public liability insurance for dog

anyone got any recommendations for public liability for my dog away from home?  My current home insurer used to cover it but now excludes “if they cause injury to someone or cause damage to someone’s property while they’re away from your home”

We don’t have Petplan or anything like that, cos he has an underlying health condition that would be either excluded or prohibitively expensive

Thanks

Interesting. Can I ask which insurer you currently have for household?

Some pet insurers used to offer a liability policy included with (IIRC) loss of animal cover (i.e., death of animal) which might be an option. The insurer I know who used to do this was nfu. No idea if that’s recent.

By far your best option would be to change your household (contents) insurance company to one who’ll cover it.

Lloyds Bank (I know, I’m lazy).  Just on phone to Admiral and they also don’t cover it.

just seen that Dogs Trust do it if you’re a companion/member….£25 a year or £12.50 if you’re over 60.

Try pet insurers and get the current condition excluded.

NFU do offer public liability. They won’t be the cheapest, but they are good (my wife works for them!).

https://www.nfumutual.co.uk/home-insurance/dog-and-cat-insurance/#overview

Yeah, I’m gonna call bollocks on the Admiral answer. I suspect you’re asking a question of the call handler that they simply don’t understand.

I’m not able to scrutinise the wording carefully enough, but the appropriate section says:

Cover:

(II) Personal liability

Your or your family’s liability after an accident that happened in the UK, the Isle of Man or the ChannelI slands, during the period of insurance, and caused by the following.

y Death, disease, illness or physical injury to a person

y Damage to physical property that you, your family or anyone else permanently living with you, including your domestic staff, do not own and are not responsible for

Exclusions:

Any liability resulting from any living creature
other than cats and dogs you or your family own or are legally responsible for (except any dog defined as dangerous or allowed to be dangerously out of control under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (snip)

just seen that Dogs Trust do it if you’re a companion/member….£25 a year 

This is what I do.

Never considered the home insurance might cover the little scamp.

Home insurance covers pretty much everything other than motor vehicles and things you do for money (eg chopping down a tree, you can do that for a friend or neighbour so long as they aren’t paying you, at which point you need professional coverage with all that that entails). Risky sports often excluded too, for various definitions of risky.

Well, it did…but Lloyds now difinitively exclude it, as per wording above.

I haven’t looked at the Admiral wording yet but maybe insurers are looking at ways to reduce costs…

Well, it did…but Lloyds now definitively exclude it, as per wording above.

The wording above specifically doesn’t exclude it

Exclusions:

Any liability resulting from any living creature other than cats and dogs you or your family own or are legally responsible for (except any dog defined as dangerous or allowed to be dangerously out of control under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (snip)

So if you have, say, a llama that jumps into the road and makes a car swerve into a wall, you’re not covered, but if you have a cat or (non-dangerous or not dangerously out of control) dog and that does the same, you are.

Exclusions:

Any liability resulting from any living creature other than cats and dogs you or your family own or are legally responsible for (except any dog defined as dangerous or allowed to be dangerously out of control under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (snip)

That’s Admiral’s wording I pasted in.

Lloyd’s is very similar, but there are different versions of it.

I suspect someone has got the wrong end of the stick here.

but if you have a cat

It’s very very difficult to be found legally liable for the actions of a cat. They aren’t “owned” like a dog.

I’m not a dog owner but wonder if this is a common thing to be pursued for, unless you have the sort of dog/control that results in a child’s face being mauled whilst a baby robin watches on?

I had some interesting discussions about third-party liability insurance with a liability lawyer recently.  They suggested that sometimes being insured would make you more likely to be sued – because one of the things the pursuer looks at is how likely are you to settle and how likely are you to be able to pay out.  Her point was, taking out, and in any way advertising that you have taken out, insurance for obscure risks might encourage claimants to come forward and seek larger claims when otherwise an “appology and a bunch of flowers” might have solved it.

Lloyd’s is very similar, but there are different versions of it.

I suspect someone has got the wrong end of the stick here.

But the wording I put in my opening post is quoted verbatim from the Lloyd’s renewal offer…I’m not making it up, and it’s obviously very specifically excluded now (it wasn’t last year)….and is explicit to dogs, not cats or llamas

“It’s very very difficult to be found legally liable for the actions of a cat.”

A commonly expressed belief but I don’t think it is correct.

You won’t be found liable for normal minor stuff that cats tend to do like digging in someone else’s garden, but if you have an aggressive cat with a history of hostility, you may well be held liable for it if you let it attack people or otherwise cause harm.

