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Insurers’ Tolerance for Dangerous Dog Breeds Grows Thin


The tolerance of the insurance industry for homeowners who keep dangerous dog breeds is growing more and more thin. The American Association of Insurance Services, which develops the standardized policy forms and rating information used by about 600 property and casualty insurers, is filing an endorsement under its homeowners program to exclude coverage for bodily injury, property damage, and medical bills coming out of “dog bite” cases.

This is a topic we talked about back in December in the post “Dog Liability Coverage Grows in Popularity for ‘Banned’ Breeds.” It’s a little mind-boggling to realize that a third of all home insurance claims involve some kind of incident with the family dog. (Seriously, if Fido doesn’t play well with others, get him away from company. Everyone will be happier, including your pocketbook when your premiums go up!)

Here’s another scary figure. Dog-related insurance claims often top $300,000. Do you really want to face costs of that magnitude without insurance. Any dog will bite with the right provocation. Insurers especially look askance at the following breeds:

– Pit Bull
– Doberman Pinscher
– Staffordshire Terrier
– Rottweiler
– Presa Canario
– Chow
– Akita
– German Shepherd
– Alaskan Malamute
– Siberian Huskies
– Wolf Hybrid

and any mix of the above blood lines.

Obviously from this latest action, the degree to which they are “looking askance” is escalating. If you have a breed considered dangerous, look into dog liability coverage. Do not expect your homeowners coverage to take care of these incidents because the industry is just seeing too much risk in this area and increasingly shying away.

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