Insurance company cancels policy after seeing customer's Facebook photos



TIMBERLAKE, N.C. -- A North Carolina woman says her insurance was canceled because of a picture of her dog on Facebook.

Melina Efthimiadis and her husband say they are low-risk clients. However, when they tried to add personal umbrella liability to their homeowner's insurance, Nationwide canceled their policy, according to WTVD.

Efthimiadis said she had included the family's three dogs – a Shih Tzu, a hound and a Lab/hound mix – on the application, but the company claimed they had failed to disclose that they owned a Rottweiler mix, considered a dangerous breed.

The mix-up apparently came from Efthimiadis' own Facebook photo of her pups playing in the snow.

"They sent us the pictures that they had taken off of my Facebook page of my dog Zeus who is a Lab/hound mix," she told WTVD.

Melina, who works as a veterinarian, was able to prove it to the company and Nationwide Insurance reversed its decision.

In the end, however, Melina said they decided to switch to another insurance company anyway.

"Be careful of what you post on Facebook," she told the station. "It's sad that you can't post pictures of your beloved pet on your own Facebook page and have it public."