In my day job I counsel and teach first time home buyers. Every class, I need to remind students that some insurance companies will not provide coverage to people who have “dangerous dogs.”
What is a dangerous dog?
Is it a dog who has already bitten someone? No. Is it a dog with bad manners who has had no training? No. Is it a dog that has been neglected or mistreated to cause serious behavioral problems? No.
It’s a dog on a list.
A local insurer in my town has 22 dogs on their list which is the most extreme number I’ve ever seen. Here are some of the breeds (and their mixes) that are most often “blacklisted” by insurers:
- Pit bulls (despite not being a breed at all but a dog type)
- Rottweilers
- Chow chows
- German shepherds
- Siberian huskies
- Alaskan malamutes
- Doberman pinschers
- Presa Canario bulldogs ( a very rare breed in this country)
- Great Danes
- Boxers
- Akitas
- Wolf-hybrids (also not a breed)
Tomorrow I’ll post on what you can do if you live with a “dangerous dog” to keep your home owner’s insurance.
In the meantime, don’t tell that pibble cuddling with you in bed or that big goofy rotty that he’s dangerous. It might go to his head.
Am I on that list? I'm so dangerous they keep me in a cage!
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Forgive me Pamela, but how absolutely ridiculous this whole breed-specific thing has become. I figured Pitties and Rotties would be on the list (just because the media likes to malign them so much), but I had no idea that some of these dogs were on the list. Wow. Good advice!
We had difficulty finding affordable renter insurance because our dog Sharona is an American Staffordshire Terrier (one of the many breeds that are considered a pit bull type of dog). Even though she’s more likely to lick someone to death than attack them!
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