How Liability Insurance Works When it Comes to Pets

As a pet parent or soon-to-be pet parent, have you considered the importance of liability insurance? If not, let's discuss why it's important and what existing coverage you may already have that will protect you and your furry friend.

Being a pet owner comes with a ton of responsibilities. One of which is being liable for your pet wherever they go. Even if you know your dog's behaviour, there's always a chance that something could cause an unexpected reaction, resulting in potential injuries to another pet, person or damage to property. That's one of the benefits of liability insurance — to help protect you in case something happens where you're held responsible for any damages or injuries caused to a third party or their property.

If you have a home, condo, or tenant insurance policy, you'll have personal liability coverage built in which can cover incidents involving your pet. Let's consider an example where personal liability insurance would kick in for a pet-related incident. Imagine your dog is out in the front yard playing, when suddenly it gets triggered by a passing cyclist. Your dog unexpectedly chases after the cyclist and nips at their leg, resulting in injury and a damaged bike from their fall. In this case, the person may decide to sue you for damages. Because the damages and injuries were a result of the dog’s actions, personal liability coverage under your home insurance policy would help protect you against legal fees and compensation to the injured party. An unexpected incident like this could be costly, so it's important to ensure you have sufficient personal liability coverage to protect yourself no matter the circumstance. If you're looking for even further protection, you can look into increasing your base policy liability limit, or adding Personal Umbrella Insurance which will extend your existing coverage beyond its set limits in your home insurance policy.

This depends on your insurer and rules specific to them. Keep in mind that there are some provinces and/or cities that have banned specific dog breeds. It's important that you do your research to see which breeds are allowed in the area you reside in, as that could potentially impact your level of coverage for dog-related incidents.

Need to adjust your liability coverage or add enhanced coverage on your home, condo or tenant insurance policy? It's easy — you can review and manage your policy via MyInsurance through the TD Insurance app. Or, you can log in to MyInsurance and chat with a TD Insurance Advisor for more assistance.