HOME CONDITION: PETS

Does homeowners insurance cover damage caused by your dog or cat?

Damage your own dog or cat does to the house, such as chewed trim, clawed doors or a urine-soaked subfloor, is excluded under a standard HO-3 policy: the form removes loss caused by "animals owned or kept by an 'insured'." What the pet sets off is a different claim. Water from a supply line the dog chewed through, a fire from a candle the cat knocked over, and damage your pet does to a neighbor's property each stay covered under their own clauses, after the deductible.

Disclaimer: Published averages and benchmark ranges, not a quote. This page is not insurance advice. Your premium will differ based on your home, location, claims history, and insurer. Flood insurance is separate from a standard homeowners policy.

The gap between those two answers is large in dollars. ISO data published by the Insurance Information Institute put the average homeowners claim for water damage and freezing at $15,400 over 2019 to 2023, with 1.50 such claims per 100 insured homes each year. Fire and lightning claims were rarer, at 0.23 per 100 homes, but averaged $88,170. A chewed cabinet door is a few hundred dollars the owner pays. The kitchen flood or house fire that a pet can start belongs in the category the policy was bought for.

Exclusion c.(6)(h), read word by word

The sentence sits in Section I, Perils Insured Against, in the part that covers the dwelling (Coverage A) and other structures such as a detached garage or fence (Coverage B). Those two coverages are written on an open-peril basis: the ISO Homeowners 3 Special Form says "We insure against risk of direct physical loss" to that property, then lists what it does not insure. Item 2.c.(6) is a run of slow or internal causes. In order, it removes wear and tear, marring and deterioration; mechanical breakdown and latent defect; smog, rust and corrosion; smoke from agricultural smudging or industrial operations; pollutant discharge; settling and cracking; "Birds, vermin, rodents, or insects"; and, as the last letter, "Animals owned or kept by an 'insured'."

Four details in that short line decide most pet claims.

"Animals" has no definition and no size limit. A dog, a cat, a rabbit that chews baseboards or a parrot that strips window trim all fit. Wild animals that are not owned or kept by anyone fall under the letter before it instead, so squirrels in the attic and mice in the walls are a (g) question, explained with the insect cases in our termite damage guide.

"Owned or kept" covers more than ownership. A friend's dog you are boarding for two weeks is kept by you while it lives in your house. The exclusion reaches it even though the dog is not yours.

"Insured" is a defined word. The sample defines it as you and residents of your household who are your relatives, or other persons under 21 in the care of one of them, plus certain full-time students living away at school. A resident adult child's cat is owned by an insured. A guest's dog is not, and neither, on the plain wording, is the dog of a lodger who is not a relative. That second case is rare and an adjuster may look hard at it, but it shows how literally the clause is built.

The exclusion is limited to Coverage A and B. It appears in the dwelling half of the perils section, not in Section I Exclusions, which apply to every property coverage. Personal property under Coverage C works on a different basis, and the result there turns on the named-peril list rather than on this letter. That difference is set out in its own section below.

One more sentence matters as much as the exclusion. Directly after the exception that follows the list, the sample says: "Under 2.b. and c. above, any ensuing loss to property described in Coverages A and B not precluded by any other provision in this policy is covered." The chewing is never paid for. A covered loss that the chewing causes, such as fire, is a separate loss and can be.

Chewing, scratching, soaking, burning: a pet-loss table built from the form

The clause citations follow the ISO sample form HO 00 03 10 00 (copyright 1999), in the copy the Insurance Information Institute publishes. Some insurers add animal wording of their own, and state amendments can change any clause, so use each row to find the matching page of your policy and let that page decide.

The pattern in the table follows the form's structure. When the pet's own teeth, claws or bladder did the damage, the answer is no, either because the dwelling exclusion names the cause or because the contents list has no peril for it. When the pet only started a chain and the damage came from water, fire or smoke, the policy treats the damage by the peril that did it. The liability rows sit outside both halves of Section I altogether, because they are about someone else's property, and a different set of rules applies there.

Why the soaked floor is paid and the chewed line is not

Straight after letter (h), the sample adds a paragraph headed "Exception To c.(6)." It reads: "Unless the loss is otherwise excluded, we cover loss to property covered under Coverage A or B resulting from an accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam from within a" storm drain or water, steam or sewer pipe off the premises, or a "plumbing, heating, air conditioning or automatic fire protective sprinkler system or household appliance on the 'residence premises'."

