As an ex-insurance agent, I can see why insurance companies don't write certain breeds of dogs. An insurance company must look for ways to minimize risk and there's no doubt that certain breeds of dogs are more likely to cause serious bodily harm than others - leaving the insurance company open to a lawsuit.

However, as a dog owner, I'd be pretty upset if my insurance company told me they couldn't insure my home unless I got rid of my dogs. My dogs are little and acceptable to insurance companies, but if I had a pit bull I wouldn't train him or her to be vicious like some people do.

I'm especially interested in hearing from those of you who have "blacklisted" breeds. What would you do differently from an insurance companies perspective? Perhaps require obedience classes? Do you think the companies should accept anyone regardless of whether they have a particular breed of dog or not?

This was one of my least favorite parts of my job. I hated telling people I couldn't write their policy because they had a Doberman. It's almost like saying I can't write your policy because my company doesn't like your kid.

Anyhow, just wondering if we can brainstorm some ideas that make sense for the dog owner as well as the insurance company.

It's a lot like life insurance: If you have an especially dangerous job or hobby (race car driving, speed boat racing, hang gliding, etc.), they may not write a policy against your life, because you are in too high of a risk category.

While I agree that it's really the owners, and not the breeds that are the problem, I think perhaps the insurance companies are beginning to see a trend: too many people who own those breeds own them for the wrong reasons. As a result, the breeds have been stereotyped. Now it's up to the "good" owners to disprove the stereotype. If I were an underwriter, I would say a Canine Good Citizenship certificate would be a good indicator for insurability. People who deliberately raise an agressive dog aren't even going to try for a CGC cert., much less achieve one.

Mydogiscute,

That's a great idea! In my experience underwriters are all about documentation. If you can document that your dog has a Canine Good Citizenship certificate, that should alleviate a lot of their fears.

I can understand where the insurance companies are coming from, but this is one area where the companies I'm aware of are completely inflexible. If you have an "excluded breed", they won't insure you. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Thanks for the reasoned, well thought out post. Now if we could get insurance companies to think outside the box a bit. Unfortunately, they are so black and white in their thinking. ie, most expensive dog bite liability claims come from these 3, 5, 8, 12 (number varies based on company - but I've only seen breeds added and never removed) breeds, so we won't insure anyone that has one of those breeds under any circumstances. Hopefully, they'll eventually create a little gray area for people who raise their dogs in a responsible manner.