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by Emily Bershad
Do you have a dog? Do you own a home?
Do you have homeowner's insurance? If
you answered "yes" to all
of the preceding questions, congratulations,
because today, owning a dog and having
homeowner's insurance may be mutually
exclusive.
Owners of dogs as diverse as Siberian
Huskies, Dalmatians, and American Staffordshire
Terriers have been turned down for coverage.
First time homeowners whose insurance
company is aware the applicant has a
dog are especially at risk. Long-term
policy holders may also be refused renewal
when the insurance company discovers
the insured owns a dog. The homeowner
may not have told the insurance company
about his or her dogs when seeking coverage.
If the agent comes to the house on an
unrelated matter and sees the animals,
the result is often no more policy.
These inequities may be addressed
by legislation. A bill was recently
introduced in the Vermont House (H61
3) by Representative Elaine Alfano of
Calais, Vermont and Representative Alan
Bjerke of Burlington. The proposed legislation
would protect homeowners from "unreasonable
underwriting practices." Included
among the unreasonable practices was
"Making or permitting any discrimination
between applicants or insured with
pets and those without, or among breeds
of pets other than those distinctions
based solely on the claims experience
of the individual applicant or insured."
If this proposed legislation had been
enacted, insurance companies could not
refuse insurance solely because of the
breed of dog owned by the applicant.
However, this proposed legislation has
gone nowhere and is essentially dead.
Until such proposals are law, I offer
some suggestions for coping with insurance
problems.
- If you are seeking a homeowners
policy, shop around. Ask your dog
owning friends which company they
use and if they have had problems.
- If one agent for a particular company
turns you down, try another agent
for that company. Apparently, these
prejudicial exclusions may not be
written in stone. They may be the
prejudices of an agency and not the
insurance company. An agent who needs
business may sell you a policy.
- If a company refuses to renew your
policy and you and your family have
several policies with the company,
tell the agent that all your policies
will be gone and you will spread the
news about your experiences. The agent
who will lose a lot of business may
find a way to obtain coverage.
- Request a homeowner's policy be
written to exclude liability for dog
bites. Alternatively, you may request
a separate liability clause for your
dogs, at an added premium.
- Every state has a Commissioner
of Insurance. You can find his or
her name and address by asking your
local state senator or assemblyperson.
Write to the Commissioner and request
a list of all insurance companies
doing business in your state. This
will give you a large pool of companies
to which you may direct your inquiries.
- Finally, visit or write your state
senator or assemblyperson. Discuss
insurance problems with him or her.
Ask that a bill be introduced to address
the unreasonable underwriting practices
of some insurance companies.
(Emily Bershad lives in New Jersey
and has been active in legislative issues
for a number of years)
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The contact information for the Wisconsin
Insurance Commissioner's office may
be found on their website:
http://oci.wi.gov/oci_home.htm
Read more about homeowner's insurance
issues at AKC's website:
http://www.akc.org/life/homeins/homeowners_inscenter.cfm
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