ANNOUNCED ON CBC RADIO ALLSTATE IN CANADA WILL NOT BE PROVIDING INSURANCE FOR FOUR DOG BREEDS.
 
DOBERMAN
ROTTWEILER
PIT BULL
GERMAN SHEPHERDS
 
 
 
Allstate has chosen to restrict our new property customers where certain breeds of dogs are in the household.  It does not apply to all dog breeds, and very few of our existing business is thought to be affected.  Dog bite injury settlements often cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and statistically it is usually small children that are attacked.  While the number of injuries across Canada may still be small, from our own Claims experience the number of claims and the severity of these claims are rising. While a property premium may be $300-$500, one dog bite injury payout can cost $300,000.  

I assume there are still insurance companies that still wish to write customers with these breeds of dog.  Time will tell if this decision is a sound one. 


Regards,
Don MacGillivray
Allstate Call Centre

If you feel like writing another letter to Allstate, here's some questions for them:


  1.. Do they have a list of specific breeds of dogs that they are restricting?
  2.. What is their policy regarding mixed breeds?
  3.. What is their methodology in determining the breed?  Do they have access to breed experts?  If so, what are the names of these breed experts, since there are very few people in this country qualified to identify specific breeds?
  4.. What is their next step if an owner insists that his/her breed is not one of the restricted breeds?
  5.. Do they PERSONALLY have statistics that show these breeds of dogs have bitten more than others?
  6.. If so, could we please have a copy, since nobody else in Canada has kept these statistics, including the government, police and hospitals?
  7.. If not, where did they get their statistics from and could we please have a copy?
  8.. If they do not have statistics, could they please provide further explanation of the reasons behind their decision, since the insurance industry is based ENTIRELY on statistics and historical data?