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Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

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HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.

Member since 10/06

15979 total posts

Name:
BahBahBlackJeep

Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

As I have mentioned, my husband and I are looking into getting a dog. Originally we were looking at bulldogs, but to be honest, the more research I did the more I found they just wouldn't be good for us. They have a number of health issues of which we just wouldn't be capable of dealing with. So we're back to the drawing board with finding a dog.

Anyway, we've decided to look into adopting from a shelter and my husband saw a lab/pit mix that he really liked (of course I would have to meet the dog as well but he sounded cute!) but was leary about going further with this dog b/c he said he heard our insurance policy would go up significantly.

I've never heard of this and was wondering if anyone here has. If so, could you elaborate on this practice?

Thanks for you help! This board is such a wealth of information, I LOVE it!!!!

Posted 1/13/08 12:10 AM
 
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luckysmom
Yes it is! Going as planned:)

Member since 6/07

5339 total posts

Name:

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Pit bulls make your homeowners insurance go up. I know there are other breeds but i am not 100% sure on what they are. I knwo pits do i guess they are considered a "dangerous" breed because of thier reputation

Posted 1/13/08 12:25 AM
 

HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.

Member since 10/06

15979 total posts

Name:
BahBahBlackJeep

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Thank you! I had no idea owning a particular type of dog could cause your homeowners insurance to go up.

Would anyone possibly know of a website where I could find more information about this?

Thanks again!

Posted 1/13/08 1:46 AM
 

Gertyrae
Peace out Homies!

Member since 5/05

20046 total posts

Name:
Gerty ®

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Actually, not all homeowners policies go up based on the type of dog we have. It totally depends on your carrier.
I believe Allstate may change your rates based on the type of dog, but we have Merrimack and they don't adjust your rates based on dogs at all.

Call your agent or the insurance company directly and find out if they adjust the rates based on a dog that you have. They also may not adjust your rates because the dog is a mutt....

More importantly, since your DH has allergy issues - he should ask to see the dog and spend a little time with it in a room to see if he reacts. Labs have a lot of dander and he may be allergic. If it has more pit type fur then he may be okay since pits have very little dander.

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Posted 1/13/08 8:01 AM
 

Goobster
:)

Member since 5/07

27557 total posts

Name:
:)

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

You would have to let your homeowners know. I called mine (state farm) and they told me that they only want to know if it is a high risk breed (pitbull, rottie, etc). I don't know if it would actually make it go up, but I do know it would be in your BEST Interest to protect yourself, to let the homeowners insurance know.

Posted 1/13/08 9:49 AM
 

HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.

Member since 10/06

15979 total posts

Name:
BahBahBlackJeep

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Posted by Gertyrae

Actually, not all homeowners policies go up based on the type of dog we have. It totally depends on your carrier.
I believe Allstate may change your rates based on the type of dog, but we have Merrimack and they don't adjust your rates based on dogs at all.

Call your agent or the insurance company directly and find out if they adjust the rates based on a dog that you have. They also may not adjust your rates because the dog is a mutt....

More importantly, since your DH has allergy issues - he should ask to see the dog and spend a little time with it in a room to see if he reacts. Labs have a lot of dander and he may be allergic. If it has more pit type fur then he may be okay since pits have very little dander.

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Again thank you for the info... I figured we would check with our agent on Monday but figured in the meantime I would ask here too. Like I said you all seem so knowlegable!!

As for the allergy thing I think you have us confused with someone else. There aren't any allergies here...THANKFULLY!!! Chat Icon

Posted 1/13/08 11:09 AM
 

HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.

Member since 10/06

15979 total posts

Name:
BahBahBlackJeep

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Posted by Goobster

You would have to let your homeowners know. I called mine (state farm) and they told me that they only want to know if it is a high risk breed (pitbull, rottie, etc). I don't know if it would actually make it go up, but I do know it would be in your BEST Interest to protect yourself, to let the homeowners insurance know.



Thank you, this is perfect!!! We have State Farm too and will be sure to let them know what we are looking at to see if we could get a quote for how much it goes up (if any) and in the end let them know what we decided on.

Again, thank you all SO much!!!

Posted 1/13/08 11:10 AM
 

LifeIsGreat
LIF Toddler

Member since 8/07

400 total posts

Name:
Ruth

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

I own a female pit bull, my insurance has not gone up. I have Allstate. I own the dog 7 years. Prior to this dog, I owned another pit bull. My insurance did not go up for that dog either.

If you live in NYC you can search the web, there is a wealth of information. Also, contact the ASPCA legal department for information. Another get source of information is animalfarmfoundation.org
Animal Farm Foundation advocates on behalf of pit bulls.

FYI: NYS law prohibits discrimination based on breed. A dog is defined as dangerous based on behavior.

I would not be concerned about adopting the dog in question and worrying about your insurance going up.

Posted 1/14/08 10:11 PM
 

LifeIsGreat
LIF Toddler

Member since 8/07

400 total posts

Name:
Ruth

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

I am not understanding why you feel you have to notify your carrier. That is like anticipating the dog is going to be aggressive based on its breed. I see no need to notify the carrier. Nothing has happened to warrant doing so, You would not notify the carrier if it was a poodle, why a rotti or pit or mix. Breed does not define dangerous or vicious. Behavior defines dangerous or vicious.

