said BOO about my owning TWO ROTTWEILERS, a ROTT-PIT MIX and a DOBERMAN. I'm starting to wonder why agents are less informed than the insurance carriers themselves at this point. Yes, some companies DO have breed restrictions. They also restrict trampolines and skate board ramps. Alright, fine. So they don't get my business.

I was talking with the agent who I did get my insurance from and he outright said to me that the agents make the recommendations on whether to insure a specific DOG (not breed) in the majority of cases. He said that his company does not have a breed restriction but he knows plenty of agents who got bitten by a dog as a kid, and won't insure anything bigger than a cocker spaniel - adn they work for the same company HE works for!

Now his criteria for insuring my dogs - meeting them. Didn't even WANT to see that they all have CGCs, that one competes in obedience, that one's a therapy dog. Just wanted to MEET THEM. Oh - and the rate for insuring my home is the same as teh rate for insuring my home if I only owned a cat.

Taipan - let your application processor know you need an insurance company referral. We have a list of agents and companies for New England, NJ and NY (and other places too).

[LORHEL]

Hope it is okay to jump in here and ask a question on this same subject...
What would you guys recommend for someone like us, who bought our home like three years ago, but just last summer got a rottweiler puppy. He is 10 months now. I looked in our homeowners policy and it basically says that it would cover for liability on other people but not for us (which obviously we want it for liability/others god forbid anything would ever happen). Am I supposed to just call up our insurance company and say, we have a rottweiler now, and are you going to cover us still? I don't really know how to handle this. I wasn't going to call them at all, since we just put up a 6 foot fence recently and posted signs, in our back yard. And after reading our policy, it seems like they are not saying it would not be covered. I am assuming once is all it would be covered. Should I just leave it alone? I would appreciate any comments. thanks!

[Me n Diamond]

I'm in the same situation! I just found out an hour ago that Utica does not insure Rottie owners, and guess what, I'm a Utica customer.

Because I got Diamond after the fact, the agent told me "not to worry about it, and not to publicize it either"!

Go figure...

When it goes up for renewal next year, I'll seek State Farm's business, as I confirmed that SF will cover us in Virginia.

[ April 02, 2001: Message edited by: Me n Diamond ]

[amber bock]

This is one subject I know alot about. I am and insurance adjuster, I am starting an agency and I have a degree in Insurance so this will be the correct answer.

If you told the truth when you took out the policy you will be covered for liability to your limit if your dog bites a person. If you owned the dog before you took out the policy and lied about it then you will not have coverage as you lied on the application and it will result in a denial.

Your company has every right to drop you if they have breed restrictions and they find out you own one of the dangerous 5 (rotti, dobe, gsd, chow, akita) or if your dog bites someone.

If you did not own the dog when you took out the policy you will be covered.....However if you know you are insured by a company such as ANPAC, or Shelter and you know they do not except the dangerous 5 change companies. The reason you need to change is because if you get dropped it is harder to get insurance no matter the reason you were dropped and it cost alot more usually.

To find out if your company writes rotties call up the agents office and just annonimously ask does this company write rotties.

Now for the original post. Some companies do not write the dangerous 5 period. Others leave it to their agents discression. Agents get bonuses for low amount of losses. Knowing this some agents refuse to put rotties in their book of business.

Call around someone will write rotties I guarantee it.

I personally have turned down some business. Before everyone gets mad at me let me explaine. The company I write for allows me to write rotties and all the others (it was one of the questions i asked when I interviewed) However I personally will not write the fab 5 unless I am allowed to meet the dog in person. The dog has to be excepting and well socialised. The only dog I refused was a gsd that well for lack of a better reason did not seem stable. It was not obedient and just acted strange.

[Alaskan]

I'm glad this subject has come up because I hadn't known any of this about home owners insurance until it was posted here. We'll be buying our own place in alaska hopefully within the next few years and that's the first question I'm going to ask them before we start it. :) We have state farm insurance for our vehicle and life insurance policies so I hope they accept our two rotties as well. :)

[Lisi]

I'm sure they will, considering if you tell them you will pull the lot if they don't!!!

Actually I've been told it doesn't necessarily mean an insurance company doesn't cover, but more of an Agent thing.

I have an agent here in tampa, and I probably give her around 40 new clients a year!!!! - She told me that she takes the rotties, cause in 10yrs she has never had a rottie family let her down, but now the small dogs (Cocker Spaniels etc) are high up there, so she will insure homes with Rotties, but not small snippy dogs. As she said, she can tell who is responsible and who isn't, as she visits each household personally.

But State Farm is great normally.

Good luck

Lis'

[Taipan]

I was wondering how everyone handles home owners insurance. I called my agent and she said that no insurance company anywhere will insure you if you have a rottweiler. Later in the conversation she said as long as they don't know we have a rottie and there are no bite incidences there probably wouldn't be a problem, but if they did a ramdom inspection of our house and saw the dog they could pull ou insurance! I can't beleive that everyone who has a rottie is without homeowners insurance. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks

[Dale Green Young]

>> Some companies do not write the dangerous 5 period. Others leave it to their agents
discression. Agents get bonuses for low amount of losses. Knowing this some agents refuse to put rotties in their
book of business.

Call around someone will write rotties I guarantee it.

I personally have turned down some business. Before everyone gets mad at me let me explaine. The company I
write for allows me to write rotties and all the others (it was one of the questions i asked when I interviewed)
However I personally will not write the fab 5 unless I am allowed to meet the dog in person. The dog has to be
excepting and well socialised. <<


And ya know what?
This is how it SHOULD be.
It's like straight out BSL for any other reason too. You are insuring an owner with a dog - either that owner is responsible or he isn't responsible - hence the agent for the new house came and met my dogs, got slobbered on by them and wrote me a policy.

LIST MODERATOR: would it be inappropriate to post the list that I have here and ask for additions and deletions? I'm sure it will help people

[Volunteer]

Taipan -

Just in case you don't have your "notify me when I get a Private Message" turned on... I received your PM and PM'd you back! :D

Deb

[mrsknicks71]

I never knew this about Home Owners Insurance, actually I never gave it a thought? Does anyone know what Prudential's policy is? I will call them this week. One question what do people who breed or own kennels do for insurance? Oh by the way I live in NY.

[amber bock]

Most Kennels would have a commercial policy. As for breeders if they were a large breeder they to would have a commercial policy however as we know most are back yard breeders and usually have no more than any other homeowner.

[Kage'sMom]

deleted - wrong thread.

[ April 11, 2001: Message edited by: Kage'sMom ]