Assemblyman Gregg Hart
If you are a pet owner looking for homeowners insurance, you know that sometimes your breed of dog might deny you access to coverage. Many residents have had to choose between keeping their dogs or owning a home, something that Assemblyman Gregg Hart is trying to eliminate.
The existing law allows insurance companies to regulate insurance coverage to specific people and, in this case, allows for the insurers to cancel or deny coverage if the owner has a “dangerous” dog breed. Typically, these breeds are bigger and more stereotypically aggressive, such as pitbulls, great danes, german shepherds and others.
The bill that Assemblyman Hart is trying to implement would prohibit an “insurer from refusing to issue, canceling, refusing to renew, or increasing the premium for a policy of residential property insurance on the sole basis that the applicant or insured owns or harbors a dog that is a specific breed or mixture of breeds.”
There is an exception to the bill that states that the insurer can still refuse coverage “if the dog is known to be or has been declared potentially dangerous or vicious.” This determination would be decided by the Santa Barbara Animal Shelter.
In an exclusive interview, Assemblyman Hart told the News-Press that his motivation for this bill is that he recognized a “disconnect between perspective and data” when it came to the discrimination of dog breeds.
Additionally, Assemblyman Hart asserted that “the idea that we discriminate isn’t fair. This bill would protect dog owners and the dogs as well.”
If this bill becomes law, it would allow many dog owners to apply for coverage with less fear of rejection or discriminatory pricing. Many Santa Barbara residents are pushing for the bill to be enacted, specifically Elizabeth Reed, a local great dane owner.
In a recent open letter to the News-Press, Ms. Reed shared that her great dane, Sol, was a local therapy dog for many children in the Santa Barbara area. If Ms. Reed was denied coverage, she would have had to send Sol back, even though the dog was nothing like the stereotype of the breed.
Many people in the Santa Barbara area may find home ownership easier to accomplish should the bill pass.
Kerri Burns, the CEO of Santa Barbara Humane Animal Shelter, also shared her excitement for this bill.
“It would be an amazing step forward for animal welfare,” Ms. Burns said. “For the community, they will feel more comfortable in adopting and reporting to their carrier.”
The bill is still in the early stages of consideration, but Assemblyman Hart stated that it is in the works and he hopes that his fellow lawmakers will be equally enthusiastic about passing the bill.
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