If you are a pet or animal owner, you need to consider whether you need insurance coverage.
Insurance policies come in many different varieties. Usually those involving pets or animals are home owner’s polices, renter’s insurance, and general liability or “umbrella” policies. Of course, there are insurance policies that covers a pet’s health needs too.
If you are a home owner, you most likely have a home owner’s insurance policy to cover loss or damage to your house and its contents. Often included within those polices is some form of limited coverage for injuries that happen on your property, and perhaps even some coverage for injuries you may cause while not on your property.
It is similar for people who lease their home or apartment and have renter’s insurance coverage.
Each State has its own insurance laws, rules, and regulations. Additionally, each insurance company offers a variety of differing policies and coverage types.
What is included in a policy and what is excluded from a policy is determined by the insurance contract entered between you and your insurance company.
Insurance companies and insurance policies can differ widely on how they provide coverage for homes owners and renters with pets and animals.
Some insurance companies have policies that include coverage for a pet’s bad acts.
Some insurance company policies do not automatically cover pet acts, but you have such coverage added to the policy.
Some insurance policies exclude certain types of pets or animals. These exclusions can cover certain breeds of dogs, livestock animals, or exotic pets.
Some insurance companies exclude any injury or damages claims resulting from any pet or animal.
Some insurance companies will not even write a home owner’s or renter’s policy where pets or animals are kept.
The same is true for the general liability policy. Each company and each policy can differ on what they are willing to cover and under what circumstances.
If you are a business owner, you face similar issues when it comes to insurance coverages and policies. There are also greater concerns for providing coverage for businesses that maintain or use any type of trained guard or attack dog on the premises.
And, the same is true for those who have or obtain general liability or “umbrella” type polices.
This is important: Here are a few steps you can take to see whether you have the appropriate insurance policy and coverages for pet and animal ownership needs BEFORE any bad events happen:
- Read your policy;
- Pay close attention to what is covered;
- Pay close attention to what is excluded;
- Determine if your situation is covered under your current policy;
- If you are unsure, contact your insurance company or agent for a policy review,
- You can also contact an independent agent to help you compare and shop policies, coverages, and companies.
This concludes the Common Legal Issues, Civil Lawsuits and Insurance Issues module. A few important things to take away include:
- Studies show over 43 million households own nearly 70 million dogs.
- Approximately 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year.
- In 2015, dog related injuries cost more than $570 million.
- Failing to contact your insurance company and provide the details of a claim or copies of a lawsuit may result in losing your insurance protection and coverage.
- If you are served with a lawsuit, carefully read all the documents, front and back. Pay close attention to deadlines. Contact a lawyer immediately if you are unsure or have any questions about how to properly proceed. Failing to respond correctly and timely has serious and significant legal consequences.
- Contact your insurance company immediately if you are served with a lawsuit or even know about a potential claim. Not immediately contacting your insurance could cause you to lose your insurance coverage and protection.
- Insurances companies will not cover a claim or provide legal assistance for past claims if there was not coverage. The proper coverage needs to be in your policy BEFORE a claim occurs.
- Most lawsuits are basically claims for money to pay for losses and damages, but may also include asking the court to order the dog or animal be removed from the area, or be properly contained, or even that the dog or animal be destroyed.
Here are a few steps you can take to see whether you have the appropriate insurance policy and coverages for pet and animal ownership needs BEFORE any bad events happen:
- Read your policy;
- Pay close attention to what is covered;
- Pay close attention to what is excluded;
- Determine if your situation is covered under your current policy;
- If you are unsure, contact your insurance company or agent for a policy review, and
- You can also contact an independent agent to help you compare and shop policies, coverages, and companies.
If you have a legal question, need legal advice, or require legal representation, please immediately contact a lawyer in your area.