Incidentally, I work with a cat rehoming charity that frequently deals with fairly wild and behaviourally challenged cats. I’ve trapped and kept quite a few fully feral cats for short periods (eg for neutering and transit elsewhere etc). The charity hasn’t had any major incidents during my time with them but are aware of the possibility.

(If we catch the kittens young enough, we tame them up and rehome as pets, but adults have little chance of being successfully socialised and we don’t have the resources to try.)

Twodogs Full Member
anyone got any recommendations for public liability for my dog away from home?

You’re only worried about one of them? Is the other particularly well behaved? 😊

quoted verbatim from the Lloyd’s renewal offer…I’m not making it up, and it’s obviously very specifically excluded now (it wasn’t last year)….and is explicit to dogs

And I said there are different versions of Lloyds policy wording. The one I saw definitely includes the cover. The one you are looking to renew on might not.

But you rang admiral who said they don’t cover it, but their wording definitely includes cover. *

*Subject to the t&C’s etc etc.

Either buy standalone cover from somewhere, or change your home insurance to a company who covers dog liability. In my experience most do.

Except the Admiral wording is unclear….as it doesn’t include the words “away from the home”.

So may provide cover, may not, and I asked explicitly about away from home.

Anyway, thanks to themuffinman for an actual recommendation rather than a blanket made up “most insurers cover it”

“It’s very very difficult to be found legally liable for the actions of a cat.”

A commonly expressed belief but I don’t think it is correct.

I could have said “it’s impossible…” but I didn’t. 😁

Your examples back that up – there’s a possibility of being sued. But very little actual case law or statute. People/companies/charities will carry the cover in case they get sued, but it doesn’t mean it will happen. Or an action will be successful.

Hell, my mum has taken in a feral cat recently, which she took to get neutered at a vet following zero help from various charities. She had to get help to get the peaky thing into a carrier and her and my sister both suffered scratches to their arms as a result. Who can they sue? No-one.

BTW, Bluebell is now enjoying being mum’s lapcat.

“It’s very very difficult to be found legally liable for the actions of a cat.”

A commonly expressed belief but I don’t think it is correct.

Just claim you’re being Cuckooed by the cat and didn’t have any choice…

https://www.oxford.gov.uk/community-safety/cuckooing

@poly – I’m in the process of seeing a dog owner whose out of control dog knocked me off my bike, giving me a concussion that I’m still suffering the effects of.

It never crossed my mind if they had insurance or not, they’ve trashed my life for getting on for 8 months. My solicitor is aware they have pet insurance but they won’t provide details so the solicitor is pursuing a claim directly against the dog owner. The pet insurance should cover it.

If you’re the sort of person who has their dog off the lead anywhere public, liability insurance is definitely worth having.

Cheapest option will likely be the Dog Trust membership as mentioned above.

Allows for cover up to £1 million and accidental damage. I use it because most pet insurance won’t cover your dog at your place of work either.

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/support-us/membership

Except the Admiral wording is unclear….as it doesn’t include the words “away from the home”.

but it does clearly say

Your or your family’s liability after an accident that happened in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands

Which would cover you most places you are likley to take a dog I would think? So the ‘away from home’ is irrelevant unless you dont live or travel outside of the UK often.

It never crossed my mind if they had insurance or not,

You can bet it crossed your solicitor’s mind though!  If we win – will I get paid!

They suggested that sometimes being insured would make you more likely to be sued

I used to work with a bloke who’d worked in Columbia back in the drug cartel days. The advice he was given was not to take out kidnap insurance as it made you more likely to be kidnapped. Mad bugger.

Cheapest option will likely be the Dog Trust membership as mentioned above.

Allows for cover up to £1 million and accidental damage

Yep, done that, £12.50 cos I’m over £60 😁

I’m not a dog owner but wonder if this is a common thing to be pursued for, unless you have the sort of dog/control that results in a child’s face being mauled whilst a baby robin watches on?

We tend to think of worst case scenarios in terms of death or injury but there are plenty of expensive but non serious instances that someone could be liable for costs. A dog can be ‘out of control’ but not dangerously out of control – just act in a way that results in costs / losses to someone that the owner needs to meet

My dad once had once his old students pop in for a visit. The guy had a lovely bearded collie with him who excitedly ran out into the garden, mistook our duckweed-covered pond for a lawn – fell in – ran back into the house terrified and once in the living room decided to have a good old shake – water and pondweed ended on and in everything – over artworks, inside stereo, TV, etc. Quite expensive but unserious. (hard to take it seriously when you’re picking duckweed out of your teeth)  In that instance our own insurance covered the loses but they could have pursued the dogs owner instead.