Dogs & Homeowners Insurance

I know someone that recently got a visit from their insurance company, completely unannounced. Among other things, he was told he had to get rid of a dog or they would no longer insure his home. Nevermind that he has been insured with them for 20 years and never even made a claim. The dog is among their long list of breeds including: Chows, Rottweillers, Dobermans, Pitbulls, Staffordshire Terriers, Cane Corsos and Wolf Hybrids, or any mix of the breeds listed.

What has been your experience with this sort of thing? I can say that I would never get rid of my dog because of this. What are people suppose to do? I would think that the insurance companies would at least allow you to pay more for additional coverage or exclude any incident involving the dog.

The lady my mom cares for in Oregon has a pit bull...she is so passive and sweet...when I was there I accidentally stepped on her toes and she ran and hid from me.

Anyways, when she was renewing her homeowners policy a year or so ago, the insurance company asked if she had any dogs and she told them she had a pit bull. They refused to insure her. So she called around until she found a company that would insure her.

Insurance companies do not want any liabilities with their homeowners...that's why I had to tear down the old carriage house on my property. They told me I had to re-roof and re-side it or they wouldn't cover me anymore...so I tore it down. Then they gave me grief when I told them I was using the wood as firewood...the wood couldn't be in piles where someone could step on it (like who, the abominable snowman?)...it had to be stacked and covered so the people that come onto my property uninvited can see it and won't get hurt.

Anything that could possibly cause harm to anyone on the property and is deemed a liability is cause for not renewing the policy.

They've never asked me what breed my dogs are, but if they did I'd tell them that my big dog is a Black Lab mix (not a lie) and leave it at that.

I have heard of this happening in the city but not in Park County. It should be illegal unless they give you an option for a rider excluding coverage for dog incidents.

Thanks for the feedback. He is shopping around and so far no luck. This happened in Clear Creek County. Actually, I am kinda shocked the insurance guy found his house. It is so far off the beaten path.

Interesting. Our agent never even asked if we have dogs and we have a good size liability rider.