Ask the expert: dog insurance third party liability for family members?

Elizabeth contacted me after her mum’s dog bit her husband’s finger. She wanted to claim for third party liability but it was refused by the insurer.

Dear Sir,

My mother’s dog bit my husband’s top of his finger, so we put in a claim with “more than” insurance.

Firstly they said to claim off her household/building insurance and they said there was no cover. We got back to “more than” and now they are saying because I am family they are not going to entertain the claim. Please could you help me clarify and define what a “family member” entails? The relationship between my husband and my mother is obviously a son-in-law and not a blood relative.

Please could you advise and help? Thank you in advance.

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for contacting me. You’re looking to claim for third party liability under your pet insurance policy but cannot claim for it if you’re part of the family which owns the dog. Exclusions specific to this benefit are stated in the terms and conditions:

You will not be able to claim for the following:
– If the person claiming against you for injury or property damage is a member of your family or your household, your employee, someone looking after your pet on your behalf or a member of their family, their household or their employee.

There’s no definition of ‘family’ in the terms and conditions so you could argue on that point. However, I don’t think the regulator would consider your husband as a non-family member. Also remember that to claim for third party liability there must be a formal court claim raised by one party against another (here, your husband against your mum). Also bear in mind that there’s a policy excess of £200 which the policyholder would have to pay for anyway.

Based on the above I don’t think you’ll get anything from your insurer and I don’t think you should actually be claiming for anything as your mum is clearly a family member. It’s obviously not the answer your were looking for but I have to be honest with you.

Any more queries please let me know.

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