Homeowners Insurance Companies "Bad Breeds" Blacklists

[DarknessDivine]

Insurance Company "Bad Breeds" Blacklists

Allstate Yes--
pit bulls, Staffordshire Terriers, Doberman Pinschers, Rottweilers, Chows, Presa Canarios, Akitas, wolf-hybrids, and Huskies. No new policies will be written for owners of these breeds.

AIG Yes--
pit bulls, Doberman Pinschers, Rottweilers.

Axa Yes No specific list

Clarenden Yes No specific list

Farmers Insurance Group No! but..
Prospective policyholders are asked to report whether they have a "vicious animal" on the premises. Once there is a claim, the pet is specifically excluded from coverage. The company also won't take new business from people who have had dog-bite claims in the last three years, even if the family no longer owns the pet.

Liberty Mutual Yes--
Akitas, Alaskan Malamutes, Chows, Doberman Pinschers, German Shepherds, pit bulls or Staffordshire Terriers, Rottweilers, Siberian Huskies, Presa Canarios. Mixed-breed dogs have to be verified by a veterinarian to not be predominantly any of these breeds before policy will be issued.

Mercury Casualty Company No but...
Offers 10% discount for families that don't own a dog or are willing to take their dog off their policy.

Nationwide Yes--
Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, pit bulls, Presa Canarios, Chows or wolf-hybrids.

Prudential No but...
May vary from state to state.

Qualsure Insurance Corp. Yes--
Akitas, Chows, Doberman Pinschers, pit bulls, Presa Canarios and Rottweilers.

State Farm No but...
If there has been a bite history, the company will ask that the offending dog be removed from the home.

[flyndog]

Originally Posted by DarknessDivine[B

State Farm No but...[/b]
If there has been a bite history, the company will ask that the offending dog be removed from the home.

Darkness, good to know. Do they mean removed from the premises entirely? Ouch! But at least it requires a bite history and isn't breed specific. I'll stay with State Farm!

[His masters voice]

Is this typical in America? In Europe pets are covered on insurance policies, you can of course take out an extra policy to cover third party things. e.g.. if a dog runs across the road and someone falls off their bike trying to avoid it.

Insurance companies are very competitive, maybe if you threaten them that you will go with another company they will waver the rule.

[theGOOCH]

The one that gets me is Huskies.

[DarknessDivine]

What gets me is how often my boxers are assumed to be pitt or rott, how far is ths going to go? I remember when we first got our house before we had dogs they asked if he had one and we said not yet and they asked what "breed?" When we said boxer the guy starts searching the policy papers and says "Good thing"...and that was that....?

[theGOOCH]

The insurance industry categorizes dogs like lawmakers categorize so called "assault weapons"

If they are big and scary looking they are bad.

[flyndog]

Originally Posted by His masters voice

Is this typical in America? In Europe pets are covered on insurance policies, you can of course take out an extra policy to cover third party things. e.g.. if a dog runs across the road and someone falls off their bike trying to avoid it.

Insurance companies are very competitive, maybe if you threaten them that you will go with another company they will waver the rule.

Yes, this is typical in the US. A typical homeowners' policy covers a homeowner in case someone is hurt on their property. Here, insurance companies are very rich so threatening doesn't help.

[IceyBlueSibes]

Originally Posted by theGOOCH

The one that gets me is Huskies.

I KNOW! Huskies are by far probably THE worst guard dogs ever. They will welcome a stranger with a wagging tail. There are some and few that have the leary and territorial attitude. Denali is becoming quite the watch dog though. She's picking up bad habits from Sarge!

But I think that's pretty silly... huskies on a DANGEROUS DOG list LOLOL!!

[gaddylovesdogs]

We've got state. I agree that it is so stupid to have huskies on there *rolls eyes*. I have met a Husky and guarding...hmm, well it'd stand at the door and howl once or twice. Not very scary. I was walking Tippy and saw a woman with a gorgeous Sibe. Did not show any "scary" or "threatening" behavior--just stood there, next to his owner while she got her mail.

[oc_spirit]

Gooch, and Sarah, I agree with ye!! But here's the reason WHY (I actually jsut stated this in another part of this forum). The word "Husky" is very loosely tossed around much like the word "pit bull" is. Husky X usually have very distinct physical Husky features such as ears, tails, wolf grey colour, etc. Also there are many breeds that look like Huskies (Malamutes, Alaskan Huskies, Samoyds, Greenland Dogs, basically any large breed spitz-type dog) Also wolf hybrids no matter what the breed of dog is tend to look like Huskies too. So after all this after one of any of these dogs attack (which almost all the time isn't even a purebred sibe at all) the media just claims it as a Husky and that what gets put in the records. When insurance companies look up which breeds has the longest bite record "Husky" comes up because there are so many other breeds that got put on the list. It's a sad world I tell ye!

Cheers!

[IceyBlueSibes]

Yeah my mom and I were talking about it tonight, and my mom said that many of the companies think of them as resembling wolves, when they're far from it (not any more than a chi is!). It's sad though that some people can't do research on them first *sigh* I'd dread to see this world in another 50 years as far as the dog situation goes. (Pit bull bans, over population, pit fighting, etc.)

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

I have Allstate and when we moved into our new home they used it as the perfect chance to come out and "inspect" the property after asking what type of dogs we had. Of course the agent asked to see the dogs while he was there **rolls eyes** and had to ask me four times...."Ok, so what kind of "bull" dogs are these?"

I think I could have told the guy they were Saint Bernards and he wouldn't have known the difference but it still ticked me off that they not only asked what kind of dogs I had but wanted to see them as well. Still got the policy though, only reason why I haven't switched is I'm afraid if I dump them I won't find another that will take me and I sure as heck won't get rid of my dogs.

[holly13]

Is it possible that Huskies are on the list because of other temperment reasons? I know growing up that our husky was awesome, but not great with other animals, could be aggressive. One day he got out of the house and killed all of our neighbors chickens, about 25 of them. My parents paid for the chickens. I know not all Huskies are like this, but they are stated as not good with other small animals. Sometimes insurance policies have to cover more then just bites.

I hate the insurance companies doing this. And as much as we may be responsible pet owners, others are not. I have MET Life Auto and Home. They don't have a black list, however, they interview your dog if it's considered a dangerous breed. I can't remember the entire list, but pits, huskies, shepards, bull mastiffs, cocker spaniels, dachunds and others were on the list. But they are great, i never felt like they were being judgemental and will consider any dog based on the interview and vet records. I used to work for Animal Welfare and they tested dogs similarly, to see how aggressive they might be, if they are ok with a stuffed cat that smelled like a cat etc. At least they are not telling you that you can't have your dog, and give every dog a chance.

[kerriebeth21]

When we moved into our house I REALLY wanted to get a Dobie...but I knew that we'd have a problem with our insurance.

[elegy]

um, pit bulls are not "guard dogs" either, but they'll top any breed ban list.

husky-type dogs have a long history of fatal dog attacks, mostly on babies (who knew?!)

according to fatal dog attacks by karen delise, 85% of fatal dog attacks were attributed to eleven breeds: pit-bull-type dogs (21%), mixed breed dogs (16%), rottweilers (13%), gsd (9%), wolf dog hybrids (5%), sibes (5%), malamutes (4%), great danes (3%), st. bernards (3%), chow chows (3%), and dobes (3%). that only includes fatalities, obviously, not just bites. (this covers the years 1965-2001).