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Home | Pit Bull Info | Ohio Pit Bull Insurance

About the OHIO REQUIRED $100,000 vicious dog (pit bull) Liability Insurance

Ohio State Laws mandate that "pit bull" type dogs be covered by a minimum of $100,000 liability insurance. This is because Ohio classifies a "pit bull" type dog as vicious regardless of actual temperment, personality, history, etc.

Chapter 955 Ohio Revised Code defines "vicious dog" as a dog that, without provocation, :

Has killed or caused serious injury to any person
Has caused injury, other than killing or serious injury, to any person, or has killed another dog.
Belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog.

Ohio law gives dog wardens the authority to determine if a dog is a "pit bull". While this almost always applies to American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and Stafforshire Bull Terriers, depending on the dog warden in a particular county, any of the following other breeds or their mixes may be tagged as "pit bulls": Bull Terrier, Miniature Bull Terrier, American Bulldog, Presa Canario, Cane Corso, Boxer mix, and Mastiff mix. Some dog wardens even expand upon this list to include anything with a short coat, a stocky, muscular body, and a broad head.

The required insurance is sometimes referred to as "pit bull insurance" or something along those lines, however, it refers to liability insurance. There is nothing special about it. It falls under home owners liability insurance, which check your current plan because most homes already have liability coverage of $100,000! The other thing to talk with your insurance agent about is if they discriminate against any dog breeds. If they do, then your pit bull (or many other breeds) will not be covered should anything happen.

If your home owners policy does not cover certain breeds of dogs, Another way of obtaining the required liability insurance is to look into purchasing a "personal umbrella liability policy". This would be helpful if you are a renter or your home owners insurance company does not cover "pit bulls" but you don't really want to switch. Make sure to verify the policy will cover canine inflicted injuries.

Alternately, canine liability coverage can be purchased through
The Ohio Insurance Exchange
112 E Main Street
Lancaster, OH 43130
800.473.1215 Phone
740.681.9997 Fax

Ohio Insurance Exchange bases their rates on breed, weight, age, gender and bite history. Proof of obedience training or other specialized training is also helpful because it demonstrates the responsibility of the owner.

This insurance is very important to have. Not only are the fines and penalties stiff for not having it, but it would give authorities the ability to have the dog removed from your home until you showed proof of the insurance. The same would hold true if your dog were to get loose (accidents happen even in the best of homes) and be picked up by animal control - they would not release the dog back to you without seeing proof of the insurance. Also, if your insurance agent was at your home for something else, and they were from a group that does not cover your breed of dog and they saw your dog, they could possibly drop you or threaten to do so unless you got rid of your companion.