I've looked around for a thread like this but haven't found anything, so here goes.

When we bought our house in July 2013 Layla had not yet been born and we had no other pets. We got our homeowners insurance policy through Arbella, an insurance company that serves Massachusetts and Connecticut that we also use for our auto insurance, so we bundled everything together and got a nice discount.

Then we watched "Beyond the Myth" last night. It's an amazing documentary about breed-specific/breed-discriminatory legislation (BSL/BDL) and the myths surrounding pit bull and pit bull-type dogs. It's an issue I'm passionate about and I highly recommend the film to anyone. The film got me even more fired up about this and I became curious about whether our homeowners insurance has a banned-breed list.

Of course, it does, and of course Huskies are on the list.    We don't renew our insurance until this coming July so we have a few months yet, but I want to be prepared if/when we have to find another company. Until then we'll have to keep Layla and any future Sibes we get a "secret" from the insurance company.

My question: For you homeowners with Sibes, what homeowners insurance do you have, and are they aware that you have a Sibe? If you're willing to say so, do any of you have homeowners insurance that includes Sibes on a banned-breed list but each year you renew you do not disclose to the insurance company that you have a Sibe? Which homeowners insurance companies do you know of that do not discriminate that we could keep in mind when it comes time for us to renew, i.e. find a new homeowners insurance?

I understand the reason why an insurance company would want to do something like this, but it's totally bogus because none of the "stats" they will quote you are based in fact. When it comes down to it, NO organization, agency, etc. of any kind has ever legitimately tracked and/or ranked dog-bite statistics by breed. The stats that the insurance companies use come from police reports, but as some of you know police are not trained to properly identify a breed and so oftentimes a dog is misidentified in a bite report. That, coupled with the way the media portrays different types of dog bites, is the reason why these dogs get a bad rap, and unfortunately companies and lawmakers have taken their cues from this misinformation and have perpetuated it in the form of policies and laws that outright discriminate against both dogs AND people.

Sadly, I don't have any tips for you but I did want to ask where you watched the documentary? Is it on Netflix? I'm really interested in watching it!

Anyways, I still live with my parents but I plan on moving out soon, hopefully. I've been looking at apartments around town and it is REALLY hard to find some where huskies aren't on the banned breed list. It's really frustrating so I kind of understand how you must be feeling.

I think it's a bit ridiculous how they easily judge without actual facts. Just because other breeds aren't reported as much, doesn't mean that they are any better.

Anyways, hopefully someone can help you out with some advice. Also, good luck finding a new company or someone that works with you and your pets!

Try this resource:

http://www.mspca.org/programs/pet-owner-resources/pet-owner-guides/dog-care/home-insurance-and-pets/

http://www.akc.org/insurance/homeowners_inscenter.cfm

Rocio_Caballero wrote:

Sadly, I don't have any tips for you but I did want to ask where you watched the documentary? Is it on Netflix? I'm really interested in watching it!

Yep, it is on Netflix. That's where we watched it. I had no idea some of the measures cities like San Francisco, Denver and Miami have taken in recent years to basically rid their cities of pit bull-type breeds by any means necessary, including forcibly taking them from their families and indiscriminantly killing them. The fact that this happens in the 21st century is absolutely baffling to me.

amymeme wrote:

Try this resource:

http://www.mspca.org/programs/pet-owner-resources/pet-owner-guides/dog-care/home-insurance-and-pets/

http://www.akc.org/insurance/homeowners_inscenter.cfm

I was looking at these exact two sites a few hours ago, Amy. I used to volunteer at the MSPCA and they have an influential advocacy program that fights on a state level against BSL/BDL and played a big role in the anti-breed discrimination law that was enacted in Mass. in 2012. Unfortunately dealing with insurance discrimination has to be addressed on a national level, which probably won't happen anytime soon. Anyway, I did start to check out some of the companies on the MSPCA's list and read some reviews from some folks that had their insurance canceled because of the breed of dog they own, so some of them must have a list after all ... ?

The Hartford does have a banned-breed list that includes Huskies, but if your dog is registered with the AKC and passes either the Puppy S.T.A.R program or CGC test, they will give you a homeowners policy and a discount of 10% or so ... which kind of irks me, because I've read the Hartford is the main sponsor for the Puppy S.T.A.R. and CGC programs and still has a banned-breed list despite the AKC coming out publicly against breed discrimination ... not to mention that dogs that pass CGC or S.T.A.R. are just as liable to bite as any other dog, no matter the breed ...

Any rate, thanks for sharing. It's a good start for my research!

We have Centauri which apparently does not have huskies on the breed list, but any wolfdogs / wolf hybrids (among some other breeds) are not covered. Not sure if they cover in your area. I think they are mostly the south.

It never came up with our insurance if we had dogs or not. I'm going to stay under the radar with that for as long as I can because homeowners insurance is ridiculously expensive down here.

We had a carrier through Geico that covered our sibe in our last house. The insurance company was Universal, but there is more than one home insurance company called Universal. I know because one of them insures huskies and one does not. They are Universal of North America and North America Universal or something like that and I cannot remember which was which when it came to accepting or rejecting huskies. It's in my files at home but I'm on vacay this week.

With our new house closing in May, I spent last week getting quotes for husky friendly insurance.  Allstate was the one with the lowest rate and no breed restriction so that's who we're switching both our home and auto to.  It's only an additional $7 on our annual premium to cover our sibe with Allstate.

