If you want to take out dog liability insurance, you should definitely pay attention to a few things in order to get optimal protection on the one hand and not to pay too much for the insurance on the other. Here are a few tips for taking out dog liability insurance.
What do dog owners have to consider when taking out dog liability insurance? — Image: Shutterstock / a cat
Dog liability insurance is mandatory in the federal states of Berlin, Hamburg, Thuringia, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Owners of so-called fighting dogs are even obliged to take out insurance for their animal everywhere. Normal annual premiums for dog liability insurance range from 50 to 100 euros and depend on the agreed coverage amount and the deductible per damage.
If you can afford it, a deductible of 125 to 150 euros makes sense, as the monthly contributions will be significantly lower. However, you will then have to pay for minor damage yourself, such as eaten shoes or destroyed plants in the park.
Observe the statutory minimum sum insured
If you take out liability insurance for your dog, you should first think about the amount of coverage. This determines the amount up to which your insurance company will pay for damage. The usual sums insured are between three and five million euros. Attention: Some federal states have legal regulations that affect these sums. Lower Saxony, for example, prescribes a minimum sum insured of 500,000 euros for personal injury.
If you take out dog liability insurance, you must of course make this dependent on your individual requirements. In general, however, it is advisable to take out a high sum insured and a small deductible sum – this way you have sufficient protection paired with manageable monthly contributions.
What else you should consider
In addition to considering the deductible and the minimum amount of coverage, you should check exactly what damage is paid for before you take out dog liability insurance. Dog liability insurance must pay for property damage, personal injury and financial loss. Normal exclusion criteria are damage that can be traced back to particularly dangerous circumstances. Such a circumstance refers, for example, to a scenario in which a dog with behavioral problems runs around without a leash and causes damage – liability would not become active here.
Also note that insurance companies do not pay for damage to rented, leased or borrowed items.
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