Specialty Insurance for their Collections??

[MorphCapital]

Has anyone heard of some type of specialty insurance that will cover reptile collections? (theft, fire, etc..)

Thanks

 

[shrap]

No one that I know of. And since I keep my collection in my home, my insurance company dropped me when I inquired about it. Well, they gave me a choice. Lose the snakes or lose your home owners insurance.

I was stunned and pissed. Needless to say I told the guy he could kiss my backside and I took my business elsewhere.

With that said, I did not tell my new insurance company about my reptiles. When they came to check out my house the agent just poked his nose in the herp room and never said or asked a thing about it and moved right on to the next room.

 

[MorphCapital]

Thanks for the info.

 

[bullfrog100000]

No one that I know of. And since I keep my collection in my home, my insurance company dropped me when I inquired about it. Well, they gave me a choice. Lose the snakes or lose your home owners insurance.
QUOTE]

Wow... is that sort of the theory that the snakes might bite someone sort of along the lines of not insuring people with "pit bull" dogs?

Here's a question though... would your homeowners cover your animals... which is likely Thousands of dollars... and the equipment if you didn't disclose it to them?

I think that sucks your insurance co. told you that... which company btw?

 

[shrap]

Wow... is that sort of the theory that the snakes might bite someone sort of along the lines of not insuring people with "pit bull" dogs?

That is exactly their line of thinking on the matter.

Here's a question though... would your homeowners cover your animals... which is likely Thousands of dollars... and the equipment if you didn't disclose it to them?

Either way my snakes and equipment are not covered. Disclose it and they refuse to insure me at all, dont disclose it and they are not insured. What can you do?

The reason I originally brought it up to my insurance company was when my house was broke into a couple years ago. They covered all the electronics and other household items that were taken, but when I asked about my snakes that were stolen (2 pieds, 2 albinos and 2 het albinos) is when I was informed that they would not be able to continue my insurance policy at all if I continued to maintain "dangerous animals" in my residence.

I think that sucks your insurance co. told you that... which company btw?

American Family.

 

[bullfrog100000]

There was letter to the editor about this very thing in Aug 07 Reptiles magazine. Someone... Joe somebody... had to get his snakes insured by Lloyds of London I think. I'll try to find the exact page etc.

Great... I have Am. Fam... but no expensive snake collection yet.

 

[Kaiyudsai]

I had to purchase a 500000 dollar rider on my homeowner's unsurance for liability to comply with local regulations because I have some retics... but it's only liability

 

[snakewrangler]

Sorry to post on an ancient thread, but something happened to me very recently that I'd like to share regarding insurance.

Like Sammy, I was dropped by my insurance company for owning snakes. I rented a property for several years, and when it flooded during a storm, I counted on my renters' insurance to replace my personal belongings. The company paid for a bed, a desk, bookshelves, and some other things such as sheets and towels. However, it did come up during this process that I had multiple snakes on the premises, and I was told that I would be able to finish out the billing cycle. After that, I was not eligible for renters' insurance any longer.

When I purchased my home, I insured it through another company without a problem. I called the old company to update my billing information (I still had auto insurance through them) and they inquired on whether or not I would like to purchase homeowner's insurance for my new house. I told the guy on the phone to take a close look on the account and reminded him of what had happened earlier that year. He did say that there was a note on the account stating that I was ineligible, so he did the next best thing:

He offered me a life insurance policy...for when I was killed by my python.

This guy was not joking. He was serious. He told me that if I kept boas and pythons, it was inevitable.

I have since dropped the auto insurance too.

 

[Lucille]

Wow... is that sort of the theory that the snakes might bite someone sort of along the lines of not insuring people with "pit bull" dogs?

It can actually be easier to defend a pit bull bite over a snake bite: a pit bull is a 'domestic animal' and a snake is a 'wild animal'.
Harm caused by wild animals are strict liability cases.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

I used to work in the insurance industry and Lloyds does offer speciaily insurance for animal collections. Here's an old post I made on another forum with some info: please note the pricing I listed is just an example and the post was made a few years ago so I'm sure it's gone up.

