Insurance Industry Scams Dog Owners - Greedy For Profits?
It's insidious and it goes like this.
Your insurance agent calls. Howdy, Martha, he says, in his friendly, once-a-year-business-casual-voice.
I see your policy is up for renewal. Just wanna check those coverages for you, make sure we keep you up to date - don't wanna have the house burn down and not be covered - right? Chuckle, chuckle. By the way, do you have a dog? Oh, you do? Max, yes, I remember. Well, refresh me - what kind of dog is he?
Stop right there.
How much insurance you pay, or whether you'll be able to keep your insurance at all, depends greatly on your answer. The question really is - what breed of dog do you own?
If you give the wrong answer, you could find yourself with sky-high rates or without any homeowners insurance at all.
The insurance industry is engaging in a new, deceitful practice that discriminates against dog owners and their dogs. Not bad owners or vicious dogs - Good dog owners and good dogs. Without any bite history or claims. This deceitful, insidious new practice has a name.
Breed Profiling.
Breed profiling is racial profiling for dogs. That's when the insurance industry gets to blanket deem your dog dangerous, for no reason other than breed.
If you think it's just for people who own German Shepherds, Rottweilers and Pit Bulls, think again. And by the way, if think that it's OK to discriminate against those breeds anyway - think again. Because it's wrong for people and it's wrong for dogs. And your dog - even it it's not on the list below - could be next.
If your dog matches any dog breeds on the list below, then it's on "the list" - the insurance blacklist. Oh, and did I mention if your dog is a mix, but a mix of any of the breeds below - your dog is on the blacklist.
OK - ready? Here's the list:
Akitas, Alaskan Malamutes, American Bulldogs, American Pit Bull Terrier, APBT, American Staffordshire Terrier, AmStaff, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Boxers, Bullmastiffs, Chow Chows, Collies, Dalmatians, Doberman Pinschers, German Shepherds, Mastiffs, Great Danes, Rottweilers, Saint Bernards, Shiba Inus, Siberian Huskies, Staffordshire Bull Terriers
If your dog is on "the list" you may be forced to make an awful decision. Choose your dog or choose to keep your home insured. Ir - if they do offer you coverage - it may be so unaffordable, that you are forced to give up your dog.
How sick is that? But in most places - this breed profiling is legal - that's right - legal. Insurance discrimination and breed profiling is legal in 37 states in the U.S. and across the provinces in Canada.
What can you do?
Pick up the phone and call your state elected officials. Tell them you want breed profiling outlawed.
Then tell then if they don't address it in the next legislative session, you will vote then out of office.
Tell them there's a new breed of voter in town. Tell 'em My Dog Votes.
Insurance discrimination based on dog ownership or breed is a problem in Florida. It is has become my personal interest to take action to end this discrimination..for dog owners (of which I am one...German Shepherd) and for victims of dog bites. We all like to think that our dogs would never hurt anyone, and in most cases, if they are properly trained, we won't ever have to worry about it. However, there is a case in Florida where a yellow lab was on medication that caused it to act abnormally. It ran out and attacked another dog and bit a woman in the arm and hand. It happens. Unfortunately, when these bites involve small children, they can be very severe. In these cases, it is not unheard of for dog owners to lose everything they have to try to pay for medical bills their homeowner's policy should cover. If the owner doesn't have enough assets, then the victims have to find a way to pay. All in the name of the insurance companies making a buck. It's a real problem.
If anyone has information about states that currently have statutes disallowing insurance discrimination relating to dogs in some manner, I would love to know. They would make great examples for our Florida legislators.
Posted by: Kris Barrow | January 07, 2009 at 10:50 PM
I have Farmers Insurance and the rates they charge me have been going up, up, up year after year and I get no explanation why. Think twice before you try Farmers.
Posted by: John Donne | April 01, 2008 at 10:48 PM
C'mon folks, we all know it's an insurance scam so they can MAKE MORE MONEY! They worship at the altar of the almighty dollar and if they can find a way to screw you, you're gonna get it! Another way they screw you is through credit checks. There are a lot of homeowners whose credit is not that great, so what does the insurance industry do, they fabricate a cause and effect relationship between people without stellar credit and increased claims! What a bunch of B.S. There are just a COUPLE of states that have passed laws banning this reprehensible and unscrupulous business practice. A final word, a rich person's house can burn down or be damaged just like the poor schmucks that the insurance vultures rape each year. The bad thing about this is that the politicians of both parties are in bed with them as they are with every industry. Ever notice how much money a politician comes OUT of office with as opposed to how much he/she had when they went in? People, we need to think about all these things because remember the words of John Donne: "Therefore, don't ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."
Posted by: Bill Jonson | April 01, 2008 at 10:46 PM
I DO think it is all a scam by the GREEDY insurance industry to make more money! Look around you, every move by an industry is predicated on greed and the accumulation of wealth. It's bad enough that insurance companies can "cherry" pick because of a person's credit history, now they want to pick some more cherries by pet discrimination? Tell your elected representatives that you want action, from them, to introduce laws to make the breed discrimination practice illegal! Make sure to let them know that they should be replaced come next election time by someone who will introduce and support legislation!
Posted by: Bill Malone | March 19, 2008 at 11:49 AM
I found Farmers Insurance does not discriminate, and dumped the Southern California Auto Club after 25+ years. They lost my auto and homeowners insurance business and in October the membership card will be shredded due to their dog policy.
Given the choice of euthanizing my dogs, or a long time commercial relationship - the Auto Club lost.
Posted by: Gordon Lundene | July 27, 2005 at 11:55 PM
or this scenario:
agent: have a dog?
me: yes
agent: what kind?
me: pit bull
agent: oh, we don't insure people with pit bulls any longer. Let's put "mixed breed"
true story. The agent was willing to LIE to keep his commission.
Posted by: pitbullEmily | July 27, 2005 at 01:38 PM