Homeowners go with another provider over dog mix up in Facebook photos

Carrier did not follow protocol about verifying dog breed with owners but relied on social media posts

Homeowners go with another provider over dog mix up in Facebook photos

Insurance News

By Allie Sanchez

Call it a comedy of errors but jumping to conclusions over social media posts cost Nationwide Insurance a client.

Melina Efthimiadis and her husband wanted to add personal umbrella liability insurance to their existing Nationwide homeowner’s policy and followed protocol for the application. They declared their three pet dogs and their respective breeds in the application but got a cancellation because, according to Melina, they had an “ineligible dog breed” referring to her dog Zeus who is a lab/hound mix.

The mix-up resulted from Nationwide mistaking Zeus for a potentially dangerous Rottweiler mix breed in a Facebook photo Melina posted of her dogs, the dog owner related in an abc13 report.

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“Nationwide’s policy is to contact the member and agent to gather more information if there is uncertainty about a dog breed selection on an insurance application. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in this instance. We have taken steps to rectify the situation to ensure a better experience for future Nationwide applicants,” a company representative said in the report.

Melina proved the provenance of Zeus, and Nationwide rescinded its cancellation, but the couple decided to go with another provider for their additional insurance needs.

All’s well does not, after all, always end well.


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