Third party insurance for dog.

bohma2000

My dog ran out of a park today and onto a busy road.  Traffic was disrupted no collisions occured.  He has never done anything like this in the past and it was entirely unforseen but I'm now wondering what would have happened if it had caused a serious accident. Neither my home insurance policy or my pet plan seem to cover third party claims.  Can anybody advise on how to insure againt a pet causing accidental damage?

Aretnap

Are you sure that your home insurance wouldn't provide cover? Most home (contents) policies have a personal liability section which provides pretty broad cover for claims against you for accidental damage and/or injury. There's commonly an exclusion for dogs that are covered by the Dangerous Dogs Act (ie pit bulls, and a handful of other fighting breeds), but not for liabilities relating to dogs in general.

What exactly does the liability section say?

As got pet insurance, third party liability is often an optional add-on, so you can get it if you want it, but it shouldn't really be needed if you already have cover from your home policy. 

JGB1955

The Dogs Trust provide third party insurance as part of their membership (£12.50 for owners over 60 years old).  We no longer have Pet Insurance for our dog as he is elderly and the premiums are astronomical.  The £1M Third party public liability cover provided by the Dogs Trust gives us peace of mind.

bohma2000

I've checked my home insurance policy and pets are not mentioned anywhere.

The Dogs Trust insurance is exactly what I was looking for and I've just joined up.  Thanks a million for the tip JGB1955.

Aretnap

bohma2000 said:

I've checked my home insurance policy and pets are not mentioned anywhere.

The Dogs Trust insurance is exactly what I was looking for and I've just joined up.  Thanks a million for the tip JGB1955.

If pets are not mentioned, that very probably means that they're covered. What does it say about liabilities?

Most home insurance policies have a personal liability section which says that it covers you for any liabilities you have for accidental injury to other people, or accidental damage to other people's property. It then lists some exceptions: typically things like accidents involving use of motor vehicles (you need car insurance for that), accidents relating to your business or employment, liabilities involving specific types of dangerous dog. If pets are not mentioned then it means that they're not one of the exceptions, and therefore accidents of the type that you nearly had are covered. 

If the Dogs Trust cover gives you additional peace of mind that's great, but if it's just duplicating cover which you already have through your home insurance, it's still £12.50 that you didn't really need to spend. 

user1977

Aretnap said:

bohma2000 said:

I've checked my home insurance policy and pets are not mentioned anywhere.

The Dogs Trust insurance is exactly what I was looking for and I've just joined up.  Thanks a million for the tip JGB1955.

Most home insurance policies have a personal liability section which says that it covers you for any liabilities you have for accidental injury to other people, or accidental damage to other people's property.

For incidents that happen at the home, yes. I wouldn't have thought it standard to include cover for things which happen away from home (just checked and my own insurers wouldn't cover defending personal liability actions for incidents away from home, even with their higher levels of cover).

Aretnap

user1977 said:

Aretnap said:

bohma2000 said:

I've checked my home insurance policy and pets are not mentioned anywhere.

The Dogs Trust insurance is exactly what I was looking for and I've just joined up.  Thanks a million for the tip JGB1955.

Most home insurance policies have a personal liability section which says that it covers you for any liabilities you have for accidental injury to other people, or accidental damage to other people's property.

For incidents that happen at the home, yes. I wouldn't have thought it standard to include cover for things which happen away from home (just checked and my own insurers wouldn't cover defending personal liability actions for incidents away from home, even with their higher levels of cover).

It is actually fairly standard. If yours doesn't cover incidents away from the home then you have a pretty lousy home insurance policy. Or you have buildings insurance only, and not contents insurance. Buildings insurance comes with owner's liability insurance, which covers things like the postman tripping and injuring himself because you didn't maintain your driveway properly. Contents insurance comes with personal liability insurance, which covers a broad range of hobbies and activities, in and away from the home.

Who is the insurer? 

As an example of a fairly standard wording see Direct Line's policy documents here
https://www.directline.com/assets/pdf/home/home-insurance-policy-document.pdf
Page 16 says "Liabilities arising from you occupying your home and your personal liabilities as a private individual in and away from your home." It then lists some exceptions, none of which would prevent the OP being covered for the type of inside t he describes. 

user1977

Aretnap said:

user1977 said:

Aretnap said:

bohma2000 said:

I've checked my home insurance policy and pets are not mentioned anywhere.

The Dogs Trust insurance is exactly what I was looking for and I've just joined up.  Thanks a million for the tip JGB1955.

Most home insurance policies have a personal liability section which says that it covers you for any liabilities you have for accidental injury to other people, or accidental damage to other people's property.

For incidents that happen at the home, yes. I wouldn't have thought it standard to include cover for things which happen away from home (just checked and my own insurers wouldn't cover defending personal liability actions for incidents away from home, even with their higher levels of cover).

It is actually fairly standard. If yours doesn't cover incidents away from the home then you have a pretty lousy home insurance policy. Or you have buildings insurance only, and not contents insurance. Buildings insurance comes with owner's liability insurance, which covers things like the postman tripping and injuring himself because you didn't maintain your driveway properly. Contents insurance comes with personal liability insurance, which covers a broad range of hobbies and activities, in and away from the home.

Who is the insurer? 

As an example of a fairly standard wording see Direct Line's policy documents here
https://www.directline.com/assets/pdf/home/home-insurance-policy-document.pdf
Page 16 says "Liabilities arising from you occupying your home and your personal liabilities as a private individual in and away from your home." It then lists some exceptions, none of which would prevent the OP being covered for the type of inside t he describes. 

Strike that, you're right, Admiral have similar cover under their contents section.