Pets tend to be welcome guests for friends and family. However, pets pose risks to everyone who enters your house. Even if a pet causes harm innocently, it could still cause problems with financial ramifications.

Your home’s liability insurance can often help you in the event your pet damages a guest’s property. However, it’s critical that you keep these damage risks low. It’s also essential that you carry adequate coverage for the risks the pet poses to others. And at times, you may even need to invest in umbrella protection for extra coverage.

Let’s say you have a friend visit your home, who brings along a piece of expensive jewelry. While you are not looking, your dog grabs the friend’s jewelry and proceeds to destroy it.

Ordinarily, you would turn to your homeowners liability insurance in situations like this. This coverage often helps homeowners compensate third parties for the damage their pet causes. However, in the case of jewelry, your liability limits may not fully cover the high cost of this loss.

In this case, you might need umbrella coverage. Umbrella insurance is an extra layer of liability protection that kicks in after you reach the limits of your standard policy. It can often offer more money for and protect against pet damage scenarios.

A new person in your home will stimulate your pet. So, it’s imperative you take steps to ensure the pet poses a low risk to guests and their belongings.

• Control the pet’s access to sensitive items. You should put them away or keep them out of reach of the pet.
• Kennel or leash the pet while you have guests. Sometimes, owners confine their pets to certain parts of the house.
• See to the pet’s comfort. Give them treats or toys to occupy their attention. Reward good behavior.
• Invest in obedience training to help pets learn how to behave around guests. Obedience school might also teach the pet not to touch certain items. However, this solution is not foolproof.

Most importantly, see how your guests feel about having pets around. This is a common courtesy you should afford your friends. They can tell you if you need to take any special precautions with your pet around them or their belongings.

Should an incident occur, get control of the situation and survey damage. Then, talk to Texas Insurance Agency about filing a liability claim. Our agents can tell you whether your standard liability or umbrella protection will work.