Home Insurance Company said they would cancel policy b/c we had chickens..Anyone else have this happ

[4 the Birds]

I find this "cancelling homeowners insurance because you have chickens" very odd. Never heard of this before. I do know that Florida insurance is a bit wacky with all the hurricane damage and claims recently. Go with a large and reputable company and there should be no side issues.

 

[mrswolf02]

Would you be allowed to have a storage shed on your property? If so, the whole flying coop thing here doesn't make sense. (Insert wizard of oz music here where chickens and cows... and the witch go flying by the window!) Now, if you were in Kansas, this might make sense!!!

Please forgive my sick humor!

Your story could be in a documentary about how big government and industry is standing in the way of the average citizen being self supporting and meeting their needs through small agriculture.

lmao love it!!! kind of what i was thinking when i was trying to figure out what the big deal would be with chickens....i also would tell my girls "fly my monkies fly!" when i would let them out to play hahahaha

i agree about the documentary thing, still waiting to hear from news paper. i hope they get in touch with me again. people really need to know and realize what's happening. i dont care if they call me a conspiracy theorist or other "bad names" but stuff is happening that people need to open their eyes too. lots of people probably dont realize they could be so easily canceled for trying to take care of themselves and be self sufficient. im nervous now about being canceled for having a garden!

 

[Pathfinders]

This happened to us about a year and a half ago. We had combined insurance through State Farm (helloooo, "farm"?!)

One day, out of the blue, I got a letter from them saying that all our polices were being cancelled because we had chickens. Not horses (who could, in theory, be a danger to someone), not goats, not dogs, not cats. But chickens.

I was like, WTH?

I called and spoke to my agent. What he told me was that it was a disease issue, and it was a company wide decision being applied to anyone who had chickens. I guess they were afraid of Avian Influenza? (If they were, they should worry more about people with waterfowl and swine, but that makes too much scientific sense for them.)

So I said fine. Called our local Farm Bureau, got a great combined policy at a big savings, and I wish I'd done it years sooner!

Silly State Farm...

 

[sepaditty1]

I think it must depend on the size of your property... We've had USAA since 1997 - and we've always had a "farm" and filed farm taxes. They are aware we have acreage/livestock. They've covered our property and rebuilt us through 2 tornados - 1999 and 2010 - and are insuring our current property that has livestock on it... Could be quite a bit different though if we had several thousand acres, employees, millions in equipment, etc.

That's the good part about chickens. Most places don't consider them farm animals. Even the OPs insurance wasn't canceled because they had farm animals. For some reason an idiot came for the pictures and thought chickens were exotic. Because they have always been on the line between farm animals and pets, it's hard to make hard and fast rules. It's funny that my friend in Columbus, OH lived in an apartment building in the downtown area and his neighbors in the apartment next door had 2 chickens. As pets. In their apartment.

 

[SunnySkies]

While the stables are not in your immediate area but a few miles away, the barn owners have insurance that covers livestock. Their companies are likely to cover you and your chickens. So I'd go ask them for references and then call those companies and explain and see what sort of cost you are looking at.

 

[mvinotime]

This just blows me away! I am an insurance agent for a major carrier in California and while inspections of a new property are the norm and tree branches overhanging a roof as well as "clutter" would be required to be corrected and proof provided in order for the policy to be continued I have NEVER heard of a rejection based on chickens! As a matter of fact, in CAlifornia your boxer would of caused a rejection as we will not cover you if you own a certain set of dog breeds, boxers being included (crazy I know) but chickens??? WOW goes to show you how each state varies so vastly in their guidelines and rules. So sorry this has happened and hoping you can find a company that will allow the chickens as I cannot fathom any reason they woul possibly be a risk.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I know it's possible that they won't cover you in Florida, but American Family knows we have chickens, and an egg business, and other than suggesting we bump our liability up to $1 million, that was it. We're in Ohio, though, so maybe they have different policies in FL.