Archive for the ‘pet insurance’ Category

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Trumann, Arkansas Bans Bully Breeds

July 29th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, pet insurance

It’s long been that case that if you own certain kinds of dogs, you’ll be hard pressed to find homeowners insurance, but if you live in Trumann, Arkansas, you may find that your favorite pet has been banned from living in the city limits at all.

Members of the City Council of Trumann recently approved an ordinance keeping American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and a few other breeds from living in the city, though pet owners who already own such dogs have sixty days to register them if they want to keep their animals.

Unregistered animals must leave the city, or face being taken into city custody for possible euthanization after eleven days.

In interview with local news station KAIT-TV, Trumann’s mayor, Sheila Walters, said that several adults had been attacked by bully breeds over the last few years, and that as a result, the city feels it needs more control over the people who own such animals.

It should be noted that the vast majority of pit bull terriers and other bully breeds are perfectly safe around people, as long as they’re adequately trained, while those animals trained for dog fighting (the source of the name “pit bull”) pose a higher risk of dog-on-dog aggression.

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Friday Film Strip: Prescription Drugs and Pets

June 17th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in friday filmstrips, pet insurance

We’ve all done it – left pain relievers or allergy medicines where our dogs or cats can get them. Sometimes, nothing happens, but there are some drugs which work great for humans, but can seriously harm our pets. This week’s video discusses that issue:

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State Farm Releases List of Top Ten States for Dog Bite Claims

May 11th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, pet insurance

Every year, State Farm Insurance Co. shares its list of the top ten states with insurance claims involving dog bites. This year, California has the dubious honor of being at the top of the list, with 369 claims and a total payout of $11.3 million, but Florida actually has the highest cost-per-claim

State Farm Insurance Co. has released its top 10 states for claims involving dog bites, with California on top in number of claims and Florida (which actually ranked seventh in terms of number of claims) recording the highest cost per claim with a total payout of $38,356. Coming in second to California was the state of Illinois, with 317 dog bite claims and a total cost of $9.7 million.

According to State Farm’s representative, homeowners insurance coverage is never refused based on a dog’s breed, but homeowners are required to answer questions about their pets’ history on the application form. There is an exception only in the state of Ohio, where pit bulls are considered to be “vicious dogs” and are excluded from State Farm policies. Even with this exception, however, Ohio has the third-highest number of dog-bite claims (215 in 2010) for a total payout of $5.7 million.

The entire top ten are:
#1 – California
#2 – Illinois
#3 – Ohio
#4 – Texas – 202 claims, $3.7 million in payouts
#5 – Michigan – 166 claims, $5.2 million in payouts
#6 – Pennsylvania – 155 claims, $3.9 million in payouts
#7 – Florida
#8 – Minnesota – 139 claims, $3.4 million in payouts
#9 – New York – 119 claims, $4.3 million in payouts
#10 – Indiana – 114 claims, $1.8 million in payouts

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Friday Filmstrips: A look at Pet Insurance

May 6th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in advice and how-tos, friday filmstrips, pet insurance

As much as many of us consider them so, our pets are not actually our children, and as such their medical expenses are not deductible. Unfortunately, some animals have expensive medical needs, even so. Certain large breed dogs are prone to hip issues, for example, while some small breeds are more likely to get seizures.

Even for pets without hereditary diseases, the owner’s first question when seeking treatment for an accident or injury is not, “What can you do for my animal?” but “how much will this cost?”

One answer is to get pet insurance, and this video takes a look at four different pet insurance plans:

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Friday Filmstrips: Pet Insurance

March 11th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in auto insurance, friday filmstrips, pet insurance

Progressive’s Pet Insurance has existed for over a year now. Here’s one of their earlier commercials mentioning it:

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Progressive Adds Pet Coverage to Commercial Auto

March 9th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in auto insurance, pet insurance

Thanks to Progressive, “Take Your Dog to Work Day” just got a little safer.

Progressive Insurance, the first company to include specific pet coverage for animals traveling in their owners’ vehicles, has extended their pet insurance coverage. Now, business owners with auto insurance from Progressive can have their pets protected as well.

Under their Pet Injury coverage, Progressive will pay up to $1,000 in vet bills if a dog or cat is injured in a car accident. The coverage is free with collision coverage, and applies to cats and dogs traveling in a vehicle and injured in a crash, theft, flooding, or a fire.

Why extend this to business customers?

Cory Fischer, Progressive’s product manager, explains: “With one in five companies allowing dogs at work, Fido or Fluffy are more likely to tag along in our commercial customers’ vehicles.”

Progressive’s Pet Injury coverage is also available with RV and boat insurance customers.

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AAIS Creates PUP Exclusion for Dogs

February 28th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, pet insurance

The American Association of Insurance Services, a national insurance advisory organization that develops standardized forms and provides the rating information used by more than six hundred property & casualty insurers, has announced the filing of three separate endorsements which allow insurance companies to exclude umbrella and personal liability coverage for damage or injury from dogs.

Specifically, AAIS is filing endorsements under its homeowners insurance program that exclude coverage for medical payments and BI/PD (bodily injury and property damage) that comes from “…direct physical contact with a canine or canines identified in the endorsement.”

The named insured must sign the endorsement to acknowledge the exclusion for it to be in force.

According to the instruction manual provided with the endorsement paperwork, program users are advised to specify distinguishing characteristics in addition to a dog’s name in order to have a definitive identification of an animal, since policyholders can change their pets’ names if they so choose.

As well, AAIS is filing two exclusions for dogs under it’s PUP, or Personal Umbrella Program. One of them excludes all coverage for BI/PD from direct physical contact with any canine, and the other excludes coverage with an exception allowing it IF the BI/PD is covered by other insurance, or would have been covered except for limits being exhausted.

The PUP exclusion with the exception is meant to correspond with the above-mentioned homeowners canine exclusion. If the AAIS homeowners canine exclusion is part of underlying insurance, the insurance company may still write umbrella policies to respond to dogs other than those named in the homeowners endorsement schedule.

If all of this makes you think insurance has literally gone to the dogs, you may be right.

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