For example… to insure a collection of ball pythons in the amount of $300,000 for Mortality and Theft coverage, with an annual aggregate deductible of $10,000, the yearly premium would be approximately $11,500. Of course lower deductibles increase the annual premium cost and higher deductibles lower it. A 1% deductible (in this example, that would be a $30,000 deductible) the yearly premium drops to approximately $5,000.

Again, please note, the example above is just that… an example. Lloyds evaluates each collection on a case by case basis. The application for the insurance is very thorough, asking for the type, age/hatch date, breeder, markings, etc. It also asks for detailed information about their security, caging and health. All of those factors as well as some additional considerations are what determine the actual price. I just thought it would be nice to provide an example of a quote. Obviously this is something made for people with large collections and in general is not cost effective for someone with only a few snakes.
-April

 

[Southern Wolf]

He offered me a life insurance policy...for when I was killed by my python.

This guy was not joking. He was serious. He told me that if I kept boas and pythons, it was inevitable.

That is soooo up

 

[Wraith]

Do these people not realize that dogs and horses do far more damage each year than snakes do in like 10 years. ??? totally outrageous.

 

[Tuxus]

Do these people not realize that dogs and horses do far more damage each year than snakes do in like 10 years. ??? totally outrageous.

No, just like the breed specific bias with dogs, they have never looked at the stats, APBT's are nowhere near the top of the list for bite stats nor are they any different than any other dog in reality, it is all in the training. With snakes they just buy into the media just like with the dogs.

My insurance company doesn't care if I have snakes, they won't cover them but they won't drop me either. They will however cover enclosures and racks.....I guess canada has some upsides

 

[Lucille]

Do these people not realize that dogs and horses do far more damage each year than snakes do in like 10 years. ??? totally outrageous.

Yes, but there are far fewer defenses to snake bites due to their classification.

 

[TriangleReptiles]

My State Farm agent told my to file a claim on my HO policy if I lost any snakes during Hurricane Ike. I didn't lose any, so no problem. I looked at my policy and live animals are excluded, but my agent said that since I have a dba for selling my snakes, they would be covered. He is fully aware of my snakes.

 

[Darkice]

My state farm agent came to check out my house when we first bought it.
I had several reptiles in the basement. He asked me if he could hold some of them. He thought they were nice. But I never asked if they could get insured.
Most people don't insure dogs or cats and they can be pretty costly.
But if you are making a small business out of your hobby there is no reason why you cant get insurance.

 

[timebider]

We came home from running errands a couple years ago to find that our house was on fire. It was an electrical fire that gutted our house in the less than 45 minutes total that they think it burned. At the time, I had over 40 snakes plus assorted lizards and amphibians, 2 cats and 3 dogs. One of the cats died of smoke inhalation before the firemen could get to her; the other animals were all brought out alive.

We were in a hotel for 3 weeks, and then in a rental apartment for over 8 months. Needless to say, I could not keep the surviving reptiles in a hotel nor apartment. I wound up giving them to a local reptile rescue to in order to ensure continued, quality care for them. Our homeowners insurance would not cover any charges related to the emergency vet care for the animals (over $8k). It did cover the loss of the glass tanks that were broken by the firemen but nothing else. We have new insurance now but it also doesn't cover live animals.

I am interested to hear more about the possibility of homeowner's insurance covering snakes if they are part of a registered business. I'm thinking of becoming an LLC sooner or later; I am a small hobbyist who breeds for enjoyment and the (very) occasional payoff, not because it's my livelihood, but it would be nice to be able to account for losses financially if, God forbid, anything like that were to happen again. I am now trying to rebuild my collection and it is a slow and very expensive process.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

Sorry to hear about the fire! That's a shame.

I am interested to hear more about the possibility of homeowner's insurance covering snakes if they are part of a registered business.

Homeowners insurance in general does not cover business items. Of course each company is different and always read the policy in full. The tanks, supplies, etc would be covered under a home or renters policy because it is just 'stuff' like your DVD player and TV; if being used for a business, those losses would go under your business insurance.

Basically what you need is livestock insurance. Back when I was researching this, the only company I could find that offered good coverage for reptiles which included theft and mortality was through Lloyds of London (see my post earlier in this thread).
Good luck!

 

[Occidentalis]

I am hoping to continue this thread. Has anyone in the last six years purchased insurance for their collection, and what was the threshold at which it's worth it?