A supply line under a sink, a toilet fill line, a refrigerator ice-maker line and a washing machine hose are all part of a plumbing system or household appliance in that sense. When a dog chews through one, the chewing is excluded by (h), but the escaping water is an accidental discharge from within the system, and the exception was written for exactly that kind of chain: an excluded cause, such as corrosion or wear, that ends in water. The same paragraph adds the tear-out rule. The insurer pays "the cost to tear out and replace any part of a building" when that is necessary to repair the system, so if the chewed line runs behind a finished wall, opening and restoring the wall belongs on the claim.

Three limits come with the exception. First, "We do not cover loss to the system or appliance from which this water or steam escaped." The braided line and the plumber's visit to replace it stay with the homeowner. Second, the words "unless the loss is otherwise excluded" keep every other exclusion alive, so chew marks on the cabinet beside the line are still (h) damage, even though the cabinet's water swelling is paid. Third, the paragraph says a plumbing system "does not include a sump, sump pump or related equipment or a roof drain, gutter, downspout or similar fixtures." A dog that chews through a sump pump's discharge hose or a downspout extension is outside the exception, and the water damage question then runs into the water damage exclusion for backup and surface water. Our water backup coverage guide covers the endorsement that addresses sump failures.

Speed is the other half of a water claim. The sample's Neglect exclusion removes loss from an insured's failure "to use all reasonable means to save and preserve property at and after the time of a loss," and the duties after loss require the insured to "protect the property from further damage." Shut the supply valve, start removing water and keep the receipts; the Reasonable Repairs additional coverage pays "the reasonable cost incurred by you for the necessary measures taken solely to protect covered property" already damaged by a covered peril. Mold is narrower still. Exclusion c.(5) removes mold, fungus and wet rot except mold "hidden within the walls or ceilings or beneath the floors" that results from an accidental discharge from plumbing or an appliance. Mold that is visible on the face of the cabinet after a week of damp is outside that exception. Our mold coverage guide goes through the hidden-mold wording.

A slower leak raises a different question. A cat that tears a pinhole into a soft plastic ice-maker line can start a drip that runs for weeks behind the refrigerator before anyone sees it. The 1999 sample has no clause aimed specifically at leaks that run that long, but newer editions and insurer forms can add one, and an adjuster may also reach for wear and tear or deterioration. Our burst pipe and slow leak guide sets out the words a long-leak denial relies on. A sudden flood from a line bitten through in one sitting is the easier claim to prove.

Candles, cords and stove knobs: fire as the ensuing loss

Fire is not on the Coverage A exclusion list at all, so a house fire is covered whatever started it, unless something such as the intentional loss exclusion applies. That exclusion is about "any act an 'insured' commits or conspires to commit with the intent to cause a loss." A cat is not an insured, and a pet brushing a candle off a shelf is not an intent to cause anything. The ensuing loss sentence then answers the objection an adjuster might try first: even granting that the cat's movement was a loss "caused by" an animal kept by an insured, the fire it led to is a separate loss "not precluded by any other provision," and it is covered.

Candles are the plainest example because the numbers are tracked. The National Fire Protection Association reports that over 2020 to 2024, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 5,894 home structure fires whose heat source was a candle, causing $286 million a year in direct property damage. Its safety guidance is to keep candles at least 12 inches from anything that can burn. A cat that walks along a mantel or a dog whose tail sweeps a coffee table puts that 12 inches to the test. The same logic covers a chewed lamp cord that arcs, a space heater a dog knocks onto a rug, and a stove burner a pet bumps on. Each is fire, and each is paid by the peril that did the damage.

For belongings the route is shorter. Coverage C lists "Fire Or Lightning" as peril 1 and "Smoke" as peril 7, which the sample defines as "sudden and accidental damage from smoke." Neither peril asks what lit the fire. Clothes, furniture and electronics burned or smoke-stained in a pet-started fire are covered at the settlement basis on the declarations page. Our guide to smoke damage claims explains how cleaning versus replacement is argued for smoke-stained contents; that part of the argument carries over to smoke from a fire inside the house.

One part of a fire claim is not paid. Under Coverage C, Property Not Covered 4.b lists "Animals, birds or fish." A pet that dies or is injured in a covered fire is not insured property, and the homeowners policy has no medical payments for animals. Coverage D, additional living expense, will help if the household has to move out during repairs, and a hotel or rental that charges a pet fee is a cost to raise with the adjuster as part of the increase in living expenses. Our additional living expenses guide covers what counts as an increase over normal costs.

Your belongings: no animal exclusion, and no animal peril either

Personal property is where many pet owners are caught by surprise, because the animal exclusion does not apply to it and the answer is still no. Coverage C in the sample insures "for direct physical loss to the property described in Coverage C caused by any of the following perils," and then gives a closed list of 16. An insurer can decline a contents claim without citing any exclusion, simply because none of the 16 perils fits. A chewed sofa, a shredded rug, clawed leather chairs and a laptop charger bitten in half have that problem.

