# Higher Insurance Premium for GSD owners !



## ahazra (Aug 20, 2010)

I was shopping around today for renewing my house insurance and I was pissed that some Insurance companies actually had a column asking whether I have a Rot, GSD, Pitbull or Doberman as a pet !
Needless to mention I skipped this insurance company. Have other forum members seen discrimination of this nature on other websites ?


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## TitonsDad (Nov 9, 2009)

State Farm has NO breed restrictions.


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## Montana Scout (Sep 27, 2010)

I saw this on another thread and called my insurance company immediately.. I go through USAA but they don't have any breed restrictions, but they do have high risk breeds, which is only a percentage, but nothing to do with raising insurance


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## pac liter (Jul 22, 2010)

My insurance premiums (Mercury) went up a lot when we included our dogs.


On the bottom of the app there is a part that mentions Rotties, Dobbies, Chows, Pitt Bulls, and the Korean Jindo are not covered. Nothing about GSD's thankfully. 

Ive read that a high percentage of homeowners insurance claims are dog related.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

ahazra said:


> I was shopping around today for renewing my house insurance and I was pissed that some Insurance companies actually had a column asking whether I have a Rot, GSD, Pitbull or Doberman as a pet !
> Needless to mention I skipped this insurance company. Have other forum members seen discrimination of this nature on other websites ?


 
I agree that it is aggravating but not discrimination - ins. co. rates for everything are based on actuarial tables - i.e. mathamatical/statistical information on payouts for certain classes of things. For example why would womens insurance rates be less than equal aged men? Discrimination? NO, they really do live longer! Same with some breeds - insurance companies evidently have found that there are more/bigger claims they pay out for them - hence higher rates!

Some companies may ignore them because they figure it is worth it to get more business!


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## kiwilrdg (Aug 26, 2010)

Just as the folks with several kids pay more than I do with just my wife, there is more liability so there is a higher premium.


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## ahazra (Aug 20, 2010)

The point I'm trying to make is why should an insurance company change premium based on the breed of a pet ! I completely understand if they have a higher premium for all pets (irrespective of breed). Isin't it similar to a situation where an automobile insurance company starts charging higher premiums for soccer moms or Asian drivers. That is just not right !!
NOTE: I'm not stating that soccer mom's or Asian drivers are bad/risky drivers..but there are articles in the net on this topic and I'm just trying to equate the two scenarios and drawing comparison how ridiculous the stance is for Insurance companies !
and oh Yes..I'm Asian !


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

codmaster said:


> I agree that it is aggravating but not discrimination - ins. co. rates for everything are based on actuarial tables - i.e. mathamatical/statistical information on payouts for certain classes of things. For example why would womens insurance rates be less than equal aged men? Discrimination? NO, they really do live longer! Same with some breeds - insurance companies evidently have found that there are more/bigger claims they pay out for them - hence higher rates!
> 
> Some companies may ignore them because they figure it is worth it to get more business!


True... but that's such a simple black and white stat... there are so many variables involved with dogs and such poor record keeping. I could understand if there was a "canine" premium, where if you own a "canine" which can be distinguished in that it is or it isn't a dog; you pay a higher premium because policy holders who have "a canine" have more claims which can be demonstrated in their claims stats.
While they're on the topic of singling out what type of dogs I have are they also looking at the fact that I don't have a yard? No one ever comes in our house? In my neighborhood if anything, it keeps burglars out? How many bites per capita a certain breed has? Probably not, it's too much work, which I completely understand, which is why they shouldn't even bother singling out a breed.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

American Family Insurance bans Pitbulls, Rottweilers, Chow Chows, Akitas, Wolf Hybrids and anything mixed with those breeds.


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

Insurance is not fair. Premiums are based on a calculated risk which involve so many factors, which are never to the advantage of the individual policy holder.

If one breed is more likely to bite and cause damage, then the insurance companies need to protect themselves. I really don't blame them, but in a fair world there would be an additional premium for a dog, dogs, and type of dog. 

And they really should add cats to that list too. A cat bite requires medical attention when the skin is broken.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Caledon said:


> Insurance is not fair. Premiums are based on a calculated risk which involve so many factors, which are never to the advantage of the individual policy holder.
> 
> If one breed is more likely to bite and cause damage, then the insurance companies need to protect themselves. I really don't blame them, but in a fair world there would be an additional premium for a dog, dogs, and type of dog.
> 
> And they really should add cats to that list too. A cat bite requires medical attention when the skin is broken.


Statistically speaking - do you really think that the number of cat bites and the resulting expense to the insurance company is relevant compared to the expense of dog bites?

*"never to the advantage of the individual policy holder."* - Of course they can be, depending on which group you are in. If you are a woman, wouldn't you enjoy the lower rates? Or if you own a poodle (I assume that these are less for this example) instead of a pit bull, wouldn't you enjoy having insurance and at a lower rate?


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

ahazra said:


> The point I'm trying to make is why should an insurance company change premium based on the breed of a pet !
> 
> *They do, because some breeds end up costing the insurance company more for claims. All based on the extensive statistics that the insurance companies keep and share among all companies. Some of them pay a lot more attention to the statistics than others do.*
> 
> ...


You have the point of "Higher risk = higher pay"!


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

We use state farm. They never even asked about dogs.


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## fkeeley (Aug 31, 2006)

HMMM, i just got a new puppy but i'm not going to tell my insurance company about her. I mean, don't ask don't tell is my policy. Unless there is a risk of a dog biting (we live out in the country) why would they care what kind of dog i have? if i have the dog in my property safe and secured....UGH, hate insurance companies. So what's next? Higher premium because you own a gun or smoke or know karate???


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

fkeeley said:


> So what's next? Higher premium because you own a gun or smoke or know karate???


What? You don't? LOL
We pay higher premiums because we have hardwood floors. We WOULD have to pay extra if we smoked (don't want to burn down the expensive floors now).
You DO know 99.99% of fires are caused by flames hitting flamable things... if you have flames and flamable things in your house, you're just a walking insurance claim, sir


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