The Paradiso Insurance Blog

After the tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri almost a month ago, people were left with no homes, no cars, nothing. Here however is a great story of survival, not by man, but by man’s best friend.

The story begins with the rescuers finding this poor little guy they named Ralphie. Someone had already taken him under their wing but they weren’t equipped to adopt.

Ralphie, scared and starved, joined his rescuers…

This little lady also survived the wreckage.

Here she’s placed in the car – scared, but safe.

And then they’re no longer alone!

Instant friends, they comforted each other while in the car

These pictures prove that anyone, or anything, can come together in tragedy to work together and make it through tough times. Team Paradiso strives to have this type of loyal partnership with all of our customers and friends.

While dogs make great companions, playmates, and protectors, they also continue to be a problem for insurers. Nearly two million people are bitten by dogs each year with around 800,000 persons requiring professional medical treatment for their wounds. Each of these incidents is a potential lawsuit.

Have Teeth, Will Bite

Tens of millions of U.S. households own dogs and biting incidents keep climbing. A key factor that contributes to these incidents is the failure of dog owners to supervise and train their pets. Another problem is that many persons, especially children, do not know how to behave around dogs. Bites may occur when:

• a person stares at a dog, which the animal perceives as a threat or challenge
• people attempt to handle dogs during sensitive moments (while a dog is trying to eat or while nursing puppies)
• trespassers or house guests invade a dog’s territory
• “rough-housing” with a dog escalates beyond playing.

An Issue Of Control

Insurance is still designed to handle accidents, and companies are at a severe disadvantage when policies are asked to respond to losses that are easily avoided. Dog bite claims involve the insured having control over areas such as:

• choosing to own a dog
• choosing the particular breed of dog
• raising the dog in a certain manner
• housing the dog in a certain manner
• exposing the animal to various social situations
• being knowledgeable about a dog’s temperament and inclination to bite or attack.

All of the above elements can contribute to lawsuits and to action from an insurer.

The “Policy” On Dogs

If you have homeowners insurance and you own a pet, the liability portion of your policy provides protection for losses arising from pet ownership. Not only are you and your household protected, but coverage even extends to persons who have custody of your pet. However, your policy won’t cover businesses that may have custody of your pet, such as kennels, obedience schools, groomers and professional sitters or walking services (they should carry their own coverage). Further, coverage could become problematic if dogs in a home are related with unreported, in-home business activity. Losses involving persons who are bitten while in a home for business reasons may not be covered.

Minimizing The Problem

Owners have a responsibility to raise and handle their dogs in a manner that reduces the chance for a loss.

* Becoming knowledgeable about their breed of dog.

* They should make certain that family members, social visitors, neighbors and strangers are protected from the owner’s pets.

* Owners should also take advantage of resources to help them, such as tips from animal shelters, dog ownership clubs, the AKC and a plethora of Internet sources.

It may not be the fairest set of circumstances, but more insurers are choosing not to give dogs the benefit of the doubt. It is becoming more common for companies to refuse to write coverage for persons who own certain breeds of dogs. Therefore, owners must fight this trend by not taking their pet ownership lightly….because insurers aren’t.

Paradiso Insurance would like to thank Rough Notes Producer Online for this very valuable information.

Here in New England, Autumn is the most beautiful of all four seasons. It’s also considered deer season. Every year deer collisions are all too prevalent. Colliding with these animals could potentially end up fatal for humans and at the very least likely to cause a lot of damage to your car (and the deer). Annually, deer collisions result in countless dollars spent in vehicle damages, bodily injuries and unnecessary deaths.

Here are some helpful tips that may assist you in avoiding these unfortunate collisions.

• Always pay close attention to roads which intersect or run along fields, waterways and forested areas. Deer tend to migrate to these places in search of food and water. When you see the road signs, you are in deer territory and you should take extra care to stay safe.
• Drive defensively and at a safe speed. This should ALWAYS be the case, even more so when you’re driving in deer country.
• ALWAYS wear your seat belt.  Your reaction time in the face of a collision will NEVER allow enough time for you to put it on.
• When braking, maintain your path of travel.  DO NOT swerve and leave your lane; many accidents are not due to colliding with the deer but are the result of swerving into oncoming traffic.
• If a deer is caught in your path try long horn beeps. This is the most effective way of letting the deer know where the car is coming from, their instincts will do the rest. DO NOT flash your lights and honk your horn at the same time, this is likely to terrify the animal and may cause it to dart your way rather than out of it. Bucks have even been known to charge cars of any size moving or stationary.
• Drive carefully at night. On secondary roads, slow your vehicle speed down and use your high beams where possible to illuminate the area you are traveling through.
• Be especially wary sunset to sunrise. Deer seem to move most around sunset to midnight and then again around dawn. If you’re not feeling alert or have difficulty seeing properly at these times, save your trip for another time.
• Remember, deer usually move together. If you see one deer on the side of the road, most likely there will be more. Stay cautious and drive safely.

At Paradiso Insurance Agency, we can relate to these situations. Our office is located in a small, heavily wooded community. It’s not uncommon for a member of our staff to catch a glimpse of a deer during their daily commute. Hopefully, with these helpful safety tips, drivers can minimize or even avoid one of these potentially harmful accidents in the future.

Here’s the wacky story of the week:

A North Carolina policeman found himself in quite a sticky situation when a swarm of angry bees attacked his cruiser on August 18. Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Jenkins was called to the scene when insects had escaped from a crashed lorry (bee carrying truck) on a North Carolina highway early morning last week. When Deputy Jenkins arrived at the scene, he was shocked to find that 60 boxfulls of honeybee cargo were set loose. After seeing the swarming mess, the Deputy jumped into his patrol car to radio the SWAT for backup. Jenkins was trapped in his car for three hours after being surrounded by 50,000 bees. Experienced bee keepers were called to the scene to calm the bees and get them off the car before getting Jenkins to safety.

For his next call, deputy Jenkins is taking precautions to ‘bee’ more prepared for the situation.

-The Paradiso Insurance Team

If you have any Wacky stories you’d like to share, feel free to send them via message to our Facebook account!  We love Wacky ideas!

The Paradiso Insurance Team