As a refresher to those of you who aren’t in the insurance industry, homeowner insurance policies are essentially split into two sections – property and liability. So, let’s take a look at how pets are covered – or not covered – under each section.
Typical homeowner insurance policies contain a property exclusion in them for animals, birds or fish. This means there is no coverage for them if they are injured or killed as a result of a claim. In addition, there is another provision that excludes coverage for damage to the insured’s home or property that is caused by an animal owned or kept by an insured.
Now, let’s move onto the liability section of the homeowner policy. As you would suspect, if your pet causes bodily injury or property damage to another party, it is usually covered under the personal liability section of the homeowner insurance policy (unless a liability exclusion is present on the policy). For this reason, insurance companies usually have a list of prohibited dogs that are prone to frequency and/or severity issues when it comes to bite claims.
To summarize, you will have some – but not complete – insurance coverage for your pets under a homeowners insurance policy.
Talk to The Jemez Insurance Agency if you plan on getting a new pet in the future or currently have one and want to make sure you have the coverage you need.