The perils closest to pet damage each fall short. Vandalism or malicious mischief is peril 8, but the words point to a deliberate act by a person, and an adjuster will not read a puppy's teething as malicious. Falling Objects, peril 10, "does not include loss to property contained in a building unless the roof or an outside wall of the building is first damaged by a falling object," so a television a cat pushes off a stand is outside it. Weight of Ice, Snow or Sleet and the electrical current peril have nothing to do with animals. That leaves accidental discharge of water and fire or smoke, which is why the contents half of a pet claim only works when the pet's act led to water, fire or smoke.

An open-peril contents form, such as an HO-5 or an HO-3 with an endorsement that covers personal property on the same basis as the dwelling, changes the structure but not necessarily the answer. Open-peril coverage works by exclusion, and the ISO HO-3 already puts animals owned or kept by an insured on its dwelling exclusion list. Do not assume a broader contents form pays for chewed furniture; read whether its exclusion list repeats the animal wording. Our HO-3 versus HO-5 comparison explains how the two forms are built. The settlement basis matters on the claims that are covered: Loss Settlement C.1.a pays personal property at actual cash value, which means a rug bought five years ago and soaked by a chewed line comes back at its depreciated value unless replacement cost is endorsed.

Someone else's pet, someone else's property

The exclusion's reach depends on whose animal it was, and the policy's liability side depends on whose property was damaged. Four common situations show how those two questions combine.

A guest's dog damages your house. A friend visits with a dog that chews through the door frame of the guest room. The dog is not owned or kept by an insured, so (h) does not apply, and the loss falls back under the open-peril grant of Coverage A after the deductible. An adjuster may still look at the other letters in the same list; chew marks could be argued as "marring," a word the sample puts next to wear and tear without defining it. You can also ask the dog's owner to pay. If they do, a claim may not be worth filing at all, because a small claim still goes onto the loss history insurers read; our CLUE report guide explains that record.

You are dog-sitting at your house. The same dog, left with you for a week while its owners travel, is kept by an insured for that week. The exclusion applies to the door frame. A water or fire loss that dog starts is still treated through the exception and the ensuing loss sentence, exactly as it would be for your own pet.

Your dog damages a neighbor's property. Section II changes the question from "what caused it" to "are you liable." Coverage E pays damages for "property damage" caused by an "occurrence" for which an insured is "legally liable," and it defends the suit. State law sets when a pet owner is liable for property damage, so the outcome turns on facts such as whether the dog was loose. The sample also has a smaller additional coverage that does not need a finding of fault: Damage To Property Of Others pays "at replacement cost, up to $1,000 per 'occurrence' for 'property damage' to property of others caused by an 'insured'." The form does not say in words whether a pet's act counts as one caused by its owner, so ask the insurer how it reads that phrase before assuming the $1,000 is available. It does not pay for property owned by an insured, or for property owned by or rented to a tenant of an insured or a resident of your household.

Your dog damages a place you are renting or staying in. Coverage E excludes "'property damage' to property rented to, occupied or used by or in the care of an 'insured'," with an exception for damage "caused by fire, smoke or explosion." A dog that chews a vacation rental's cabinets falls inside that exclusion. The $1,000 Damage To Property Of Others coverage has no matching exclusion for property rented to an insured, so it is the clause to ask about. A fire your dog starts in the rental is back inside Coverage E through the exception. Renters face the same structure from the other side, under their own HO-4, as our renters insurance guide explains.

Injuries to people and to other animals are a different claim. Bites and knock-down injuries run through Coverage E's bodily injury wording, often under breed lists, animal exclusions or sublimits an insurer adds to the policy. Our dog bite liability guide covers that ground, including dog-on-dog injuries and the effect of a bite claim at renewal, so it is not repeated here.

A chewed supply line, priced line by line

A single chewed line shows the water exception and the animal exclusion working on the same kitchen. The bills are hypothetical; no contractor or insurer file produced them, and none is an average. The inputs: a $300,000 Coverage A limit (the dwelling amount every example on this site uses) on an HO-3 written like the sample; a dog left alone for six hours who chews through the braided supply line to the kitchen faucet; the water runs until someone comes home; and the repair amounts shown in the table. Three columns change one input at a time: the deductible, and whose dog it was.

