KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasI-Team: Boulder City Man Loses Insurance Because of His Dog
Meet Olivia, the Akita. She's not quite 6-years-old, but already packing quite a life story. An early accident led to a hip replacement. A run in with a pit bull left her with a mutilated ear. And when her owner Jeff Good moved into their Boulder City home five years ago, Olivia had an encounter with burglars who broke in.
"We found a piece of a blue jean chunk laying on the floor where she had ripped his back end out and drips of blood all the way back to the window where, you could tell, she put him back out the same window he came in," said Good.
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Olivia is a member of the family, loved by the kids, great with the other dogs. On Christmas Eve, Good piled the dogs into his truck for a ride to the store. As always, they were tethered in the back. He parked near a Boulder City convenience store. A delivery truck driver crossed the parking lot and reached into the truck to pet Olivia. She bit him.
"We had some tools and other things in the truck, so in my eyes she was protecting what she was supposed to protect," said Good.
Good agreed to pay the driver's medical expenses, but when the guy wanted money to cover 10 days of missed work and more, Good called his insurance company, State Farm. The company investigated, said Good was not negligent in any way.
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It paid the bill for medical care -- $122 total. Then it sent a letter to Good and his mortgage company. His homeowner policy would not be renewed. Good says he's never filed a claim in 22 years with State Farm.
His local agent was sympathetic, but said his hands were tied. He offered a choice, if Good got rid of Olivia, he could keep his insurance. It wasn't a tough call. "We don't want to get rid of the dog," he said.
What Good didn't know is that man's best friend, his backyard buddy, represents a nightmare for insurance companies. Dogs bite nearly five million Americans each year. Close to one million of those require medical care. The number of claims filed is up 27-percent since 2003, and when Lucy or Fido chomps someone, the average claim costs a whopping $24,000.
"The biggest problem is with kids. More than half the claims are with children and most of the injuries are facial injuries," said Bob Feldman with the Nevada Insurance Council.
Feldman says he understands it looks bad to make someone get rid of their dog, but the prevalence of personal injury lawsuits has dramatically increased the financial risk. All homeowners with dogs must pay extra, between $13 and $25 per year, not nearly enough to cover even a minor dog bite case.
Some companies won't cover dogs at all. Others base their exclusions on an unofficial black list of certain breeds.
"There's your pit bulls, Dobermans, there's a bunch of dogs that are known to turn vicious. They don't all do it," said Feldman.
But enough do to make some breeds uninsurable, especially after a reported bite. Akita's, by the way, are one of the breeds on the blacklist. Good says without homeowners insurance, his mortgage could be canceled, so he is shopping for a company that will cover his home and allow Olivia to stay.
A good watchdog deters criminals and makes loss claims less likely. "In my eyes, it's doing the insurance company a favor," he said.
Bob Feldman says some insurance companies will offer a homeowner the option of keeping the dog and homeowners insurance, but any incident involving a dog bite would be exempt from coverage. There is also special dog bite insurance available, but it can be expensive. Jeff Good told the I-Team he has had a tremendous reaction from dog groups around the country, and he's got some leads on companies that will likely sell him insurance but at a higher price.
