Dog Bite - Canine Liability and Homeowners Help Needed

[newbinct]

Hello,
I am a new member and I've been struggling with the best thing to do and where to go regarding our situation. Speaking with my homeowner's insurance and googling has only gotten me more and more confused. I hope that someone will be able to give me some general guidance. I appreciate it and thank you in advance!

Here's our situation. We are CT residents, first time homeowners (only 2 years). Insured by Providence Mutual. 2 dogs in the home (accepted/non-banned breeds). In early September, my 40lb dog was with us (leashed) on the beach in Maine. He became scared of a woman with a large sunhat and big sunglasses on and he lunged and bit her in the thigh. We provided information, filled our a police report. She was a very kind woman and we feel absolutely horrible. We offered to pay and expenses. She required 3 sutures - a medical bill of $375. The urgent care insisted we go through home owners. We are new and didn't know what else to do, so we agreed. We filed the claim. Insurace paid an additional $7000. That was in December.

I know this part doesn't matter but it makes me feel better: since then we hae done full work up at the vet, to ensure there was no physical reason for the attack. We have worked with a trainer and modified our dog's environment to ensure he feels safe and this does not happen again.

We have recieved notice that we will not be re-newed as of April 2 - due to liability. The CLUE report says dog bite.

I have spoken to our agent and she has not been much help. She says she's looking but the best she could some up with was a Lloyds policy for over 3x what we paid and it does not include the dogs and has slightly less coverage overall.

Dog insurance is absolutely necessary, but I understand most standard carriers will not cover the dogs, so I have been trying to find canine liability coverage.

So, now that you have all the confusing information, here is what I am getting confused trying to figure out:

1: Does anyone have any experience wth canine liability coverage? If so, do you have any advice or recommendations? There aren't many, but we are looking at eihorn (they cover dog bites) and FIDO (not sure if they cover dog bites). I've also ready about Lester Kalmanson Agency and Evolution Insurance (xinsurance).

2: considering we are being non-renewed due to the dog bite. Why would be still be rejected from carriers if we do not include the dogs? I thought maybe if we could provide proof of canine liability insurance, we could be picked up for less than 3x what we are currently paying.

3: Somewhere, on this forum, someone said the key to liability is negligence. I'm not sure how we were negligent since the dog was leashed and we were on a dog-friendly beach. Is there a way I can find out more information? My agent hasn't been very forthcoming.

4. I read we might be eligible for a "non-admitted HO-2" or a an "expensive HO-3". Is a lloyds policy considered an HO-3?

Ultimately, I have to figure this out and will probably go with my agents suggestion of the expensive Lloyd's policy and purchase some kind of canine liability but I feel there has to be another way to go. I'm just struggling because there is so much information, not much time and a HUUUGE learning curve.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Thank you in advance
Jen

 

[newbinct]

Hello again.
I didn't get a reply, but I understand. It's a complicated situation.

Short version: I was denied by Farmers for home owners (both including and excluding dogs), even though they initially said they would cover the dogs.

After being denied, we rushed and obtained "canine liability insurance".

I am still unable to get coverage and I do not understand why. Any suggestions on what I can do? I am completely stuck. They told us yesterday that we were denied, even with the dogs excluded, but our policy expires today.

I am in tears. This is so frustrating and I have no control.
Thanks,
Jen

 

[HoosierLife]

Is moving to another state an option? CT is small right? FTR I sell life insurance so I'm just bored at lunch and trying to drum you up some responses.

 

[BigSteve]

Hi Jen,


I never saw your original post as March was a crazy month and today is an unusually slow day. I am in SW CT, send me a PM with your contact info if you like and I am sure that I could help you.

 

[surya90]

Three solutions are available for dog owners who are uninsured or inadequately insured: umbrella coverage, excess coverage, and canine liability policies. An umbrella policy provides liability coverage for injuries, damages and losses that are not covered by a person's primary insurance (i.e., an umbrella would cover a dog bite that is not covered by the dog owner's homeowner policy). An excess policy provides a higher policy limit for losses that ARE covered by the primary insurance. A canine liability policy is a policy written specifically for dog owners for the purpose of insuring dogs or people who, for one reason or another, cannot obtain any other coverage for injuries, damages and losses caused by their dog(s).

 

[GDIAgency]

Very dangerous to get responses to complicated legal issues in public forums. Example: Umbrellas don't add dog bite coverage if the primary policy they are written over excludes it. There are some "drop down" coverage's umbrellas add... but covering an excluded dog isn't one of them.

Once your dog has bitten someone, and you file a claim for it, you are done. the only thing you can do is ask your current company if they will reconsider if you have both your dogs teeth and claws pulled.

Why?

all comes down to statistics..... Once a dog has bitten it is most likely going to bite again. BTW.... if it does bite again, you will need one very large umbrella no matter why it has bitten... ie... $5-$10mil.... As you have a known liability.

Best advice? Get rid of the dogs. I understand all the "they are part of our family".... all I can say is look at your wife and kids and tell them they now live right at poverty level because you have to pay for the dog that bites again...... Keep in mind that if it wasn't an issue you could easily get insurance.

BTW... heaven help you if that dog bites a child.... particularly since they tend to bite in the face.... You will have criminal (go to jail) repercussions depending on where you are living... if you get off that easy...

Sorry, but go ask your attorney.. .he will repeat what I just told you.....and never look for legal advice on any public forum...

 

[TeePee]

I know in my state that Allstate will write a normal, regular same as everyone else's policy with a dog bite but you pay about 40% surcharge. Also a substandard company (american modern) will write a policy and exclude animal liability.

Because states have different guidelines, why not call some of your direct carriers? Allstate was not able to write a policy with any liability claim until about 7 or 8 years but hopefully this is another option for you.

PS don't take offense in being determined as a negligence claim. That is standard with a dog bite of any kind. I once knew someone who had to file a claim because their 20lb dog jumped up at a visitor, scaring the visitor, who then fell and broke the hip. I believe the final payout, along with the umbrella policy coverage, was close to $900K. Their CLUE report still ran as a dog bite.

 

[Wise_Insurance]

Dog bites are a serious problem, indeed, and as much as we love our dogs, it is sad how much they can affect our lives. Dogs can be a touchy situation depending with insurance companies. There is a thing called Blacklisted. This is a list of dogs that automatically increase your insurance premium such as Pit bull Terriers, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and Chows Chows. This can make getting Home Owners Insurance difficult.

As someone stated above, it is very hard to know a situation without looking at all the documentation and living within the area, but as I researched your situation a bit and looking around Connecticut for insurance companies (I'm located in Indiana), I would recommend looking into, as you mentioned it above, XInsurance seems like a quality provider. They will still insure you even if your dog has already had a claim against him which is nice. They also do not blacklist dogs and back their reasons up with the fact that the statistics are more in favor of pitbulls than a cocker spaniel. I do not recommend jumping into the Insurance. I would look around for reviews on the web by real people and talk to a Homeowners insurance agent for some real help.

It sounds like you do have a homeowners insurance agent who simply is not very helpful. I would start there in looking around for insurance. Try to find a local person even a native to the area who is not about growing a business, but one who is about helping people. Then you will be able to further find out about local companies that may not be appearing online for you.