Many families have a dog as a pet. While a dog can be a loving family member, it can also be a huge liability. According to the CDC, almost 4.5 million Americans are victims of dog bites each year. From an insurance perspective that can be a nightmare. If your dog seriously injures or kills someone, will your insurance cover it?
Liability claims
Many home insurance companies now have an excluded or restricted breed list. That means they will not insure your home if you own a dog from this list. Some insurance companies may insure you, but will exclude any liability resulting from the dog. This could leave you on the hook for the entire claim.
Why would they restrict or exclude Fido?
Dog bite claims make up one-third of all home insurance liability claims. The total amount paid out on those claims was close to a half billion dollars.
Who is most at risk?
Toddlers are the most frequent victims of dog bites. In fact, the ninth leading cause of unintentional nonfatal injury for children between five and nine is dog bites. After toddlers, elderly people and postal carriers are second and third most likely to be bitten by a dog.
What can you do to lower the risk of your dog biting?
Any dog can bite, not just the restricted breeds. Even the calmest, best behaved dog who has never so much as growled can snap when they feel endangered.
A few things can be done to avoid dog bites.
Never leave your dog alone with a child, not even your own child.
Don’t allow anyone to put your dog into a position in which they feel threatened. Avoid roughhousing, rough play, and anything that gets your dog overly excited.
If your dog seems anxious, remove them from the situation. You know your pet better than anyone. Removing the dog from the room is a much better solution than the dog biting someone out of fear.
So what does all this mean for your insurance?
If you have a restricted breed, your policy could be non-renewed. This means they would not insure you any longer due to the dog. Alternately, they may exclude the dog from coverage or charge you a higher premium due to the dog. If you have a dog who has bitten someone, the subsequent claim could result in your policy being non-renewed thanks to the dog.
Consider your choice of breed carefully and train the dog properly. Be a responsible pet owner as well as a responsible home owner and your pet shouldn’t affect your home insurance too much. If you have questions about what is covered with homeowners insurance, contact a firm like Wyoming Financial Insurance.
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