Homeowners Insurance Renewal Denied

[Barb and Raven]

Today I recieved a letter of renewal denial for my homeowners insurance from a local insurance broker. They deal with many companies and the one I have with them is Travelers.
This is what the letter states:

I have received a notice from Travelers Insurance Company regarding the above homeowner policy. Due to the two Rottweilers at your home they have set your homeowners policy up for non-renewal on Dec 4, 2003.

Unfortunately, due to the breed of dogs, I do not have another market that will write you a homowner policy. All coverage will cease on Dec 4, 2003 at 12:01 AM standard time.


You just don't know how P. O. ed it made me to read this bunch of crap!!
I do have plenty of other insurance agencies in the area that I can check with. Also, I am once again responding to the ASPCA mailing I received a week or so ago about this matter.
I don't know how they found out I have the dogs, but I had them when I applied for the insurance two years ago and was never asked about any dogs I have. I believe they found out when I had to have a claims adjuster come to my house in Apr due to some storm damage. He seemed to have no problem with them and even played with them. He must have made a note of them somewhere. I have to wonder if that is the case, it's been six months now and now that it's only one month from renewal they send me this crap. What happened in the previous six months!
Why now! I could have had a lot more time to be searching for a new policy.

I will keep everyone posted as to how my insurance search goes. I also have my vehicle insurance with them and I will certainly let them know they will not be getting my money for that when I change to a new agency.:)

[mmgy]

I'm P.O.ed for you!!!! Good luck.

[jbach]

That sucks. Make sure you let them know beforehand that due to their unfair policy practices, that they will be needing to find another client to replace your auto insurance as well as your homeowners insurance.

[stevenc]

Have you checked you states law regarding non-renewal of homeowners insurance? I can only talk for PA which does state that you cannot be canceled for the type of dog you have. The problem exists that people do not fight this problem. It is just easier to go to another company. You have a right to contact your insurance commissioner and file a complaint. Let us know what happens. Good Luck!

[Pumacat]

I am also PO'ed for you as well.

I have State Farm and they will insure you.

You may also ask other companies if they will insure you and cover everything excluding dog bites.

As a last resort, I guess you could transfer ownership of your dogs to someone else (or maybe even a trust) so if they ask you "Do you own any dogs", you can say "no"

Good look!

[C Ross]

Check with the GA insurance department for the state law regarding cancellation and nonrenewal. They can probably cancel you for the dogs, but they may have to give you more than 30 days notice. As a matter of fact, I was suprised that you only got 30 days notice. I thought the norm was 60 - 90 days, but I could be wrong.

Christine

[Terrie]

I too would be really P.O'd.

I am sure you aren't up for shopping around at the last minute but I have Farmer's insurance. They insured us when we had Payt in NY and they insure him now that we are in NC. They simply asked if I have ever filed a bite claim when I told them no they said "OK"

Good Luck!

[Patty1231]

I'm glad to hear Pennsylvania law does not permit non-renewal! I've been wondering about this but didn't want to push my luck by asking my insurance agent. He's seen me out with the dog so I know he knows I have a rottie.

[Simba]

After reading all this I decided to call my insurance company and see what their policy was. They said that they will not insure if you have Rottweiler or a few other breeds. Well I have never told them that I have a dog period and now have no plans of ever letting them know! What a pile of garbage!!!! Funny I also asked about German Sheppards and they said the are okay. I have seen quite a few vicious guard dog GSD's that friends and family own. Just doesn't make sense.

[marisa]

We had to agree to a clause stating that our homeowner's insurance company (Farmers) will not be held responsible for bites and/or other damages caused by our dogs. They were all right with our mixed dog, but "unfortunately your german shepher and the rottweiler are on the dangerous dog list." Think I'm going to check with State Farm...

[lblax]

Originally posted by stevenc
I can only talk for PA which does state that you cannot be canceled for the type of dog you have.

in insurance terms the sneaky companies use the term non renuable so that they can get around cancelation laws which cancelled means immeadiatly..... if you read most policies they state that renuable policy is not guarranteed even the ones that say you cant be cancelled....

westfield insurance if available in your state doesnt care about dogs and it is good insurance and also even though i hate to point someone to the akc they do have a spot on there website where you can look up insurance and there restrictions for several of the major companies

[C Ross]

I think it's dangerous to lie to the insurance company about whether or not you own a dog and what kind. This opens a whole can of worms about the truthfulness of your application for insurance. You can be denied coverage for other claims if you've falsified your app.

If you know your insurance company does not cover rottweilers, I would discreetly shop around for one that does and move your policy to the new company.

Christine

[Chantal]

I just moved to GA and we use to have nationwide. THey said they would not insure us. In MD we had the house before the dogs. State Farm said it was a case by case basis, but Allstate said no problem so we went with them

[Rocky's_mom]

You might wnat to check in with state farm policies. Some people say they have no problems, but in Kansas they do.

[Simba]

C Ross,
We already had our home insurance when we got our Rottweiler 2 years ago, we have just never told the insurance company that we have got a dog.