The numbers don’t lie, I know a company I use to work for averaged a new dog bite claim every other day. Any company that does not care about insuring a pit bull is nuts.
A Pit Bull is no more dangerous than a Golden Retriever. Insurance companies (yes I work for one) need to do better research and quit “labeling” everything based on meritless information. It’s just another excuse to pocket more money and screw the average person. Perhaps if more insurance companies skipped the million dollar year end bonuses to their executives, there would be more money for their policyholders or research.
Pit Bulls, Rottweillers and other fighting dogs are more dangerous than other breeds regardless of their training or ownership. Pit Bulls etc. have had the “off switch” bred out of them – most dogs will stop fighting when the victim submitts (in dogs this means rolling on to their backs and going limp – hense the “top dog” concept) this reaction has been bred out of these breeds and they have no “off switch” – they have to be peeled off the children they’ve attacked. There is no use for these dogs except by criminal elements and they should be outlawed.
There are many things that insurance carriers can do besides panicking at anything big and furry. The American Kennel Club has a Canine Good Citizen award program that is available to all dog owners. Rather than jump on the Breed Specific bandwagon, perhaps underwriters would be wiser to ask for this certificate. Heck, they want report cards on kids; why not a temperament evaluation on pets.
Look closely at the statistics: cocker spaniels are responsible for more bites than almost every other breed; as are mixed breed dogs of dubious background. How many insurers refuse to cover these dogs?
Yes I am aware that there is a severity issue with bites from larger dogs, but the temperament of a dog has less to do with its breeding and more to do with the level of commitment its owner has in making it a valued and safe member of society.
I have seen people receive cancellation notices because the dogs in the yard barked at the insurance inspector. Imagine that; a dog barking through a secure fence at a total stranger walking around the property. Barking does not equate to biting, but it sure does scare the burglars away.
If the carriers would put things in perspective and use tools already readily available, they could safely and predictably underwite dog exposures.
Let’s face it, dogs are a part of the American lifestyle and are not going anywhere. More homes have dogs than not. Companies cannot logically stick their heads in the sand and hope the dog issue goes away. But, they can try to minimize their exposures using a more logical approach than breed specific exclusions.
I have never heard of toy poodles or tabby cats or pomeranians savagely attacking children. I have heard of Chows, Pit Bulls, and other dogs that are popularily labeled “attack prone” breeds seriuosly injuring and even killing people. Like it or not insurance companies (Yes, I do represent one)spend great deals of time and resources to calculate risks. I do not forsee my “fluffy” the cat mauling and killing the neighbor kid next door, I can see the neighbor’s Pit Bull as a likely candidate for such incidents.
I agree. Dogs are a combination of their environment and training. Pit Bulls Dobermans and the like have gotten a bad rap from the movies. A well trained and well raised dog of any breed or size will be an excellent pet and pose next to no danger of a biting incident. Most bites come from small dogs (poodles and cockers)because people aren’t cautious around them or give them the same respect they would a larger dog. Howver they are still all capable of biting given reason. So prosecute the abusive owners and consider the responsibility of the owner not the breed of dog when uderwriting.
I have been in the insurance business long enough to know one thing…if there is a profitable buck to be made, most companies will do whatever it takes to attract that type of business. (Does the term “soft market” ring a bell?) The trouble with dogs (especially the “undesirable” breeds) is that no one has figured out how to make money insuring them. Some companies have tried, but eventually have to back away because of losses. So…to all those out there that feel that the insurance industry is ripping them off, why not band together, invest in forming an insurance company and write all the dogs you like? It will be your chance to make a fortune and prove the rest of us wrong. Go for it.
Dog owners–why don’t you just do what people with children do on the automobile side–Don’t tell the company you have them. When there is a claim, they will find out soon enough.
ps Don’t blame insurance companies. By the breeding nature, we are reactive. It is the trial lawyers that are bred to be agressive.
I have said it before and I will say it again. Those of us who loves dogs would pay extra to be able to insure whatever breed we have with companies who just don’t get it! Fight the deed not the breed had been my mantra for years but the people who need to listen won’t and the people who do listen have not been able or willing to get anything done with the companies.
