Annoyed at insurance companies!

[aquarius3079]

I just needed to vent for a moment.

I have a 9 month old male named Link. As of last week I began house hunting, a fenced yard for Linky is a must!!.

It occurred to me that I would also have to insurance shop. I started my search with my current car insurance carrier. I was irritated to find that not only would they not write my policy, but neither would ANY of the companies that my agent deals with. So I continued my search with some advice from a forum search here and found a company that has no problem with a Rottweiler. Thanks for the info.

I am so annoyed, had I known this I would have pulled my car insurance months ago and I certainly will now! I am also going to write a letter to the agency and the company explaining exactly why I am cancelling. I am sure it will get tossed in the trash but I have to do something.

Thanks for listening!

[flyballmom]

Glad you found help here! It sucks, doesn't it? The whole insurance thing? I pulled my auto insurance, too, and gave it to the company that would insure my dogs.

[cheryl]

Which companies are offering reasonable coverage? Let's all switch our carrier!

[RottiMomCT]

In CT, I know State Farm has no 'breed list' that they discriminate against. They don't care what the breed, it's not breed, it's what the dog did.

As far as I know there are several other states in which State farm has no breed list.

I called 5-10 different companies until I found one that would insure our home...I would switch car coverage but State Farm charges more and offers less than what we get with Geico.

[flyballmom]

I ended up getting my insurance thru Farmers...unfortunately I had to go out of town to find it. Would have loved to give my business to a local agent, but their loss....

I called EVERY insurance office in Fresno that had a reputable looking ad in the yellow pages trying to find coverage...not one would insure the dogs. A few would cover the house but exclude the dogs. After talking to the agent I found in So. Cal, I discovered that the breed list thing is not corporate policy, but one that each agent decides for him/herself. The reason given to me was the killing of Diane Whipple in San Francisco a couple years back. Guess the fall out from that hasn't drifted too far east....plus in the nether regions of Fresno we have a little dog-fighting and some drugs houses.

[JD102175]

Aquarius, glad to hear you were able to find an insurance company.

We have all of our insurance(auto,home,and life) through Country Insurance. Unfortunately if we ever leave the state of Illinois we will need to go looking beause as of right now they only work in Illinois(with the exception of the city of Chicago). They have no breed list and our agent has met Brodie and had no problems with him.

Jaime

[Dante's Dad]

Are you insuring your dogs incase of a bite?
Just reading these posts and wondering why. My insurance company knows of the dog, but is there more to "the dog being insured"?
Kinda confused............although my Dante would not hurt a soul!

[flyballmom]

Originally Posted by Dante's Dad

Are you insuring your dogs incase of a bite?
Just reading these posts and wondering why. My insurance company knows of the dog, but is there more to "the dog being insured"?
Kinda confused............although my Dante would not hurt a soul!

No, no, no...it's not any special coverage. Sorry to make it sound that way. The insurance we're referring to is that of liability on your home. Lots of companies, seems like especially in California, are refusing to insure a home that houses a particular breed of dog. Those that will exclude the dogs. Yes, it does mean for bites. I'm 99% sure that my guys would never bite either...but there's that 1% that's left. And, say if your neighbor comes over for coffee....your dog is happy to see them, jumps up, knocks them down, they hit their head on the fireplace, incur a head injury and are in ICU for a week. That's still considered an injury caused by the dog. A friend takes your dog for a walk, trips over the dog (how many times have we all done THAT?) and breaks a leg...dog injury. If your dogs are not included in your policy, none of that would be covered. Sorry, I'm rambling, it's late..............

[RottiMomCT]

If the company isn't informed of the dog they will not cover a bite - no matter how long you've been with the company.

We were dropped from AllState because of two thefts in five years, neither involved the dogs in any way. I called about 15 different companies/agents in the phone book until I got the State Farm guy...he met the dogs, even brought treats for them, and it was all good. Turns out he's a fan of big dogs.

As for finding other alternatives for you - unless it's a small independent office, you'll be out of luck.

I think it's best to inform the agent up front of the dogs you own. The worse they can tell you is "NO" then you go looking elsewhere. Eventually insurance companies WILL realize they are shooting themselves in the foot by excluding people based on the breed of dog they own.

[Dante's Dad]

Wow thanks for the info flyballmom and everyone!
I guess that I have a lot of research to do on this issue.

We have owned our house for just over a year now, and got Dante about 8 months ago, I never metioned it to our insurance company. Now I will talk to them about my options!

Thanks again!

[aquarius3079]

I ended up finding a State Farm agent that would take us also. He said all they ask is if your dog, any breed, has been trained as a guard dog or attack dog and if so they will not take you on. Otherwise we are good to go.

I considered not telling for 1 second and then thought, "God forbid Link ran out on the deck and a board fell through and he broke a leg," then I have to explain where this 120lb dog came from. And I have some serious vet bills to contend with along with the house repair.

I would love to stay with a more local company but if they can't see past Link's size and breed then I will not give ANY of my business!

[Bellesmom]

Originally Posted by flyballmom

Glad you found help here! It sucks, doesn't it? The whole insurance thing? I pulled my auto insurance, too, and gave it to the company that would insure my dogs.

Hi, new to this site. I own a Rott ( female ) I can't get a company to insure me. Who did you find? Please help. My current company doesn't know about the dog, but are price gouging me 1,600 a year for homeowners. I went to change, but noone will insure the dog ( or my house because of the dog ) She is a wonderful pet, is active in Pets on Wheels, goes to all the Little League games. This is an outrage!!

[RottiMomCT]

Originally Posted by dina211

As you see in my reply above, my agent (25 years of business) went into indepth detail with me regarding this issue and we would be covered, but we would be dropped if a bite was to happen.
I also studied my policy in depth and there is nothing on that policy that says they will not cover a dog bite.

We had been with AllState for as long as we've been in this house (about 30 years). If the company doesn't KNOW about the dogs being in your home, you will NOT be covered - no matter how long you've had coverage.

If they know about the dogs but have chosen to NOT include that on your policy write-up, get whatever theytell you in writing, because IF something were to happen, and you say 'we TOLD them we had a rottie and they said that's OK, but nothing is documented...you'll lose that battle quickly.

All I was stating is that it is best to be up front and honest with insurance companies when you have a rottie - heck, we told AllState they were mixed breeds because we honestly had NO PROOF of their lineage - the COULD be mixed breeds for all we know but just really, really look like rotties!

AllState knew we had dogs, listed them on the policy as 'predominantly rottweiler mixed breed dogs', nothing happnened involving the dogs, and if nothing happened at all in terms of claims, we'd probably still have AllState as a insurance company.

On another note - dina - did you end up adopting from NERR?

[aquarius3079]

Bellesmom-

I ended up getting insurance from Statefarm. I know that rates are based on home value, location, etc. but I will only be paying $277 a year WITH my rottie! You are getting taken advantage of. If you do a search through the forum for homeowner's insurance you will find the same info that I found. Good Luck!!