A woman who was set to renew her homeowner’s insurance this summer was denied after she revealed that she had adopted a pitbull almost a year ago.
Carly Gregory adopted Hank, a pitbull cross, with the help of the RainCoast Dog Rescue Society. The organization had rescued Hank from a California kill shelter and then brought the dog to Victoria where Gregory adopted him.
“I’ve had him for close to a year,” Gregory told
Times Colonist. “I haven’t seen any aggression.”
Canadian Direct Insurance, Gregory’s insurer, did not take well to the adoption. During the renewal process of Gregory’s homeowner’s insurance, an agent asked if she had any new pets since her last renewal. When she confirmed, the agent apologized to her and said that the company would not renew her policy.
Gregory had inadvertently breached the terms of her policy by forgetting to tell her insurer about Hank; the thought of alerting her insurance company of the adoption as soon as possible did not occur to her.
“It wasn’t something that I thought was important,” she admitted.
Insurance Bureau of Canada media relations manager Andrew McGrath pointed out that pet owners must inform their insurers of their new furry friends the moment they take them in.
“If during the policy term the insured adopts or purchases a pet, they must divulge this to their insurer,” McGrath said. “Failure to do so could restrict the coverage available if the insurer has guidelines prohibiting insuring homes with a certain breed.”
Although insurers would not deny a policyholder coverage for—for instance—a fire loss due to a dog’s actions, “[insurers] likely would deny coverage for a dog bite, if they were unaware of the prohibited breed,” McGrath explained.
Some insurers can be particular about the types of dogs their policyholders can take care of. The dog breeds insurers are typically wary of include Rottweilers, German shepherds, malamutes, huskies, and Dobermans among others. Statistical analysis reveals that the number of dog attacks attributable to certain breeds is significantly lopsided, and pitbulls are the type associated with the most number of attacks.
According to the Insurance Information Institute in the US, dog bites and other dog-related injuries accounted for over a third of all payouts resulting from home-insurance liability claims in 2015—more than US$570 million was paid in relation to dog-related injury claims, with the average payout being US$37,214.
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