Posted 1/14/08 10:14 PM
 

Kerie-is-so-very
versatile!

Member since 5/05

13535 total posts

Name:
K

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

When we applied for homeowners insurance, we were definitely asked what breed our dog is. They laughed when I said we have a dachshund as that is not exactly a breed that concerns them. I laughed back and admitted that they obviously didn't know this dachshund!!! As for pits and pit mixes, I do not feel that they are innately vicious. However, I would not own a dog whose jaw is strong enough to do the damage that a pit bull can do. Any dog can snap at any time, as mine did once. If he were stronger, I would have permanent injuries and my vet said that our conversation about what to do next would have been a much different discussion. I do happen to know a lab pit mix that is a wonderful dog, but like I said, he would not have been my choice when picking a dog. I am also saying this based on a case I had at work, where a dog that some consider to be a dangerous breed basically ripped off a woman's calf muscle. If it were a different type of dog, the same incident would have been just a dog bite, not a lifelong disability. I just wanted to give you a different point of view and I know that many disagree with my view on this.

Message edited 1/14/2008 11:14:53 PM.

Posted 1/14/08 11:11 PM
 

MrsFlatbread
Skinny jeans are in my future

Member since 6/06

10258 total posts

Name:
Baby Momma

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

State Farm also charges more...little did they know that my Pekingnese is way more dangerous than any PIT!!Chat Icon Chat Icon

Posted 1/14/08 11:20 PM
 

HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.

Member since 10/06

15979 total posts

Name:
BahBahBlackJeep

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Posted by LifeIsGreat

I own a female pit bull, my insurance has not gone up. I have Allstate. I own the dog 7 years. Prior to this dog, I owned another pit bull. My insurance did not go up for that dog either.

If you live in NYC you can search the web, there is a wealth of information. Also, contact the ASPCA legal department for information. Another get source of information is animalfarmfoundation.org
Animal Farm Foundation advocates on behalf of pit bulls.

FYI: NYS law prohibits discrimination based on breed. A dog is defined as dangerous based on behavior.

I would not be concerned about adopting the dog in question and worrying about your insurance going up.



Posted by LifeIsGreat
I am not understanding why you feel you have to notify your carrier. That is like anticipating the dog is going to be aggressive based on its breed. I see no need to notify the carrier. Nothing has happened to warrant doing so, You would not notify the carrier if it was a poodle, why a rotti or pit or mix. Breed does not define dangerous or vicious. Behavior defines dangerous or vicious.



Thank you for the information. Since I'm not sure if the second post you made was directed towards me, I figured I would answer anyway...

Some background to my question...My husband was telling me about the above mentioned pup and said "I'd love to get him, but I heard our homeowners will sky rocket." I then said, that sounds ridiculous, not to mention discriminatory, BUT let me check online and see if anyone on LIF has heard about this.

In the meantime, he called our agent to clarify and according to our Statefarm agent, we can get whatever the heck we want our insurance will NOT go up nor would they drop us.

He went on to explain that some insurance companies in the past have dropped their customers after their dog has bit someone but again, we were assured this would not happen.

So there you have it.

We will be getting a dog at some point. Possibly this dog and no we will not be informing our insurance company of it.

Also, I never suggested I was anticipating the dog to be aggressive. I was asking about the insureance b/c my husband heard we had to notify our insureance company and that we stood a chance of our policy going up. It was this question that caused me to post this thread.

I hope this clears things up for you.

ETA:

I have a friend who has two pitbulls for pets. I've seen them in action, they are great dogs who would never intentionally hurt their owners including their newborn son. I'm well aware that the pitbull breed has gotten a bad "rep" due to the negative media attention.

Message edited 1/14/2008 11:47:02 PM.

Posted 1/14/08 11:44 PM
 

Goobster
:)

Member since 5/07

27557 total posts

Name:
:)

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Posted by LifeIsGreat

I am not understanding why you feel you have to notify your carrier. That is like anticipating the dog is going to be aggressive based on its breed. I see no need to notify the carrier. Nothing has happened to warrant doing so, You would not notify the carrier if it was a poodle, why a rotti or pit or mix. Breed does not define dangerous or vicious. Behavior defines dangerous or vicious.



I agree with you in that any dog can be dangerous. But in regards to insurance companies, I can understand the fact that IF a certain breed WERE to attempt to harm a human, a larger stronger breed could certainly do more damage than a smaller breed.

So if a poodle and a rottweiler tried to go for the mailman (an adult) I would bet that the larger dog could inflict severe bodily harm to the mailman, as opposed to the poodle (whom the mailman could fight off).

So even though dogs are all different, that is one fact in regards to size. At least that is how i interpret the insurance companies wanting to know about "high risk" breeds.

Posted 1/15/08 7:37 AM
 

lucyloo
nope

Member since 1/06

9758 total posts

Name:

....

Message edited 3/4/2013 11:22:42 AM.

