New Animal Welfare Law Requires Dog Owners to Have Liability Insurance for Damages to Third Parties

With the entry into force of animal welfare law on September 29, 2023 It is mandatory that those who have a dog have civil liability insurance for damages to third parties. Is about one of the measures of this law that more doubts wake up since its publication in March and that affects all races and all sizes.

Should only dogs have insurance?

Yes. According to point 3 of article 30 of the animal welfare law, people who are dog holders deberán “hire and keep in force a liability insurance civil for damages to third parties”.

Before the new law went into effect, only dogs deemed “potentially dangerous” had to to hire this insurance, as indicated in Law 50/1999 on the legal regime of the possession of potentially dangerous animalswhose list it keepseven though that him bill promised to repeal it. But from now on, it will be mandatory for all races.

In autonomous communities like Madrid o Basque Country This was already mandatory, with the entry of the new standard it will now be mandatory at the national level.

Besides, some home insurance have this civil liability insurance includedas already indicated by Unespa, the Spanish Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Entities, in the Civil Liability Insurance report in Pets 2019-2020. Insurers recommend reviewing the home insurance contracted or to be contracted to check if this policy is included.

What does this civil liability insurance consist of?

As Rastreator explains on its website, this insurance is a policy that covers damages that an animal may cause To thirds. This is the case of accidents such as a bite to a pedestrian, or damage to other people’s property, among others.

The insurers offer this insurance at an average price that, according to the calculation of this comparison website, is around 38 euros per year, according to an estimate from August 2023.

However, insurance that has veterinary and accident coverage will cost approximately 230 euros per year, since the guarantees are more complete.

What happens if I don’t have insurance by September 29 and how much is the fine to pay?

As we say, the law enters into force on September 29, six months after its publication in the BOE. Sergio García Torres, promoter of the regulations and General Director of Animal Rights, explains to Mr. Perro, guide for urban animals, that if he does not have contracted this insurance for this day they don’t have to fine us. From Maldita.es We have asked the Ministry of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda about this matter, but up to the time of this publication we have not received an answer.

The general director says that the measure “will enter into force once the regulatory development of the law is approved”, although as of September 6, 2023 this is not in force. However, he points out that “it is necessary that the Government is not in office to approve regulations of this range”.

Once the regulation is approved, the penalties that may result from not having this insurance vary from 500 to 10,000 eurosdepending on the seriousness of the facts.