House insurance and large dogs

[gamecock43]

Growing up and telling my mother I wanted a house full of agressive dog breeds to love and show the world that they are nice like every other dog, my mom always cautioned me that homeowners insurance would be expensive.

Forgetting the fact that I was 10-12 years old at the time and a warning like that goes right over a kid's head and does nothing to deter them from keeping their dream...I question if my mother was right, or just thought she could talk me out of dogs.

Being grown up now, I still want a housefull of Rotties, dobermans, and pit bulls. The 'gun protection' thread only confirmed this for me. And I wonder how my pets will affect my finances.

I have rented a house in FL for several years and dont remember any inspection ever taking place where my dogs were introduced to insurance people so I dont think they know about my two current agressive breed pets.

However, someone I know had a german shephard that bit a child on the property and was then marked as an 'agressive dog' and homeowners insurance skyrocketed to the point it was barely affordable and kind of wiped out the homeowners for a while. However, these people were not so well off to begin with, so maybe the bill did not increase too dramatically, I dont know.

So...homeowners insurance and owning an agressive dog breed (but lovable, friendly dog with no history)...anyone know anything?

[disneysteve]

When we got out policy, they asked us two questions: Do we have a pool and do we have a dog? Neither one applied to us, but obviously they are asking for a reason. Had we answered yes, I can only assume it would have negatively affected our premium or even our ability to obtain insurance.

[sounderella]

They asked me too if I had a dog. It does effect it because having a potentially dangerous dog can end up being a liability. Of course all dogs have the potential. I guess the insurance company feels some more than others.

Here's an article:

Will your homeowner's insurance go up if you buy a pit bull? | Insurance.com

I'd always heard if you owned a pit bull not to tell the insurance company you had a "pit bull" but instead a "Staffordshire Terrier".

[gamecock43]

i have a pit bull now and she is a 'boxer mix' on all vet paperwork. Cuz we move alot and our apartment complex's of course do not allow the pits. I will read the article. thanks

Originally Posted by gamecock43

i have a pit bull now and she is a 'boxer mix' on all vet paperwork. Cuz we move alot and our apartment complex's of course do not allow the pits. I will read the article. thanks

Since you live in an apartment, (I am hoping you have renters insurance), why don't you tell your carrier you are planning on buying a home in the future and are wondering how having a dog would affect your rate?

[FrugalFish]

A friend of mine use to do insurance inspection. Wherever a company asked him to go, he would go and look around the exterior of the house. Usually he would go to check that the size of the house matched what was on the policy, make sure there were no fire hazards (like uncleared brush) around the property- that sort of thing, and he would note dogs on property.

What I don't have any idea about is how often a company might choose to look at a property. Since most of it as done as a stop and look around from the outside, you would probably never know someone had come by.

We had a lab/ probably rottie, but she looked like a full blood female lab, so we just referred to her as a lab mix on every piece of paperwork. If your dog can pass for some other breed mix, definitely report them to your insurance as that- then if an inspector comes by he will have a dog description that matches what you've already disclosed.

[boefixepa]

it depends on the breed and the insurance company. I've never been asked by my insurance compamy and I have three Alasken Malamutes. They are not at the top of the list of aggessive breeds, but they are generally on there, not sure why, I don't think they are any more aggressive then dogs in general, I think it's just their size and apperence.

Can I just vent that I detest the fact that little dogs can get away with sooooo much, just because they are small. If my dogs did half of what I see little dogs do people would be calling the police. ggrrrrr

[gamecock43]

Can I just vent that I detest the fact that little dogs can get away with sooooo much, just because they are small. If my dogs did half of what I see little dogs do people would be calling the police. ggrrrrr

I agree. LOL. I have noticed that alot and thought the same thing.

That being said, I have nothing against the little guys.

And since my dogs are indoor dogs- I am thinking if its a drive by insurance guy then we should be ok. until the dogs start barking at the window- ok that might not work.

[antiver]

Depends on the type of coverage you're trying to get. I'm sure an aggressive dog would affect some types of coverage, and not others.

[Ariadne]

When we got our home insurance a few years ago, they asked us what type of dog we had, and whether or not the dog was purebred. We have a Black Lab mix (3/4 black, 1/4 chocolate).

When we asked why, gave different scenarios (e.g. liability with damage to house, deterrence from trespassers, etc.). I don't know if she was just pulling our leg, or if it was a valid reason. We're in Ontario though, so I'm not sure if the laws in each jurisdiction dictate what information should be clarified before providing insurance.

I know that some purebred's have behavioural problems and genetic predispositions from inbreeding. Perhaps there's a link?