Posted 1/15/08 9:15 AM
 

IluvBo
NICKY & EVIE

Member since 6/05

3321 total posts

Name:
Rose

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

my homeowners is higher because we've got a rotty on the premises. they didn't care about the cocker spaniel or now that we have the maltese.................they only care that we have the rotty!

good luck!

Posted 1/15/08 10:00 AM
 

LifeIsGreat
LIF Toddler

Member since 8/07

400 total posts

Name:
Ruth

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

When insurance companies do this it is called "breed discrimination".

If one were to be struck by a bicyle and knocked to the ground with a head injury it could be fatal. Same thing if hit by a car. Smaller does not always mean safer or less damage/injury.

Just because the animal is larger does not mean more damage. I am searching for the law statue and breed discrimination information and will post, hope it will help.

Posted 1/15/08 7:25 PM
 

LifeIsGreat
LIF Toddler

Member since 8/07

400 total posts

Name:
Ruth

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Links re: Breed Discrimination

http://www.newyorktails.com/discrim.htm

Posted 1/15/08 7:32 PM
 

Nicole728
My Happy Girl

Member since 7/06

8198 total posts

Name:
Me

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

I have two pit mixes and a German Shepard and our homeowners insurance is fine...I don't even think we had to name the "breed" of dogChat Icon
I can't remember.

Posted 1/15/08 7:49 PM
 

HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.

Member since 10/06

15979 total posts

Name:
BahBahBlackJeep

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Posted by LifeIsGreat

Links re: Breed Discrimination

http://www.newyorktails.com/discrim.htm




Thank you! I will be sure to refer to this, if for some reason our insurance company renegs on what they said and raises our insurance.

I thought it would be descrimination...

Posted 1/16/08 11:19 AM
 

nicrae
He's here!

Member since 12/06

9289 total posts

Name:
Mommy

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

We have a rottie mix and allstate. Our homeowners insurance did not go up though they did ask us if we had a dog.

Geico on the other hand was trying to sell us a secondary insurance and when I told them I had a rottie mix they specifically asked if he "looked" like a rottie. I said he had the markings and they said sorry we can't insure you (though they were the ones that approached us).

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Message edited 1/16/2008 11:29:06 AM.

Posted 1/16/08 11:28 AM
 

HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.

Member since 10/06

15979 total posts

Name:
BahBahBlackJeep

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Posted by niikki-8-18-06

We have a rottie mix and allstate. Our homeowners insurance did not go up though they did ask us if we had a dog.

Geico on the other hand was trying to sell us a secondary insurance and when I told them I had a rottie mix they specifically asked if he "looked" like a rottie. I said he had the markings and they said sorry we can't insure you (though they were the ones that approached us).



I don't understand how they can get away with that! Chat Icon

BTW your dog is beautiful!!! Chat Icon

Posted 1/16/08 11:32 AM
 

nicrae
He's here!

Member since 12/06

9289 total posts

Name:
Mommy

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Posted by Jennie0898

Posted by niikki-8-18-06

We have a rottie mix and allstate. Our homeowners insurance did not go up though they did ask us if we had a dog.

Geico on the other hand was trying to sell us a secondary insurance and when I told them I had a rottie mix they specifically asked if he "looked" like a rottie. I said he had the markings and they said sorry we can't insure you (though they were the ones that approached us).



I don't understand how they can get away with that! Chat Icon

BTW your dog is beautiful!!! Chat Icon



I totally don't understand it either considering they are the ones that approached me (we have them for car insurance) But they specifically asked if I had dogs and when I said Jake was a rottie mix (not even pure) they basically couldn't get off the phone fast enough!

Posted 1/16/08 11:35 AM
 

itkocak

Member since 7/07

7639 total posts

Name:

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Message edited 11/15/2011 9:56:12 PM.

Posted 1/16/08 10:05 PM
 

LifeIsGreat
LIF Toddler

Member since 8/07

400 total posts

Name:
Ruth

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

There is a wealth of information regarding NY State law against breed discrimination. Sadly, many owners surrender their dogs to shelters when threatened by insurance companies. There are many insurance companies that do not require coverage regardless of breed, GEICO is not one of them. Allstate does.

NYS law protects breeds such as the pit bull, pit bull mix, rotti etc. from breed discrimiation. A dog is deemed dangerous by behavior, not breed.

Go to animalfarmfoundation.org Great organization.

Posted 1/16/08 10:16 PM
 

HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.

Member since 10/06

15979 total posts

Name:
BahBahBlackJeep

Re: Do certain breeds of dogs cause your homeowners insurance to go up?

Posted by LifeIsGreat

There is a wealth of information regarding NY State law against breed discrimination. Sadly, many owners surrender their dogs to shelters when threatened by insurance companies. There are many insurance companies that do not require coverage regardless of breed, GEICO is not one of them. Allstate does.

NYS law protects breeds such as the pit bull, pit bull mix, rotti etc. from breed discrimiation. A dog is deemed dangerous by behavior, not breed.

Go to animalfarmfoundation.org Great organization.



Thanks again for the info... I will be sure to check it out.

Posted 1/16/08 11:42 PM
 
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