OK So A few weeks ago my mom was at my uncles house with her pekingese (small little 10lb dog) and my uncle had some friends of his over and one of his friends was feeding my mom's dog carrots (Even after my mom told her not to several times!) and was bit on the finger by the dog. The bite was nothing serious but after a week the bite got infected. So my uncles friend went to the doctor and got it looked after and had to pay out of her pocket seeings how she has no insurance. The total of the doctor bill was around $200 total. Anyway my mom felt bad about it and so she submitted the bills to her house insurance. After reviewing the claim the insurance company called today and said my mom had to put the dog to sleep in order for them to pay out the 200. Now my mom said she wasn't going to and tried to remove the claim but the insurance company said they would not remove the claim and that she has to put the dog to sleep or they are going not going to insure her anymore. Another thing is my uncles friend has stated that she doesn't want the dog to be put to sleep, but the insurance company says that my mom has no choice. The dog has never bit anyone before and usually just barks but never bites except for this one occasion. So now my mom doesn't know what to do because she has had this dog for 12 almost 13 years now and since me and my sister are in college, we are never home and it is usually just my mom and this dog at home so she is absolutely heart broken.

Ok after that long paragraph my question is, do we have any options other then putting the dog to sleep? Such as signing a wavier of liabilty saying that we know the dog bit and in the future the insurace company will not be liable. Or is there any legal options we have. What bull***** about this whole deal is my mom has been with this company for almost 30 years and has only had one other claim which was a tv being struck by lighting nearly 20 years ago. What do you guys think??????

 

Pay the $200. Get a new insurance company. And NEVER involve an insurance company unless absolutely necessary.

On edit: it would be a cold day in hell before I took corporation's advice, no demand to put down my pet for a matter like this.

 

Well my mom is looking into a new insurance company but she is not sure if they will cover her because she thinks they will check and see this claim.

 

I have been an independent insurance adjuster for almost 20 years and somebody is feeding your mom a bunch of bs. I have worked quite a few dog bite claims (1 pet racoon bite) and the insurance companys paid the claims and moved on. They could non-renew or cancel the policy, but that is all they can do.

There is not a policy out there that has some clause about putting a dog down after a bite claim. Ask the insurance co. to provided documentation in writing quoting the policy language that applies. They can't.

 

See what really makes me angry is my mom has no knowledge of any of this policy stuff so when they said you HAVE to put her to sleep she thought immediately that there was no other option other then to put her dog to sleep and so she has just been a wreck all today crying and saying how she signed her dogs death certificate when she submitted this and so i said well look for another insurance company but she thinks if she applys to another one that they will check somehow and see that she has a pending claim and that they wont accept her. Is this accurate, would another insurance company accept her with a pending claim?

 

She should not have any problems getting home owner's insurance from another company.

I wouldn't want to have insurance with a co. that is making a big deal out of a $200 dog bite claim.

 

I would contact a lawyer and try and sue the insurance company for mental aguish (?SP). I would also contact the Your state attorney general and file a complaint for deceptive practices...

my 2 cents.

 

my deductable is 500 so I'd pay outa pocket....

or say the dog was put down

 

did they get the dogs DNA? print a receipt from some kind of vet that you had the dog put down and tell the insurance company to go scratch... find a new carrier ASAP...

 

I would be very careful about canceling an insurance policy with an active pending claim. If by some chance the finger doesn't heal right or heaven forbid he loses it, then the property is going to be in jeopardy due to a lawsuit.

Like others suggested I would check the laws of your state as far as being required to put your dog down.

My deductible is $2500.00, so I would have paid out of pocket also.

 

For $200 I would have paid out of pocket, even if my deductible was $20. Insurance companies give me the drizzling shats, not just the shats, but the DRIZZLING shats. It would have to be over $1000 for me to file a claim, just the price I am willing to pay to avoid the bastids.

 

I just re read the OP

your mom was at HER BROTHERS HOUSE

how does HER HOME owners insureance get involved at all?

 

best bet is just have your mom resolve it herself, leave her h/o out of it from here on out. only have your mom respond to her h/o if they call and inquire further on the case. have her tell them that the situation is allset,paid for etc.... at that point her h/o co will ger her a 100 day notice of non renewal on her h/o policy,or they will allow her to stay provided she signs a statement regarding dog bite liability. if she has to go to another h/o carrier,please tell her not to lie about the claims,even if her h/o co never paid anything out,its ins fraud. if she still has the pooch at this point,her knew h/o carrier will give her an ho3 policy with dog liability excluded,no biggie just never let the dog eat carrots from someones hands again.


i think her h/o co is involved because she made them involved,by rights they could deny the claim anyways depending on how they are filed with the oir (office of insurance regulation), but the owner of the home is liable, it was on his property.

i dont know if anyone gave her bad advise,but she never should have called her h/o co. especially with the dog bite situation,especially since noone was seriously hurt, the guy should have washed his hands properly,sanitized it,and bandaged it up, unless half of his finger was missing, this never should have gone as far as it did.

 

Insurance companies are all the same: they will happily take your $, but will do anything possible to get out of paying a claim. I would get another company immediately. First, I would pay the $200 out of pocket, then I would get another company, then send a certified letter to the ins. co. you have now advising them that they are no longer responsible for the claim, that you are cancelling the policy and requesting a refund of any unused premium. Then, I would contact your state's insurance agency and file a complaint with them. I know of no insurance company that, after 30 yrs., would fight a dog bite and force you to put the dog down.

 

I think that 'pets' are under that funny category where your responsibility for them---even under a homeowner's policy---doesn't stop at your property line.......If her pet went a couple of houses away and bit someone there, does it not cover the bite? Assuming her policy covers pets to begin with.

Even MORE so now, because she actually transported the pet to her brother's house, where it bit someone.

Versus you letting someone borrow a sleeper sofa and bring it to THEIR home. Now if THAT home torches, and the sofa is destroyed, it's not going to be covered by the original point of location homeowner's insurance.

Weadjust and donjamer covered it pretty well. There's no policy around that has a 'destroy animal before you get your money' clause included. $200? Hell, I would have just paid it. But if filed, and the company starts giving the runaround and refuses to pay, or cancels the policy, or otherwise starts making demands about killing your beloved pet, then I'd look at some sort of breach-of-contract civil suit. I'd hire an attorney who can double-check the fine print, and would be willing to take this on. Take them to court and sue for the medical bill, the attorney fees, and a 'mental anguish' penalty where some desk jockey for a major corporation is demanding that you put 'fluffy' down, or else.......

I'm not one to start yelling 'sue the bastids'!......But if you're being wronged, you're being wronged....period. You pay hundreds, or thousands a year for insurance, and it's up to them to come through.

Again. I probably would have just paid the $200.