"There are no bad dogs,
only inexperienced owners."
Barbara Woodhouse
Like many of you, I'm a fan of the Travelers Insurance dog commercials, and their recent Christmas commercial touched me, as we saw "Trouble" bring the gift of a bone to a hound wearing the collar of shame in a dog house. So I shared that video with you.Today I was checking out who else shared the video and comments related to it, and saw a post that said Travelers will not insure people who have certain breeds of dogs, and there's a "deny list" specifying which breeds of dogs.
If true, it's disingenuous of Travelers to use dogs in commercials, if their homeowners or renters policies do not include all breeds. So I picked up the phone and called Travelers for clarification. I spoke with Ashley, an assistant in the Hartford executive offices. She took my information and said someone will get back to me tomorrow, since it's three hours later on the East Coast.
Well, as you guessed, I didn't feel like waiting until tomorrow, so I called the Customer Advocacy Line at 866.336.2077, and was transferred to a California rep. I wanted to hear it straight from Travelers.
OMG - IT IS TRUE! They will deny coverage - Homeowners or Renters - to anyone who has a breed of dog on their "list." The list varies for each State, so I'm going to need help compiling a chart that lists each State. Who will Volunteer to be the Research Helper and Petition Leader for your State? (Don't post your offer of help; please send me an email.)
For example: In California, among the breeds on the "deny coverage list" are Pitbulls, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Rottweilers, Chow-Chow, Bull Mastiff, Alaskan Malamute, Doberman Pinschers, any Wolf hybrid, Akita, Presa Canario, and any mixed breed dog that has one of these breeds even partially in its mix.
Because Travelers is publicly held (NYSE: TRV), let's get their attention with polite faxes and calls, along with a petition, asking them to re-think and revise their policy.
Jay S. Fishman, Chairman & CEO
Brian W. MacLean, President & COO
The Travelers Companies, Inc.
1 Tower Square, Hartford, CT 06183
FAX: 860.954.3956
Media Relations: 860.277.7458
Corporate Switchboard: 800.328.2189 (ask for "executive line")
Customer Advocacy: 866-336-2077
Be respectful and polite in all communications. Tell them it's hypocritical and insulting for Travelers to use dogs in their commercials, when their company discriminates against people who own certain breeds. ~ Go get 'em!
