WTEN: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports - Homeowners Insurance

Homeowners Insurance

Betty Livingston has been doing business with the same insurance company for decades and has had the same dog by her side for more than 10 years.  When her mother died she inherited her house and had to update her homeowners insurance.  A few days after she recieved her new policy she got a call from her agent, the same agent she's been doing business with for about twenty years.

(Betty Livingston):  "He told me because I have a Rottweiler there is no way they will cover me."

Betty says her ten-year-old companion, Baron, never even sets foot on the sidewalk and has a yard surrounded by a six-foot fence.  She has never had a complaint, nor has she had to file one.  Betty's mother owned two Rottweilers and was also insured by Nationwide.

Though no one from Nationwide would appear on camera, they did send us a letter and a list of dogs they will not cover.  Dogs ineligible for Nationwide Homeowners coverage include: Rottweilers, Dobermans, Pitbulls, Presa Canarios, Chows and Wolf Hybrids.  They say they compiled the list using statistices from the Centers for Disease Control which show:

• An estimated 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year
• An estimated twenty people die from dog bites each year
• 70% of those who die are under twelve 
• 20% are over the age of seventy  

New York State Insurance Department