Well it is clear to me that this is a heated topic that is NOT going away and probably will not be changed either. Lets first start out with the original article comments about all the good that dogs do. It is true that dogs do plenty of good, those that are trained in a specific task or job, usually perform well in that duty as long as they are contiunally trained and used in that capacity. Seeing eye dogs are obviously the most useful dogs I think there is, I have never seen a dog that will dial 911, but I never thought Clinton would get elected a second time either. All the dogs mentioned are highly trained in a specific job, average pets are not truly trained by their owners, other than bark when you have to go out and bark alot when people come into the yard. I do have first hand knowledge of a well decorated police dog that had performed his duties very well, had numerous service medals and was his partners best friend, that dog also viciously malled and killed his owners 8 week old child while it was sleeping in the crib. The point to be made is that even well trained GOOD dogs do horrible things and NO ONE can explain why, and I don’t buy into pet psychology crap either. Insurance companies will insure anything if they can make a buck doing it, lawyers have made it difficult to make money at anything these days. Until people take responsibility for their animals and realize they can injure and kill (even small dogs)they must be trained, and 98% of all people WILL NOT take the time to train their dogs. I dont care how compassionate people are about certain breeds, Pit bulls are viscious when they bite, they do not just nip and run away like a chihuahua or poodle. I did not say all pits are viscious, but when they bite it is viscious. This is true of several other breeds. Dalmations were the number one dog bite claim for Allstate in 1997. they were not viscious, but they do not react well around kids, and after Disneys release of the movie alot of families bought dalmations. They are no longer a popular breed and not prohibited by most companies, but the company history is very clear on some breeds, if the owner does not take the time to train the dog to obey, it could and probably will bite as it gets older. Another post indicated that most homes have dogs, where is that evidence because I dont think so. Homeowners insurance does not and will not cover everything that people want it to, risk and claim probability is factored into everything a company does, you can calculate probability of certain claims such as fire, flood and wind (except in Florida) but it is difficult to be able to figure out how many dogs are going to bite someone in a year, the numbers are rising and it does not look good, so who has any ideas on how to make dogs bite less? and how we can make people use those techniques to prevent bites, Figure that out and then we can talk about insuring animal liability.
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The numbers don’t lie, I know a company I use to work for averaged a new dog bite claim every other day. Any company that does not care about insuring a pit bull is nuts.
A Pit Bull is no more dangerous than a Golden Retriever. Insurance companies (yes I work for one) need to do better research and quit “labeling” everything based on meritless information. It’s just another excuse to pocket more money and screw the average person. Perhaps if more insurance companies skipped the million dollar year end bonuses to their executives, there would be more money for their policyholders or research.
Pit Bulls, Rottweillers and other fighting dogs are more dangerous than other breeds regardless of their training or ownership. Pit Bulls etc. have had the “off switch” bred out of them – most dogs will stop fighting when the victim submitts (in dogs this means rolling on to their backs and going limp – hense the “top dog” concept) this reaction has been bred out of these breeds and they have no “off switch” – they have to be peeled off the children they’ve attacked. There is no use for these dogs except by criminal elements and they should be outlawed.
There are many things that insurance carriers can do besides panicking at anything big and furry. The American Kennel Club has a Canine Good Citizen award program that is available to all dog owners. Rather than jump on the Breed Specific bandwagon, perhaps underwriters would be wiser to ask for this certificate. Heck, they want report cards on kids; why not a temperament evaluation on pets.
Look closely at the statistics: cocker spaniels are responsible for more bites than almost every other breed; as are mixed breed dogs of dubious background. How many insurers refuse to cover these dogs?
Yes I am aware that there is a severity issue with bites from larger dogs, but the temperament of a dog has less to do with its breeding and more to do with the level of commitment its owner has in making it a valued and safe member of society.
I have seen people receive cancellation notices because the dogs in the yard barked at the insurance inspector. Imagine that; a dog barking through a secure fence at a total stranger walking around the property. Barking does not equate to biting, but it sure does scare the burglars away.
If the carriers would put things in perspective and use tools already readily available, they could safely and predictably underwite dog exposures.
Let’s face it, dogs are a part of the American lifestyle and are not going anywhere. More homes have dogs than not. Companies cannot logically stick their heads in the sand and hope the dog issue goes away. But, they can try to minimize their exposures using a more logical approach than breed specific exclusions.
