Owning a dog could affect your ability to obtain home insurance or renters insurance. You may have the sweetest, calmest dog in the world, however your insurance company MAY look at Rover differently. Some home insurance companies are not very enthusiastic about insuring certain breeds of dogs and as a result, you may pay more for your policy or they may cancel or not renew your policy.

If you’re thinking of getting a dog, you might want to check with your home insurance provider before you make your final decision. Additionally, if you are looking for home insurance and already have a dog, you should disclose this to your agent or broker in order to make sure that you will have the proper coverage in the event of a dog bite.

Some states have existing and/or pending legislation to prohibit insurance companies from refusing to insure or discriminating against people that own certain breeds of dogs. As of December, 2008, the State of New York has 5 bills pending to restrict insurance companies from non renewing or cancelling policies as result of dog ownership. The American Kennel Club has a page on their site that lists states with pending legislation  along with a brief description of the bills:

If you have a dog and are looking to find home or renters insurance here are a few tips:

Contact the insurance department of your state. They will provide you with a listing of all insurance companies licensed to provide home insurance in your state. Once you have the list, you can contact some of the companies to find out their guidelines on dog ownership. If you find the insurance company’s guidelines are too restrictive on the topic of dogs, you may contact the insurance department to confirm and/or report the insurance company.

If it is not against the law and you find it unfair, contact your state representative. 

Insurers are re-evaluating coverage’s for homeowners who share their living spaces with certain breeds. In New York State, there are a number of companies that will provide home insurance and renters insurance regardless of the type of dog you own. Your starting point on this should be State Farm Insurance and http://www.insurancelongisland.net/ which do not restrict or surcharge based on dog ownership. Above all, you should be aware of this issue if you are thinking about purchasing insurance and make sure you fully disclose this to your agent so that he/she makes sure you are properly insured.

By taking the time to check these ratings, you can select the best company with the best rates and the most affordable coverage.

How to Check Ratings

It’s very easy to check the ratings of insurance companies, especially if you go online.

Find out how many complaints have been lodged against insurance companies. The New York State Department of Insurance will tell you how many complaints have been lodged against insurance companies. You will also be able to determine whether the company is actually “admitted ” in New York to do business. To see how the companies stack up, click here.

Find out what consumers think of their insurance company. J.D. Power conducts consumer surveys and then rates companies on their policy offerings, cost, billing and payment policies, and ease of contacting an agent.

To see how they rate Home Insurance companies, click here.

To see how they rate Auto Insurance companies, click here.

To see how the companies rate on the customer’s buying experience, click here.

To see how the companies rate when it comes to claims processing, click here.

Find out how financially stable your insurance company is. A.M. Best Company, which evaluates the strength of insurance companies on a scale from AAA (extremely strong) to CC (extremely weak). They also include a rating of R for Under Regulatory Supervision. To view their ratings, click here.

Standard & Poor’s, which looks at an insurance company’s ability to pay claims and meet financial obligations on a scale from AAA (very strong financial security characteristics) to BBB (good financial security characteristics). To see their ratings, click here.

Using Ratings When You Shop for Insurance

Checking home insurance and renters insurance company ratings will help you narrow down your choices when you shop for insurance, especially if you shop on the phone or online to gather information.

Why use a reputable company that is financially stable?

Although the answer is obvious, many people are attracted to the lowest rate that they have been quoted. This, of course, may not be the wisest decision as the company may have poor service, high complaint ratio’s and may be financially unstable. Therefore we recommend you do your research, speak to an actual agent that is accessible and knowledgeable, get a few quotes and then make a decision on which company to choose. State Farm Insurance has served policyholders for over 50 years and their service exceptional-this should be your starting point.

We know that ratings and customers’ opinions are valuable. Please check out the reviews posted about our office:

Reviews written about Long Island Insurance

2. It’s out of my price range. Is $10 or $20 per month too much? In most cases you can get coverage for your possessions for as little as $120 for the entire year.

3. My stuff really isn’t worth much. You might be surprised at how quickly all those books, CDs, and kitchen appliances add up. According to www.statefarm.com, most people own more than $20,000 worth of property. Additionally, although your personal items may be older, many policies will cover you for replacement cost of your items-meaning that the insurance company will replace your covered items at today’s prices, not the depreciated value of the items.

4. I’m in a great building and I’m not worried about security. Many policies will extend beyond on premises theft and hazards. if a suitcase or camera is stolen while vacationing, you will likely be covered. The same is true with regard to items stolen out of your car. You will also likely be covered if someone slips and falls in your apartment, which could be a huge financial burden without the proper coverage in place.

A standard home insurance policy will include some coverage for your jewelry and other valuable items (such as watches or furs).  Under your home insurance policy, these will be covered if destroyed by causes that are covered in your policy.  Usually this includes fires, windstorms, vandalism, and theft.

The problem you will run into is that there are limitations in the standard policy as to how much you can claim for certain items.  Because of this, the insurer won’t be able to pay out more than what is specified in the policy.  This usually applies for jewelry.  Because jewelry is can be stolen easily, standard  policies usually only cover up to $1500 per item.

How do I ensure my valuable items are properly covered?

If you want to make sure the value of your jewelry is covered, there are 2 ways you can increase insurance coverage:

1. You can raise the limit of liability on your current home insurance or renter’s insurance policy. This is usually the cheapest option.  The only problem is that there might be a limit on the amount you can claim on one specific item.  You might only be able to claim $2500 on one item of jewelry when the limit of the policy for all items is $5000.
2. Purchasing personal article policies (sometimes referred to as floaters or riders) and “scheduling” each item.  Floaters are policies that cover specific items that have a high $ value. This is basically way of listing specific valuable items on your policy. The schedule would include a description of each item that is covered and how much it is worth.  According to this article , a State Farm Insurance spokesman said that 70% of floaters are bought to cover jewelry.  This option is more expensive but it protects the items under broader circumstances.  For example, a home insurance policy would not cover the loss of your ring if you left it in a hotel room or lost it swimming in the ocean.  These situations can be covered under a floater policy.  Before you get these items covered, it is essential to get them professionally appraised to determine their true value.