Home insurance - dogs

The best security for a home is provided not by alarms and/or secure locks, but by having a dog in the house - yet its a question never asked by home insurers, I wonder why.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield
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means they've not found it to make a significant difference to their risk. Maybe the dogs do as much damage as the thefts they prevent.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

You have to have some sort of catorgories as not al dogs would be as good for security as another might be, then it;swhether they'd been trained, and what if the dog jumped at an attacker and broke my favourite ming vase ;-). I just broke other items for whatever reason (maybe a storm). Perhaps a properly trained guard dog might help but a determined burgler would fine a way around that surely.

Maybe wait for the owener to take the dog for a walk then rob the place.

Suppose you had a parrot that sounded like a really vicious dog, would that help security.

Reply to
whisky-dave

Have an answer to the question Do you have a Dog in the house Yes or No ? may be too simplistic. Is it left in there all day or taken away sometimes on days out or holidays away just when you need the extra security, if it is left in does have free range of the premises or is it confined to an area, What breed of dog, something generally friendly or aggressive and that can come down to the temperament of individual dogs. Is it still fit or a wheezing overweight 10 year old blind Labrador that can barely walk. Some dogs now unfortunately are themselves targets for theft if they are are one of those breeds that are in fashion or suitable for banned sports favoured by the traveller community and other lowlifes. And not every intruder is afraid of dogs,some will just treat them as another obstacle to be overcome. Putting ?Burglars killed dog? into google shows quite few incidents even the UK , not everyone would like to risk the family pet .

What does surprise me is that they don?t ask anyway ,not for security but in case somebodies dog bites an authorised visitor such as a postman and the dog owner gets sued and has to claim on the household insurance.

A nearby elderly neighbour who thought he could always control his dog had to pay around £3000 in compensation when it bit a visiting health worker who was tending him. Sad really ,as the dog was being protective and may well have sensed some apprehension in the owner as the Nurse prepared an injection and then approached. She was off work for a month. Unwilling to risk it happening again he voluntarily had it put down which upset him. Does bring the the question if you are using the dog as a security device would an insurance company offer a reduced payout if they deemed you had let it get too old or infirm to be of any use and you should have had that one put down and replaced by a younger one.

GH

Reply to
Marland

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Reply to
harry

In article <pv04qo$8ef$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, Harry Bloomfield snipped-for-privacy@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk> writes

Because "a dog" is not particularly predictable as to its performance as a guard and so does not reduce risk in any quantifiable measure.

Reply to
bert

I suppose it balances out. Dog owners are more likely to live in dodgy areas and more likely to be involved in petty crime.

Cheers

Reply to
Clive Arthur

Because its easy to get rid of dogs.

If you can close enough there are various ways to silently incapacitate them.

If they bark all the time then nobody takes any notice of them.

Reply to
invalid

Insurers do ask about dogs. They regard the risk for accidental contents insurance a high when you have pets and charge more! If the question doesn't appear on an on-line form you may find that the T&C have clauses related to pets,

As for alarms, you may get a discount of £5 to £10 for having an alarm BUT they want it to be regularly maintained by a third party professional company costing many times more than you are saving on premiums.

Reply to
alan_m

Not just that - it has to be set *every time* you leave the house. Also (when I last checked) if you are burgled and it wasn't triggered, you get f*ck all.

Not unlike the Advanced Driving Qualification - which sounds a good idea on paper, until you realise it counts for the square root of f*ck all in life. Basically it's just something some people can circle jerk to (sell also: MENSA).

Reply to
Jethro_uk

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Reply to
Jeff Layman

Clive Arthur wrote on 14/12/2018 :

That is a big assumption, lots of all kind of people have dogs and in every type of area.

I have two border collies, in a sought after place to live and there is very little crime here.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Of course there are occasional exceptions, but the vast majority of dog owners are drug addicts living in inner city slums, usually feeding their lifestyle by means of shoplifting and burglary.

Cheers

Reply to
Clive Arthur

The lower orders have dogs, the rich have hounds!

Reply to
Paul Herber

Clive Arthur was thinking very hard :

Well, that should make the thieves and druggies easily identifiable in a crowd.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Maybe it might just be the guard dog skill on an Amazon echo, but not a real dog. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

Specially a big dog that can't just be kicked across the room.

yet its a question never

Too stupid to work out that basic presumably.

Reply to
Tim J

I don't see how people can think having a dog helps when quite often its the dog that is stolen.

Reply to
invalid

The compensation claim from the burglar for his pain and suffering after the dog bit him would be more than what they'd have needed to payout for the loss of the stolen goods.

Reply to
Mike Clarke

Mate has a dog which goes mad barking when anyone is at the door. When there's someone at home. If on its own, it doesn't bother.

So a bit like a dummy alarm box. It may deter some, but not all.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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