Comments on: A dog and a homeowner’s insurance policy

By: sumac

sumac — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 22:09:45 +0000

In reply to Home Insurance Malden MA. Are you a local insurance agent, James?

By: Home Insurance Malden MA

Home Insurance Malden MA — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 18:49:58 +0000

Wow, insurance companies will do anything to save themselves a buck, and like all other corporations, they only tend to do the right thing when another organization brings their actions to light. I wonder if working with a local insurance agent would provide better service – in my experience they seem to care more about individuals and are more likely to find the best policy for the person. Thanks!
-James

By: David Turoff

David Turoff — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 17:56:48 +0000

This is just my opinion, but a dog of any breed that will kill a cat and “turn at” a person attempting to intervene, is a much riskier dog to have around than a dog actually trained to be human-agressive (notwithstanding that patrol dogs can make mistakes), and should undergo *professional* behavior modification, or be euthanized.

By: sumac

sumac — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 17:23:54 +0000

In reply to Kelli Patton.

To judge by the story in the link below, AF distinguishes between new policies and existing policies, so it may be that a longtime customer, your dogs are fine with them — but someone else wanting their first policy from AF might be turned down if their dog was on the BAD DOG list….

http://www.netquote.com/home-insurance/dog_bite_claims.aspx

By: Kelli Patton

Kelli Patton — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 17:11:46 +0000

This is bogus. I’ve been insured by the same company for 2 houses for 15 years and never knew about any dog list. I’ve had a chow mix (just died this year) that never bit one person and never would have. I’ve had a pit lab mix that killed a cat once (playing with it, and it turned at me when I tried to get the cat) and we sent the dog to live at another home so as not to harm my small child or other kittens. My Chihuahua has bit (snapped at) a few people, mostly small children who wouldn’t leave her alone or a teenager that we’ve found out is not “good people”. Never once has AF asked about our pets but now I’m concerned for our own financial security!

By: David Turoff

David Turoff — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 02:48:34 +0000

None’s comment is very much to the point. Police dogs are in fact trained to be aggressive to people, and mistakes do happen, and the (homeowner’s) insurance company is right not to be willing to accept that liability, which is the proper purview of the department which employs the handler and the dog.

However, breed discrimination with respect to normal pet dogs *is* weaselly insurance company bullshit. There is no evidence whatsoever that certain breeds (American Staffordshire Terriers, AKA “Pitbulls”, for example) are *intrinsically* more human-aggressive than say, Labradors or Chihuahuas.

For an interesting perspective on German Shepards (commonly used as patrol dogs), read a book called “How To Be Your Dog’s Best Friend”, by The Monks of New Skete.

By: None

None — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:59:10 +0000

So they’ll make an exception for police dogs (which really are trained to be agressive, and they are known to attack innocent people from time to time), but they still won’t insure German Shepherds raised as family pets?

By: Mandy Cat

Mandy Cat — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:20:03 +0000

Too bad we can’t rub American Family’s nose in the mess it made.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:42:23 +0000

Who’s a good dog? Diezel’s a good dog!

By: Anita

Anita — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:59:54 +0000

Insurance companies are evil…