Dogs & Home Owners Insurance Concers

We all complacently look the other way when they instituted breed bans on Pitbulls because it wasnt our breed… but guess what, it is!  Although Pittbull BSL has been repealed here in Ohio, insurance companies didn’t repeal their position on “dangerous dogs”.  A disturbing new trend is starting to arise in the insurance world.  As the insurance industry gains more and more power they are turning on their insureds for the sake of a buck.  What we need to remember is they do not have their customers’ best interests at heart and are in the business of making money, period.

Dogs have become a very sticky subject with Insurance Carriers for the simple fact that there have been increased dog injury claims within the past 5 years.  While most standard homeowners and renters insurance policies cover liability for dog bites, up to the policy limits.  Even if you have a dog with no bite history it may be considered to be within one of the aggressive dog breeds the majority of insurance companies  will decline to write your home owners policy or cancel you when they find out you have a dog that falls in that category. The following dogs are considered aggressive: Pit Bull, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Presa Canerio,  Doberman Pinscher, Chow Chow, Great Dane, St. Bernard, and Akita. The few companies that will write your home owners policy will most likely exclude the dog and offer no coverage for dog injuries to others.

Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky are “strict liability” states (there are 30 total plus the District of Columbia) meaning a dog owner, harborer or keeper liable for an injury to a person or the property of a person, including a person’s dog. 

An umbrella policy is an affordable alternative for providing liability coverage that a regular homeowners policy does not cover.  It also extends the maximum payable coverage for dog bites up to a million dollars.  While shopping for insurance make sure you ask if the carrier you are considering affords:

Protection for your Saint Bernards?Are all canine-inflicted injuries covered?What are the umbrella policy’s deductibles?

You many have to make a few calls to the companies themselves because the agent may not know.

I worked as an insurance claims adjuster for many years.  I have first hand knowledge of how unscrupulous the insurance industry is and how they handle dogs in the underwriting department.  When you get your homeowners policy documentation, READ the fine print!

We encourage dog owners to do their homework and look for agents that represent these companies for renters and home owner policies. Know of others? Please share your favorite insurance resources.

State FarmFarmers InsuranceUnited Services Automobile AssociationChubb GroupAmicaAuto-Owners Insurance

DogBite Law

View the original article here

People Killing, Maiming Their Pets to Collect on Insurance

Pet insurance fraud has become Britain’s fastest-growing insurance crime, and has even turned deadly for some dogs and cats.  In their owners’ quest for insurance payouts, some pets are paying with their lives. In one brutal scam, people kill pets and then file for early death benefits, according to reports.

Some owners stage fake accidents and injure their pets in order to “fix” pre-existing conditions or to bilk the companies out of more money, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Fraudulent pet claims quadrupled to $3 million during the last year, but many suspect the figure is significantly higher. The number of claims where fraud was suspected or proven increased by 440 percent for one insurer between 2008 and now.

Less harmful fraudulent activity includes making claims on animals who don’t exist, and filing for amounts that double or more what was paid to vets. Experts say some unscrupulous vets may even be helping with some scams.

“These are particularly worrying types of fraud because it often requires the help of a vet,” says fraud investigator ?Carys Clarke.

All this makes those who ding their cars in order to get insurance money (known as a “crash for cash” scheme) look pretty harmless.

Pet insurance is much easier to dupe than human insurance because there are no easy ways to track pets. I’m sure insurers are working on trying to remedy this. And I’m willing to bet that this isn’t solely happening in Britain.

Can you believe some people will go to these extremes to make money? Perhaps if the punishment fit the crime, some perpetrators would be deterred.

I hope the pet insurance industry can come up with better ways to track claims so pets won’t have to continue to pay the price. And speaking of price, I wonder how this sort of thing affects insurance premiums. Have you noticed your bills increasing of late, Dogsters?

Sources: The Telegraph, Time, the Daily Mail

View the original article here