Just curious, and I know I’ll probably have to field this question to my actual insurance at some point, but do you have to let your homeowners insurance know when you decide to bring livestock/horses on your property? Could they drop you for not notifying them? For example how certain breeds of dog are considered dangerous and they can drop you if they find out you have a pit bull or a German shepherd?
Yes they can, and they can also deny claims based on material change of risk. You absolutely have to notify them as it changes the risk they agreed to insure.
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contact your carrier, mine does not care as as long as they are personal property they lump horses into personally owned animals (nor do they exclude any specific breed of dogs)
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I’ll give them a call, it just kind of hit me the other day that if they can drop you for a dog they must be able to drop you for a 1000lb animal.
I would really double check that. Most homeowners don’t allow for livestock, and if they do they certainly need to be notified they are on the property m. Has nothing to do with property limits covered.
@ziggywiggy it’s more about them knowing what they are insuring than an issue with a horse. Some policies just aren’t designed to offer the proper coverage for that risk so they need to ensure they have all the information available. Definitely call them.
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Yes I aware many insurers do not cover much of anything however I questioned the company and they said an animal is an animal
Coverage is pretty specific under the policy’s liability coverage,
SECTION II - LIABILITY COVERAGES
d. Is caused by an animal owned by or in
the care of any insured .
That just means it covers Liability from that peril, that doesn’t confirm anything about the actual location and risk insured. That falls under the locations listed and description of occupancy. Sounds like you have it sorted anyways!
we have additional coverage specific to the horses, however the question OP had was regarding homeowners coverage, ours does provide some coverage of personal property specifically addressed as animals which the carrier considers as personal property
once again I would refer the question to insurance provider and get their answer in writing or included within the policy
most of these additional coverages are very inexpensive, I am still surprised at how cheap it is to fully insure a horse trailer at a declared value for all perils
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The OP wasn’t asking about the horses being insured though, it was whether the insurance company accepts the risk of having horses without being advised that in the first place. The answer is no, it’s always no. Livestock of any kind have to be advised of, because it changes the material risk of a policy. Most homeowners won’t accept horses on the property and so a farm or hobby farm type policy would be written instead.
Has nothing to do with insuring the actual horse.
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Most homeowners won’t accept horses on the property
again I suggest talking with the company as my coverage has no issue with personally owned horses on the property as I specifically asked when seeking new coverage (also the prior company had no reservations other than suggesting to double fence the public sides of the property to provide a barrier). Any business activity is not covered.
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That’s why I said most 
Dog bite claims are the most common HO claim there is. This is why you see exclusions by some carriers for some dog breeds. As others have said, livestock can be covered or can be excluded. Ask your agent or carrier.
If you are concerned about liability for your horses, buy an equine liability policy. They are inexpensive and cover your horses on and off property.
I never had my horse on my property. I did loan him to the barn for therapeutic and tradiitonal lessons. He was on the barn policy. I got a $1 million umbrella liability policy for $169/year. I still have it even though I put him down last year. I’m not getting a new horse: I’m 75 and he can’t be replaced in any case. I’m still involved in wtith horses at a different farm and it’s a small price to pay for some extra protection.
When we built our house, we already lived on the property in an old mobile home and had the horses on site. Everything was fine with insurance until we decided to build. I thought it would be easy, but no… We couldn’t get both the construction insurance and coverage for the mobile home through the same company. Several companies objected to the fact that we were surrounded by forest. Then they learned that we had three miniature horses that they claimed were too great of a risk — you know how minis can easily stampede and trample construction workers! Once I found that magical unicorn of an insurance company who would take us on, we had to swear that we would never take them out off of the property or allow anyone else in their corrals.
Some companies will say no, others will say yes. Keep talking until you find the one that is juuuuust right.
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My Arabian Horse Association membership comes with a $1M excess personal liability policy that specifically covers my horses. At one time, USEF memberships did the same, but I think that benefit may no longer be offered? Anyway, check with equine organizations to which you already belong. Honestly, the AHA benefit is such a good deal that I’ve maintained a “competing” membership even in years I don’t intend to compete, just for the insurance. Much cheaper than buying a policy separately.
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When I brought my horses home the first thing I did was tell my insurance and added a million dollar umbrella liability policy. Private horses, no boarders, no lessons, no guest riders.
Insurance seemed fine with it all.
Then the next year renewal rolled around and poof - they would not renew us because of the horses. They are an attractive nuisance that they did not want the liability for.
We had no problem finding another policy with a different company that had no problem with the horses (or the dogs).
So yes, you need to tell them.
They may or may not care. But better to have them know about the horses than to find out they are not going to cover things when it happens.
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