I have never heard of toy poodles or tabby cats or pomeranians savagely attacking children. I have heard of Chows, Pit Bulls, and other dogs that are popularily labeled “attack prone” breeds seriuosly injuring and even killing people. Like it or not insurance companies (Yes, I do represent one)spend great deals of time and resources to calculate risks. I do not forsee my “fluffy” the cat mauling and killing the neighbor kid next door, I can see the neighbor’s Pit Bull as a likely candidate for such incidents.
I agree. Dogs are a combination of their environment and training. Pit Bulls Dobermans and the like have gotten a bad rap from the movies. A well trained and well raised dog of any breed or size will be an excellent pet and pose next to no danger of a biting incident. Most bites come from small dogs (poodles and cockers)because people aren’t cautious around them or give them the same respect they would a larger dog. Howver they are still all capable of biting given reason. So prosecute the abusive owners and consider the responsibility of the owner not the breed of dog when uderwriting.
I have been in the insurance business long enough to know one thing…if there is a profitable buck to be made, most companies will do whatever it takes to attract that type of business. (Does the term “soft market” ring a bell?) The trouble with dogs (especially the “undesirable” breeds) is that no one has figured out how to make money insuring them. Some companies have tried, but eventually have to back away because of losses. So…to all those out there that feel that the insurance industry is ripping them off, why not band together, invest in forming an insurance company and write all the dogs you like? It will be your chance to make a fortune and prove the rest of us wrong. Go for it.
Dog owners–why don’t you just do what people with children do on the automobile side–Don’t tell the company you have them. When there is a claim, they will find out soon enough.
ps Don’t blame insurance companies. By the breeding nature, we are reactive. It is the trial lawyers that are bred to be agressive.
I have said it before and I will say it again. Those of us who loves dogs would pay extra to be able to insure whatever breed we have with companies who just don’t get it! Fight the deed not the breed had been my mantra for years but the people who need to listen won’t and the people who do listen have not been able or willing to get anything done with the companies.
Well it is clear to me that this is a heated topic that is NOT going away and probably will not be changed either. Lets first start out with the original article comments about all the good that dogs do. It is true that dogs do plenty of good, those that are trained in a specific task or job, usually perform well in that duty as long as they are contiunally trained and used in that capacity. Seeing eye dogs are obviously the most useful dogs I think there is, I have never seen a dog that will dial 911, but I never thought Clinton would get elected a second time either. All the dogs mentioned are highly trained in a specific job, average pets are not truly trained by their owners, other than bark when you have to go out and bark alot when people come into the yard. I do have first hand knowledge of a well decorated police dog that had performed his duties very well, had numerous service medals and was his partners best friend, that dog also viciously malled and killed his owners 8 week old child while it was sleeping in the crib. The point to be made is that even well trained GOOD dogs do horrible things and NO ONE can explain why, and I don’t buy into pet psychology crap either. Insurance companies will insure anything if they can make a buck doing it, lawyers have made it difficult to make money at anything these days. Until people take responsibility for their animals and realize they can injure and kill (even small dogs)they must be trained, and 98% of all people WILL NOT take the time to train their dogs. I dont care how compassionate people are about certain breeds, Pit bulls are viscious when they bite, they do not just nip and run away like a chihuahua or poodle. I did not say all pits are viscious, but when they bite it is viscious. This is true of several other breeds. Dalmations were the number one dog bite claim for Allstate in 1997. they were not viscious, but they do not react well around kids, and after Disneys release of the movie alot of families bought dalmations. They are no longer a popular breed and not prohibited by most companies, but the company history is very clear on some breeds, if the owner does not take the time to train the dog to obey, it could and probably will bite as it gets older. Another post indicated that most homes have dogs, where is that evidence because I dont think so. Homeowners insurance does not and will not cover everything that people want it to, risk and claim probability is factored into everything a company does, you can calculate probability of certain claims such as fire, flood and wind (except in Florida) but it is difficult to be able to figure out how many dogs are going to bite someone in a year, the numbers are rising and it does not look good, so who has any ideas on how to make dogs bite less? and how we can make people use those techniques to prevent bites, Figure that out and then we can talk about insuring animal liability.