Damned Insurance Companies

The BBQ Pit
1

My parents are not going through a good time right now. My mother may have ovarian cancer so of course the entire family is pretty stressed. I do not talk to my parents very often (they kicked me out of the house when I was younger…long long story) but I of course still love them and of course want them to be happy. This is not a complaint about health insurance though, this is about home insurance.

The problem is this, my parents run a small rescue for dogs, they take in dogs that for medical reasons would have been put to sleep in the pound they were taken too (most of the dogs they have were seniors when taken into the pound, dogs over 11 were almost always put to sleep rather than being put up for adoption, even if the dog was healthy & friendly). My parents do not have very many dogs, and they do have all the appropriate licenses for the city they live in. But their current insurance company cancelled their policy because they have more that 3 dogs. The only reason they knew about them was because they had to inspect the oil tank, there was no complaint about the dogs or anything.

They have not been able to find insurance anywhere, apparently once you have a policy cancelled you are black listed. Someone recommened they try a farm insurance company, and after talking with them it sounded really promising, they didn’t care about the dogs. But after they did the home inspection they said they wouldn’t insure them because a door frame was damaged, and there was a hole in the drywall in one of the rooms. You would think both of these things are easily fixable, but the company didn’t offer them the opportunity to do these repairs, they just turned them down. I am so frustrated, my parents pay their bills on time, the dogs are very friendly, a couple of them are therapy dogs for fucks sake, and all my parents were trying to do was save their lifes, now they are going to lose their house, or they are going to have to put down the dogs. I am so frustrated for them, this sucks. :mad:

2

What kind of insurance are you talking about? Home insurance?

They might try looking at some sort of business insurance, on the grounds that the dogs are a “business.” Also, I’m surprised that the insurance company cancelled them, surely they could have arranged a rider (extra premium for the higher risk of damage) or even an exclusion for damage done by the dogs…? A complaint to the state insurance regulation agency might help.

3

Try the AKC website. They have a list of dog-friendly insurance companies.

4

This may not apply to Canada but, it’s my understanding that their current company cannot “cancel” the policy mid-term. They must issue a non-renewal notice and stay on the risk until the policy anniversary date. This should buy them some time to find a different company.

What kind of dogs do they have? Most companies would not care about 3 mutts but, would certainly non-renew for 3 Pitbulls, Rotties, Dobies etc. Even then, here in New York State you can still obtain a basic fire policy (no liability coverage) through NY Fairplan. Perhaps there is a similar plan for Canada.

My best thoughts go out to you regarding your Mother’s health.

5

I don’t understand how not having home insurance will cause them to lose their house. ??

In my (admittedly limited) experience, if you have a mortgage, the lender insists on coverage and will make sure you get it to protect their investment.

If you own the house outright, it’s up to you whether or not you carry it.

I’ve never heard of something cosmetic (door frame and hole in a wall) being used to deny coverage.

6

Insurance guy here.

I hate the way homeowners insuarance has been getting. Back in the good old days you had a policy with a deductible roughly equal to a mortgage payment and nobody knew what the policy could do apart from getting a house rebuilt if it burned to the ground. Premiums were calculated with the concept of “disaster only” claims being reported and so remained reasonable. And there was much rejoicing, or at least you could insure your hovel.

But then people started reading their policy. And they began to interpret its function differently. No longer was it a contract to rebuild your home less the deductible. Now it is interpreted as a contract to pay for any covered loss which exceeds the deductible. Home Insurance is getting nickeled and dimed to death.

So, they raise rates to cover expenses, people grumble (people hate change if it hits their wallets). To limit the rate increases, they develop stricter (and increasingly bizarre) underwriting guidelines to try and predict at the microscopic level what kinds of claims can be expected from whom. A hole in the drywall, an improperly set door…gives the appearance of overall neglect & lack of “pride in ownership” which is in turn interpreted as an overall attitude of carelessness that could result in theft claims or even a total fire loss. And an ever changing number of previously owned dogs who were loved so much that they were abandoned? Even good dogs are known to bite for no apparent reason, or even for very good reasons which they refuse to divulge in a legal deposition. Why accept that risk for a measly $700 or even $1,400 a year?

But come on. Stuff happens to drywall–doorknobs, little kids experimenting with hammers, dogs chew it up, and another insurance company’s unknown and possibly unreasonable criteria for denial are flimsy grounds for denying a new policy. It just fucking sucks.

Truth is, I don’t think many companies have an attractive $5,000 deductible. Available? Sure (mortgage companies would probably not go for it), but the savings is likely to be like $20 when compared to a $2,000 deductible–what idiot would buy that? They never asked me, but a brilliant (and loyalty-winning) solution would be for the “farm companies” to offer a basic (heh…Form 1 was it called?) homeowner’s policy with custom exclusions (dog bites or drywll only claims for example), more restrictive perils which do not cover theft, domestic water damage less than $5,000 and a couple others; and a massive deductible structure beginning with $2,500 or maybe go the health insurance route: First $2,500 are yours, 80% of the next $2,500 is paid by the company, and anything beyond that is fully covered. Man, that was a long sentence.

I’m sure the policy exists somewhere, and like C K Dexter Haven pointed out, it’s fairly common for business insurance. The policy could be VERY inexpensive or at least in line with a normal Form 5 policy with limited risk so the company doesn’t lose money, and the customer would be happy because they get insured.

Of course, I’m an idiot, so take all that with a grain or two of salt, some lime and a shot.