Home insurance canceled

[DK]

I would like to tell all the BYC people about Progressive Insurance canceled my home insurance because I have chicken and rooster . I call and told the lady that my chicken were not attack chicken but she said that was there policy no farm animal .So if you have progressive don't tell them you have chicken. Looking for insurance DK

 

[citychickx6]

I have allstate and they know that I have chickens. No issues with them. One of the ladies in the office actually bought some chick feed for them just so she could come by and see them.



I wonder if Progressive insures ranches......

 

[chickortreat]

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[TXchickmum]

....sounds like Progressive isn't very progressive. -plenty of other good companies out there that will be happy to insure your home.

 

[Yamahog Pop]

It may not be the insurance company, We recently ran into this, when you apply for a policy, they will send someone out to do an "evaluation, to assess replacement costs and risks, We had applied with Safeco, which we learned is a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, we had Nationwide, also a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual. About 2 weeks after got a call from the agent, informing me they were not going to allow us to insure with them. The agent got hold of the report, which I asked him to forward, It was really strange, some of the suggestions and assumptions the agent made. When I got the report I learned why. The investigator had listed that we had "Exotic animals", aka 5 chickens...? She also listed the chickens as a "Major" insurance risk. Which is one of the reasons I got on this, wondering if anyone else had faced similar. I filed a complaint with our state commerce dept., included a copy of the report. Insurance companies have to obey state guidelines, if you are being refused for owning chickens, and especially if you are rural, contact your state agency the ins companies report to. You may also want drop a letter to your state representatives, and let them know what's going on, maybe ask them if they are afraid of chickens too... The chickens are not the issue, it is underwriters and the evaluation reports they read that cause the problems.
Safeco used a worn roof as cause, but the report listed the roof as "low risk" while listing chickens as major, and exotic. We knew the roof was not great, but we can lower the insurance coverage on out buildings, MN law gives us that right, the ins company refused, so, don't think the issue was really the roof, think it was more the tone of the report, which also described new rolls of fencing as "Yard debris," and a few other descriptive terms (our boat too was referred to as yard debris, the agent suggested putting it in the garage, try putting an 18 ft boat with 5 ft of trailer sticking out in a 20 ft garage. The other suggestion I got was that in the opinion of someone, don't know who, it would be cheaper to tear down the shop and build a new pole shed, so I wouldn't have to reroof the shop, really, must be new math!. That wasn't all, there were a number of other inaccuracies on the report, it didn't take much to figure our there was either a bias on the part of the someone, whoever wrote that report should seek other work.. Chickens aren't the issue, but some people think everyone should do things their way, their homes should be perfect, and the like, and for some, they don't like people who are independent, or do it yourselfers. You also have the ones who are power crazed. (The agency contracted also did a home loan eval a year earlier, and the home appraisal had personal comments included, as well as undervalued our property, denying use the very funds so we could have reroofed the all the buildings, hmmm..) we went back to nationwide, who is now sending out an inspector, guess who! Actually staying home as much as possible to catch them and find out what the real problem is, maybe I'll sick my "Major Risk" chickens on them.., we will see. if you are having problems with homeowners insurance, track down that report, and refute it. The underwriters who make those decisions only have that report to go by. If it is wrong or skewed, challenge it. once you have been cancelled, it gets forwarded to other companies, then you pay higher rates; and for what, wanting fresh eggs? Really.. If there is bias, and no one says anything, it will continue, but if the public starts getting noisy, your state reps will hear it, and if noisy enough, they may realize ignoring such an issue may cost them an election. The question becomes, are chickens being defined as "high risk" due to prejudice or ignorance? My Daughter says both, she might be right.

 

[Folly's place]

Insurance issues are something that many (most?) new chicken owners aren't thinking about, and you all should be!
I have a farm policy with Hastings Mutual here in Michigan, having horses, cattle, and chickens. Homeowner's policies don't cover farms, or livestock issues. Chickens are considered livestock!
Two years ago I called Traveler's about their farm policies, and told the agent that we have horses, cattle, and chickens. The horror!!! "We don't insure anyone with chickens!!!" WOW! No question about chicken numbers, two or two million, all the same.
DON'T lie about it to the agent, because any company won't cover a claim under those circumstances. But you may find that you have to have a farm type policy, not simple homeowners.
Last summer our company sent a inspector out to look at the farm. It was interesting; some things on his report we fixed, and were needed. Other things were not so relevant to farm life, by an agent who usually only looked at suburban and city properties.
Mary

 

[MIchickenlady]

Insurance issues are something that many (most?) new chicken owners aren't thinking about, and you all should be!
I have a farm policy with Hastings Mutual here in Michigan, having horses, cattle, and chickens. Homeowner's policies don't cover farms, or livestock issues. Chickens are considered livestock!
Two years ago I called Traveler's about their farm policies, and told the agent that we have horses, cattle, and chickens. The horror!!! "We don't insure anyone with chickens!!!" WOW! No question about chicken numbers, two or two million, all the same.
DON'T lie about it to the agent, because any company won't cover a claim under those circumstances. But you may find that you have to have a farm type policy, not simple homeowners.
Last summer our company sent a inspector out to look at the farm. It was interesting; some things on his report we fixed, and were needed. Other things were not so relevant to farm life, by an agent who usually only looked at suburban and city properties.
Mary

@Folly's place-Thank you for this neighbor! I'm wondering if I should call our insurance agent and see if this is a problem? We set our coop & got chickens after we moved into our new place and the adjuster had already been by to take pics. Good to know we could switch to Hastings Mutual if it is.

 

[Chickassan]

And i thought my insurance was stupid because it got cancelled over a bush lol! Exotic chickens omg lol! So flipping stupid, especially considering the price and the hoops you're expected to jump through.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It's uneducated decisions based on liability fears.

Salmonella, avian flu, Oh my! Odd though it sounds to people that keep chickens these fears do exist. Insurance companies have no problem covering liability issues of dog bites but can't wrap their head around the fact an unwashed egg is clean to eat.

 

[Folly's place]

The Traveler's response blew my mind! Horses and cattle kill and injure people OFTEN, and that's fine. But chickens? You would have thought I had tigers or something.
Mary