Dog Liability insurance???

[jasonGSD01]

Ok thanks for making it more clear.

[smyke]

Originally Posted by selzer

I think that companies prefer to settle a dog bite claim than to fight it. So if a yayhoo climbed your fence so they could play Schutzhund with your dog, and got bitten, and they sued, the company would just settle out of court instead of forcing the "victim" (perpetrator) to prove his case in court in front of a jury.

Not sure why this is. Maybe because juries were awarding criminals all kinds of freaky claims, like the dude that went into the house under construction to steal tools and fell down the steps and broe his leg and sued because there was no railing put up. He won.

I guess grusome polaroids of dog bites coupled with pictures of fierce GSDs or Pit Bulls, do not go over well with juries regardless to what idiots are doing.

So, there is a major hit on your insurance. Bad, bad, bad.

Currently, I am so fearful of homeowner's insurance claims that when the ice caused the sunroom to leak, I just had it fixed, and when the tree fell on my front door taking down my power pole, I had to replace the pole, and the power box and just paid for it myself. Once you make a claim they cancel you. So unless the house burns down to the ground, I am not making a claim unless there is absolutely no way around it.

sad, but all true

[Topdog]

This entire thing just stinks, Ill keep shopping for ins that will Tolerate the dogs. I dont even care if they cover them or not for biting. Oh by the way if any of you consider a move to Massachusetts... Um Dont!...

Thanks for your advice guys. Ill try and figure somthing out, But up here my guess is Labs are the way to go..

[SRQ5363]

If you should find an independent source of coverage, please share and I'll do the same. I took a look at the dog bite stats that someone linked to. It was surprizing to see the higher number for GSD and GSD mixes but I think statistics in a vacuum can be misleading. They have to be expressed as a percentage of that particular breed's population to make any sense, IMHO. I am really shocked, though, that there is no specialty insurance. I used to scuba dive alot and I could find industry-specific insurance for that. With the shear numbers of dog owners in the US who have no problem with their dogs but who might want to be protected, it seems like some company would jump on this kind of insurance! Heck, everyone dies but you can get life insurance. :-)

[Marko]

I have a similar situation. I rent a home in Gulf Breeze, FL. Some time after moving in, I rescued a GSD. After learning of this, the homeowner called and expressed his concern regarding his liability insurance. He also said, "the neighborhood doesn't allow large dogs..." However, there is no Homeowners Association and there are several large dogs in this sparsely populated rural area with generous land between neighbors.

Would adding my dog to renters insurance resolve the homeowner's liability insurance concerns? Enough, or at all?

[smyke]

Yes, renters insurance will provide you with liability coverage and make you the first in line to get sued. However your landlord may not be completely off the hook anyway, but make sure you get as much coverage as you can (usually $500K) and that should put him more at ease.

[zeusandfriends]

Make sure you have a sign posting beware of dog / dog on premises somthing to that affect. Ins. look at that. No different than horses there is a sign to post as an "equine facility." I work for a law office who actually does defense work for Ins. Co. and dog bites are running wild. If I didn't do the type of work I do I would never think of it so much. If your property is posted properly, the insurance co looks at that very closely when someone tries to sue. Not all insurance with pay right off the bat, I know I have seen it. Just from experiance.

[bellamia]

check 'travellers insurance' maybe u might find wat u r looking for . AND NO I AM NOT AN AGENT! just a gsd owner who went frm pillar to post tryin to find ins. and keeping a budget!

[bellamia]

and FYI just to hijack this post! sorry! we r in the process of selling our house, new hs being built. in the mean time if this got sold and we had to temp. look for temp. appartments or even a rental prop. NO ONE will accept a gsd!! INSURANCE can take a walk! obviously even temp. we dont want to disturd our 16 and 14 yr old high schooler(zoning and all that zazz!).

[JakodaCD OA]

I do NOT recommend posting a "beware of dog" sign..This is insinuating your dog is something to 'beware' of and could potentially bite..a NO TRESPASSING sign is better or Dog on Premises..