That's a great question! Having a dog in and of itself might not affect your home owners rates, but owning specific breeds of dogs might. Depending upon your policy and company, there are some breeds of dogs that the insurer will deem as more of a risk to bite. That risk will affect the liability portion of your policy, and thus increase your rate. I'd advise you to contact your agent, and see if they have a pet clause in your policy, and if your dog will invoke any or all of it. Hopefully it won't, and you will have many wonderful years with your furry companion! Thanks for asking!
Business Development Officer, T.D. McNeil Insurance Services, Fresno, California
Dog ownership increases the likelihood of a law suit. Many insurers use two techniques to deal with this increased risk. The first technique is to deny coverage to a home where specified breeds are kept. If the information comes available after the policy is issued the companies will often seek to cancel coverage and will set the policy to not renew at the end of the term. The second technique is to limit liability coverage for all dogs. Routinely the limit of liability is dropped significantly by an endorsement. The endorsement may exclude coverage for certain specified breeds and for any dog with a history of biting. It is important to check your coverage if you own an aggressive dog.
Having a dog does not necessarily increase your homeowners insurance premium. Some carriers offer separate dog liability insurance policies and other carriers have dog lists. The dog liability policy can be purchased in addition to homeowners insurance for some carriers and will make it so that some carriers will write your home insurance waiving dog liability on the home and giving it back in the dog liability policy. Other carriers have lists of dogs that they 100% will not insure. Lastly some carriers have a separate limit of insurance for dog liability at an additional premium. Check out the article below for more information on insurance for your home when you own a dog.
Manager, Marindependent Insurance Services LLC, California
Thanks for the Question. Mostly it depends on two things:
1. The Type of Dog
2. The Dog's Bite History.
There are certain breeds of dogs that will make it either more expensive or just plain harder to acquire home insurance. Pit Bulls and Wolves are the obvious dogs that are on these lists. But there are others and the lists from one company to the next is not exactly always the same.
It depends on the type of dog. There a specific breeds which have a greater propensity to cause harm. If the homeowner posses one of those animals, it I the responsibility of the agent to detail the presence of that animal and adjust the liability coverage on the policy accordingly.
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http://brcinsurance.com/homeowners-insurance-and-dog-bites/
1. The Type of Dog
2. The Dog's Bite History.
There are certain breeds of dogs that will make it either more expensive or just plain harder to acquire home insurance. Pit Bulls and Wolves are the obvious dogs that are on these lists. But there are others and the lists from one company to the next is not exactly always the same.