The eight bills add to $260 + $2,400 + $1,900 + $3,300 + $1,100 + $380 + $450 + $1,850 = $11,640. The covered lines in the first column are $2,400 + $1,900 + $3,300 + $1,100 + $450 = $9,150; less the $1,000 deductible, the insurer pays $8,150, and $11,640 minus $8,150 leaves $3,490. That $3,490 is exactly the $260 line, the $380 of chew marks, the $1,850 vet bill and the $1,000 deductible. With a $2,500 deductible, the same $9,150 nets $6,650, leaving $4,990. A guest's dog adds the $380 of chew marks back, for $9,530 before the deductible, $8,530 paid, and $3,110 carried, which is the $260 line, the $1,850 vet bill and the deductible.

Two things stand out. The chew marks are the only line that moves with ownership, and they are small; the water lines carry the claim in every column. And the vet bill is the largest single item the household pays in the first and third columns, larger than the deductible. That line belongs to pet insurance, where a foreign-body surgery is a common accident claim; our sister site CoverMyBreed explains how policies treat it in its guide to foreign body surgery coverage.

The $9,150 of covered loss sits below the $15,400 average water and freezing claim in the ISO figures, which is a reminder that a fast discovery keeps a chewed-line claim modest. Six hours of running water is enough to lift a laminate floor; a weekend away is how a kitchen claim becomes a two-room claim. Timing also changes the first payment. Under Loss Settlement C.2.d, the insurer can pay actual cash value on building repairs until the work is done, unless the cost is both under 5 percent of the dwelling limit and under $2,500. The building lines here total $8,700, well over $2,500, so the check can arrive in two parts. Our recoverable depreciation guide explains how the second part is claimed.

With the $2,500 deductible, the household should also weigh whether to file. A claim that nets $6,650 is clearly worth it. The same chewed line caught after twenty minutes, with $1,800 of drying and a cabinet base, would net nothing under the higher deductible and little under the lower one, while still adding a water claim to the home's record. Whether a small water claim is worth reporting at all is a question our file-or-skip guide answers with numbers.

Telling the adjuster a pet was involved

It can be tempting to describe a chewed line as a burst pipe and leave the dog out. The sample's Concealment Or Fraud condition is the reason not to. It provides coverage "to no 'insureds' under this policy if, whether before or after a loss, an 'insured' has" intentionally concealed or misrepresented any material fact. The pet's role is a material fact, and it rarely hurts the water claim: the exception to c.(6) exists for losses that start with an excluded cause. Describing the cause accurately keeps the covered lines safe and lets the adjuster separate the excluded lines cleanly.

The duties after loss in the sample require "prompt notice," protection of the property and an inventory of damaged personal property showing "quantity, description, actual cash value and amount of loss." A signed, sworn proof of loss is due "within 60 days after our request." Our home inventory guide shows a format that saves time on the contents part, and the step-by-step claim guide covers the first call. If the insurer declines the water lines by pointing to the animal exclusion, ask for the decision in writing with the exact clause, and ask why the exception to c.(6) does not apply. A denial on that ground goes through the steps in our guide to appealing a claim denial.

The damage that stays with the owner, at sale time and in between

Gradual pet damage is the largest pet cost most homeowners face, and none of it is an insurance claim under the sample. Scratched hardwood, urine-stained subfloor, chewed window sills and clawed screen doors are excluded twice over: once by letter (h) and once by the wear and tear, marring and deterioration wording at the top of the same list. A home warranty does not fill that gap either, because warranties cover named systems and appliances that fail with normal use; our comparison of home warranties and homeowners insurance lays out which contract does what.

The practical protection is mechanical. A braided stainless supply line is harder for a dog to bite through than soft plastic tubing, a closed cabinet keeps lines out of reach, and an automatic shutoff valve limits how long water runs when something fails. Those steps also protect the claim, because a shorter leak is easier to show as sudden. Candles in enclosed holders or flameless candles remove the most common pet-started fire. None of this changes the premium on its own, but it decides whether a pet ever turns into an insurance question.

The application is the other place a pet meets the policy. Insurers often ask about animals, mainly for liability, and an inaccurate answer is a worse problem after a claim than a higher premium before one. Check your declarations page and endorsements list for any animal liability exclusion or sublimit, since those change the Section II rows in the table above. For a broader look at how a house's condition shows up in what an insurer will write, the home condition guides collect the roof, wiring, inspection and termite topics in one place. And when the next renewal arrives, the state cost table shows the published average for your state on a $300,000 dwelling, a benchmark to measure an offer against rather than a quote.

If a dog or cat has just sent water through a ceiling or across a floor, open our water claim decision tree next: it sorts the water side of the claim in the order an adjuster will, and the chewed-line rows above slot straight into it.

The questions pet owners bring to an adjuster