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owning a Doberman requires insurance?

5.2K views 21 replies 19 participants last post by  Beaumont67  
#1 ·
Ok i was talking with some people and they told me that some states require you to have insurance when you own a Doberman. I have heard that some insurance companies wont insure you if you own a certain breed, Rott, Pitt, German Shepard, etc.

Can anyone help me with this and/or tell me where i can go to find out if Im going to need some? or if there is any truth in this or if its one of those Rumors that are associated with the breeds like the Doberman, Rott, and Pitts.

Thank you all for help
Amanda
 
#3 ·
Well, I know in my instance, if I don't have Homeowner's Insurance, I don't have a mortgage, that's just the way Well's Fargo, and probably others, do it. I'm in New York state, and New York Central Mutual covers Dobermans, Stirling does not.

Do you own your house, or are you in an apartment? You might want insurance, "dangerous dog" notwithstanding. If you already have insurance, discussing with your insurance company is definitely a good plan.

Also, depending on where you live, there's an additional fee beyond licensing if you have a "dangerous guard or attack dog" (was looking at Seattle dog laws recently...that's $100 a year, but they don't really define what they mean. I assume protection trained? Breeds are not listed).
 
#9 ·
I have never heard of having to have a separate kind of insurance policy specifically for a dog. That being said, It's been about 5 years since I worked in an insurance office. I do have a liability umbrella that covers my home, vehicles, 4wheelers, etc... So that's extra coverage that extends to my dogs. We have USAA now (used to have State Farm) and they don't restrict based on breeds. Or at least I don't think they do - they didn't even ask me if we owned dogs when we started our policy.
 
#10 ·
The way it went for us in Ontario is:

Q: "do you have any pets"
US: "yes"
Q: "what kind"
US: "dog"
Q: is it a Pit Bull breed?
US: "No" (I didn't expand onto the breed of dog, she asked if it was a "Pit Bull type dog" and I simply answered her question.

Just give them direct short answers.

If your calling the insurance company that you currently belong to and your just looking for information, don't start off the convo with "we have a Doberman" .... Let them lead with questions and just answer yes or no to their specific questions, don't expand.

Good luck!
 
#18 ·
The way it went for us in Ontario is:

Q: "do you have any pets"
US: "yes"
Q: "what kind"
US: "dog"
Q: is it a Pit Bull breed?
US: "No" (I didn't expand onto the breed of dog, she asked if it was a "Pit Bull type dog" and I simply answered her question.
Haha, yes this is how it went for my landlord. I don't know what insurance she has, but I know it won't cover any bully breed and it won't cover boxers. random, yeah?

my old landlord's insurance wouldn't cover a whole plethora of breeds, pits, rots, akitas, chows, dobies, german shepherds, american bulldogs... etc.
they call them "blacklisted breeds"
 
#11 ·
We've owned our homes since 1984, and have never been asked about pets in all that time, either in NY or in CA. We've had State Farm, Farmer's and for the last 12 or 15 years, AAA. We have always had German Shepherds and Dobes, and it's just never come up. But, as a renter, it is always a good idea to have a renter's policy, for your protection and in case anything does happen that the landlord could hold you responsible for. Just do your homework first, so you don't get denied!!
 
#16 ·
The houseing I live with right now requires "dog liability" insurance for dobes, GSD's, Chows, Akitas, and Mals. bully breeds of any mix are banned... I was thinking of getting a pup in the next year but I dont know anything about this type of insurance as Ive never heard of it... So I was just ganna wait until next spring when I relocate back to washington state and we buy our own home.

still I am curious, does anyone know what the costs are to have this dog liablility insurance? maybe this is what the OP is talking about...
 
#17 ·
Our policy does not cover ANY damages caused by a domestic animal. That includes dog bites. I would like to get a different policy that covers any possible dog or cat bite, but after three hurricanes in the past six years, we are lucky to even HAVE insurance, let alone a really good policy. I might look into trying for a different policy, but quite frankly, windstorm coverage is more important than dog bite coverage, and harder to get.
 
#19 ·
We were never asked about our dogs when we got our first homeowners policy and as I recall our Doberman, Max was right there while the policy was written up. That was over 20 years ago and today we are building a new home in the same area. We had to get "builders insurance" during the construction phase but once we move in we need to go back to homeowners.
My husband thinks he is funny..* sigh * :rolleyesww: He made a joke about " my Doberman will be all the insurance I need " once we move in. The agent wasted no time in telling him that owning a Doberman might preclude us from getting insurance at all. I guess we will find out exactly what that means next month when we make the change over. I am glad to hear State doesn't have breed prejudices because something tells me we are going to end up there.
 
#20 ·
I may be relocating out of State. I currenty live in NY and have no problem getting insurance through State Farm. But if I move to Florida my options are small (big companies are no longer writing new policies down there)out of 20 or so insurance companies only 2 would write a policy for a Dobe. So I looked into getting canine liability insurance- which I was quoted $565 for a one year policy(100k in coverage) which would cover my 3 dogs Dobe, Husky mix and Greyhound. It covers the dogs on and off the property.