The Importance of Pet Insurance
26 March 09Welcome everyone to another property prophet of the week. I want to talk to you today about a newspaper article that I was reading a week or so ago. I do not know why—well, I do know why actually, it is because I look for them I guess, but these kinds of article come to me more regularly than I guess to anybody else.
But it was in the local newspaper called “Sunshine Coast Daily,” and it was an article about a gentleman who lived the in a place Doonan, which is a little area just outside Noosa. And he had a dog that he owned for 13 years. He had it since a pup and he was an old dog. I mean 13 years is quite old for dog. And the dog was playing in the front yard and it ran across the road and was hit by a motorcyclist.
Now, the dog was killed and that was devastating of course for the gentleman who owned the dog who had been the family pet for 13 years. Obviously, you would be very attached to your pets. But the sad part of the story does not end there. The story then goes on to say that the motorcyclist who hit the dog, yes they did have a fault and was not seriously injured and nothing more was thought about it at the time.
A month or so later, the gentleman who owned the dog got a letter to indicate that he was going to be sued. In fact, he was being sued for in excess of a $100,000.00, which to a retired gentleman was quite a shock and is would be to anybody. Over a hundred grand you are being sued for, while you are still grieving the death of your beloved dog.
Now, the reason for the lawsuit was for damages, pain and suffering and all of the rest of the rot that they carry on with lawsuits. And it begged an interesting question, is the owner of the dog liable for the actions of the dog? And of course the answer is yes. So, most likely the motorcyclist is going to win this case and the owner of the dog will be up for damages. Now, how much is actually awarded by the courts? It is yet to be determined, but this is just in a little local newspaper. How many of these types of situations actually go on that we do not hear about?
Doing a little bit more of a research on the subject, what you can actually do, and I want you to double check this with your own policies. Is to go and have a look at your home and contents insurance, because some home and contents insurance cover your pets and the actions of your pets. Other home and contents insurance, you can actually takeout an additional cover and it cost about $20.00 month to cover your pets, but they have to be specifically nominated that your pets are covered by the policy. Now, it is not a lot of extra money to have them covered. Now, this dog was an old dog and he was not an aggressive dog, but it begs the question, what if it was a Rottweiler or an aggressive dog that caused damage? What if it was not an accident? It would seem that whether it is an accident or not it is actually irrelevant. You are responsible for the actions of your pets.
One of my students actually had a pet that killed another dog and she was very aware obviously, because she is one of my students, of the implications and liabilities that are associated with the ownership of pets. And her dog was not particularly big or aggressive dog, but it killed this smaller Chihuahua. And she immediately took action and said that she would replace the dog and she was very sorry and whatever else. And that actually set off any additional lawsuit. But the fact is that if you owned a pet whether it would be a dog or—I guess a fish cannot do too much harm, but if you own a pet that does damage to another person or another animal or to another's property, you are responsible for that.
So, for the extra $20.00 month that it would cause you to get pet coverage on your home and contents insurance, it is well worth it and particularly, when most of you would own those pets in your own name. Now, I wonder what else you would have in your own name. Possibly your principal place of residence, which means that that is up for grabs that is something that could be taken away from you, because your pet did something.
It is the same story I always talk about with respect to match on hand (ph) and the case of the golf clubs, where he's ball hit someone further down the fairway. And 10 years later after legal wrangling backwards and forwards and over $500,000.00 in legal bills, he had the high court award against him, to the ***** of $2.6 Million. Now, that is tragic considering he did not see, did not know, did not consider. He was negligent in any way, hitting a golf ball on a golf course. Whereas, had he had a different insurance policy, had he had his sporting equipment, which is the next thing I will talk about, sporting equipment covered under his home and contents insurance, then the insurance company would have covered the claim. As it is, he has lost everything. He has not only lost everything with respect to material assets, the stress and strain, if it all meant that his marriage fell apart. His difficulties with the children and his life is on hold, not just for those 10 years in the inability to go out there and make any money, but for further 12 years after the court hearing was handed down.
So, that final court hearing was back in 2004 and he has got another 12 years on top of that, that he really has his hands tied with respect to be being able to earn any money or create any wealth, because it can simply be taken away by the people who sued him and that original incident happened back in 1994. Yet, that is quite a while right now and his life is just being ruined as a result. Your life could be ruined as a result of the actions of your pet.
So, please, the message for this week is go and get your insurances reviewed. Review your home and contents insurances that they cover things like sporting equipment. That they cover things like your—I was getting mine reviewed the other day and we were talking about how I have the recording equipment and that sort of thing, that I have actually included that in my home and contents insurance, in case it causes injury when I am out doing anything. These things need to be reviewed on a regular basis.
So, this week, it is just a call to action. Please take note. Please take on board a bit of a review on your personal situation and checkout particularly your home and contents insurance, when it comes to sporting equipment, professional equipment, and your pets. It does not cost a whole lot more to have those things covered and of course, the old warnings that I have been talking about for years, uninvited guest, check that one out and if you are doing any kind of renovations or repairs, make sure that you specifically mention that that is what you are doing on the property, because that is a different type of cover, you actually have to take out as a construction cover.
So, guys that is it for me for this week. I hope that helps and I hope it is a bit of a wakeup call for al of you pet owners out there to go out and spend an extra $20.00 a month and get pets included on your insurance policies. That is it for me. Bye for now and I hope that helps.