I KNOW there is a thread on this topic somewhere on this forum. I think I may have even started it, but I have searched and searched and come up empty handed. Be careful with keeping secrets, insurance agents can and do occasionally do unannounced visits and you can get a 30 days notice of a policy cancellation if they find you have an uninsured liability like a husky.

We have Safeco - and did not have any dogs when we started with them. Looked up their dog policy http://www.abraminterstate.com/~abramint/pdf/SafecoHome_and_DwellingFireGuidelines.pdf

www.aibme.com/images/Dog_Restriction_List.doc‎ (I vaguely remember this form in the packet we filled out, wasn't applicable at the time.)

Looks like we'll be ok. We switched to Safeco 3-4 years ago - have pretty extensive account with them (6 cars, home, umbrella) they were cheapest by far when we got quotes. We've had 2 not at fault auto incidents (rear-ended) and 1 comprehensive (deer). Decent claims response. No homeowner's claims in years and years so can't say about that.

New York has had a couple of bills to ban breed specific prohibitions in insurance, from what I can tell, they have yet to pass but I'm not sure about that.

I can't imagine Ami ever biting anyone, he so friendly and social. My previous siberian was a bit more reserved (still would go with anyone, though) but she never bit anyone. I can't imagine how siberian's are on anyone's banned list - except for looking like a wolf. Stupid people.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tip about Allstate, Val. I'll definitely check them out. Safeco too.

Sibes are often on the banned list because of the made-up dog-bite "statistics" that I mentioned. Because of their size and wolf-like appearance, Huskies are often in the top 10 of breeds on police reports for dog bites nationwide. As I said, police are not trained to identify dogs by breed, so the reports often falsely identify a dog by breed. Some cities like Denver that ban pit bull-looking breeds outright have checklists that are sometimes used to identify a dog's breed, but they didn't pull from any legitimate breed standard to come up with this list, so they're basically making stuff up and defining themselves arbitrarily what makes a pit bull, which they think gives them the authority to round up people's dogs by force and kill them.

Anyone who says they have collected stats on dog bites by breed is lying to you, because there has never been a legitimate study done on this. The CDC did a study around 2005, 2006 looking at dog bites by breed, but the reports they counted were only from newspapers, and as we all know, the media reports bites by various breeds differently, so this data was flawed and the CDC itself said their data should not be used because it was itself flawed.

And, I obviously can't back this up with any hard fact myself, but I have a feeling that a lot of the "Husky" bites reported were from parents of children who were not paying attention and the child either provoked the dog or was playing with the dog and the dog played a little too roughly. While some dog bites ARE the result of aggression, I tend to believe that the vast majority of Husky and Malamute bites are the result of rough play that the human that was bitten didn't anticipate, not because of aggression or a fear response.

there are companies that have no breed restrictions like Erie, Farmers Insurance Group, Travelers, Kemper, United Services Automobile Association, Fireman’s Fund and the Chubb Group. One agency, The Lester Kalmanson Agency even goes so far as to specialize in animal related policies.

Liberty Mutual, Safeco & Nationwide all maintain restricted breed lists and will not renew or write any new policies for breeds on those lists.

State Farm Pemco andAlllstate depend on the state or actual dog vs breed.
I have Statfarm and it depends on if yoyr state has a dangerous or vicious dog law designating by breed.

And yes Val there was a thread by I think it was a hijack

Our insurance is through Farm Bureau. We get really good rates and we also have our cars through them. Huskies aren't on any list for them. The only breeds on it are dogs like pitt bulls, akitas, rotts, and wolf hybrids. Farm Bureau is run a little different per state so you would still need to check with your local office if you have any because if Huskies are on a state list somewhere for your state that could make a difference.

TwisterII wrote:

Our insurance is through Farm Bureau. We get really good rates and we also have our cars through them. Huskies aren't on any list for them. The only breeds on it are dogs like pitt bulls, akitas, rotts, and wolf hybrids. Farm Bureau is run a little different per state so you would still need to check with your local office if you have any because if Huskies are on a state list somewhere for your state that could make a difference.

So many great tips of companies to look into. Luckily my state has a statewide ban on breed discrimination so towns and cities everywhere in Mass. are not allowed to ban any specific breed, so if Farm Bureau serves Massachusetts we may be in luck ...

http://mfbf.net/

It doesn't say much of anything about insurance on this site but at least it might give you someone to call and quiz as to if your state offers insurance or if they are just a membership state. When we took out a policy we are automatically enrolled as members and we get a lot of discounts on things like hotel rooms, and to some stores.

Awesome, thanks!

Also double check Farmers Insurance Group Farmers Ins umbrella because they operate a whole bunch of insurance companies under different names in Ma and they are one insurance that does not have breed restrictions lists. I would assume (oops should not assume) that if the Parent group has no breed restrictions than the small entities like Mid Century, 21st Century, Foremost and all the individual Farmers under this umbrella would not. The link above is for the umbrella of groups under Farmers Insurance Group of Companies®

Well, we just had to buy our policy for our first place. I ran into the breed problem when I went through a normal company, then our real estate agent suggested to check out USAA if we qualify. My dad was in the Air Force so we do! They asked if our dog has ever bitten a human or animal, and that was it. They didn't ask his breed or size. So, for anyone having a hard time, this is something to try.

USAA is awesome, that's great you qualified Jenny! You should seriously think about switching your car insurance over, when Aaron and I got married and he switched we wound up saving hundreds of dollars.

I just told Pat once we get everything settled down we should get a quote for the car. I was SO happy to find out we could do it that way, and they were super friendly and helpful.