Is nothing private?

Where’d you go to college? Where do you work? Own a snowmobile? Got a dog? What breed? What’s your Social Security number? No, we won’t check your credit score. Oh, and by the way, do you own a Rolex?

These are just a few of the unexpected questions -- exact phrasing may vary -- that insurance companies ask homeowners shopping for a policy. Each query, whether proffered in person by an affable agent or over the phone by an indifferent sales rep reading from a script, is carefully calculated to determine whether a homeowner is a good risk -- industry-speak for “unlikely to file a claim” -- or the sort who allows an aggressive dog to roam the frontyard.

Insurers often inquire about more unusual household residents too, particularly those that might view the UPS driver as a midday snack. Questions about “any kind of exotic pets, including boa constrictors,” are fair game, said Mercury Insurance Chief Executive and Chairman George Joseph in Los Angeles.

Be careful how you answer. Your replies can affect the premium you pay -- or whether you get that homeowner policy at all.

Obviously, no company is going to insure your home before knowing a few facts about it. Questions pertaining to the structure are commonplace: When was the house built? How old is the roof? Does it have smoke detectors?

“There’s a normal questionnaire that varies from company to company,” said Pete Moraga, spokesman for the Insurance Information Network of California, an industry trade group. “In some cases it’s very extensive; in other cases, not as much.”

But some inquires may seem odd, pointless or downright nosy. A Liberty Mutual Insurance agent, for instance, might ask where you went to college, the name of your employer or whether you belong to any professional organizations. Naturally, the discerning applicant may wonder: Is this information relevant for homeowner coverage?

Yes, according to company officials, if you want a policy discount.

“We have the largest affinity program in the industry with college alumni associations,” said Liberty Mutual spokesman Glen Greenberg in Boston. If you’re a dues-paying member of the USC Alumni Assn., for instance, Liberty Mutual knocks 5% off your homeowner insurance premium.

Other Southland schools participating in the program include California State universities at Dominguez Hills, Los Angeles, Long Beach and Pomona, and Pepperdine. Employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District and Union Bank are also eligible for the 5% rate reduction, as are members of various professional organizations, including the San Bernardino Public Employees Assn.

But not all insurer questions are as benevolent. The wrong answer to a seemingly benign question can place a homeowner on a company’s do-not-insure list.

Kathy Jordan, a Realtor and homeowner in Anza, Calif., tried four years ago to get a policy from Wawanesa Insurance, which insures her car. But upon hearing that Jordan owned a Doberman pinscher -- a dog breed many insurers consider a bad risk -- the Wawanesa phone representative abruptly ended the interview.

“At the time, my dog was 10 1/2 years old and dying,” Jordan said, adding that it had never bitten anyone.

Wawanesa won’t insure homeowners who own dogs of specific breeds that, “historically or statistically, have histories of aggressive behavior,” said Dave Goss, Wawanesa Insurance vice president of operations in San Diego. Those breeds include the Doberman, German shepherd, Presa Canario, Rottweiler, pit bull, and wolf hybrid.

Dog bites cost the insurance industry $350 million annually in liability settlements, according to Moraga, which explains why interview questions related to dog breeds are routine.

But what about questions pertaining to off-road recreational vehicles, such as snowmobiles?

True, riding a snowmobile can be hazardous to your health. Each year some 110 people die in snowmobile accidents, which also are responsible for roughly 13,400 injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

But if you’re involved in a snowmobile accident, even if it doesn’t occur on your property, Moraga said, “theoretically, you’re still covered” by the homeowner policy.

“A snowmobile would have a liability exposure on the homeowner policy because it’s an off-road vehicle,” said Pleasanton, Calif.-based Dick Michel, Liberty Mutual’s assistant regional sales manager for the Pacific region.

What about a dune buggy? Covered by the same policy? No.

“A dune buggy would be written on an auto policy,” Michel said.

Are any insurer questions illegal? Aside from blatantly discriminatory queries pertaining to race or religion, insurers can ask “pretty much any question” relating to your identify and whether you’re qualified for a homeowner policy, said California Department of Insurance spokeswoman Carrie Beckstein.

Then again, homeowners are not obligated to answer a particularly nosy query.

“Certainly, if an insurer asks you questions you think are inappropriate, you have every right to say, ‘I’m going to take my business elsewhere,’ ” said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a consumer advocacy group in San Francisco.

One question every insurer asks: What’s your Social Security number? Insurers say they need it to verify your identity, not to check your credit score.

The California Department of Insurance won’t allow the insurance industry to use credit scoring in its underwriting guidelines unless the industry can prove the practice doesn’t result in “excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory rates,” said Richard Figueroa, Department of Insurance legislative director. “And they haven’t been able to prove that’s the case.”

Some homeowners, fearing identity theft, might be reluctant to give their Social Security number to an insurance company. But if they fail to do so, will their decision hurt their chances of getting a homeowner policy?

Yes and no, depending on which insurer you ask.

“If a client doesn’t want to give it to me, there’s probably more behind the scenes with that client,” said Julio Gudino, an Allstate Insurance agent in Norwalk.

But Liberty Mutual’s Michel said an applicant’s refusal to provide a Social Security number doesn’t mean the interview is over. “It’s not a total knockout factor,” said Michel, adding that an insurer can still investigate an applicant’s background without the number.

Blunt questions pertaining to jewelry might surprise homeowners too.

“Sometimes I’ll ask a client, ‘Do you have high-value jewelry? Rolex watches, diamond rings?’ ” Gudino said. The reason: Allstate’s homeowner policy has a $2,500 limit for jewelry thefts, with a $1,000 per-item limit. Additional coverage is available -- for a higher premium. “Sometimes we’ll ask questions to know whether we’re properly covering the client,” he added.

An insurer has to tell the applicant which questions are designed to obtain information solely for marketing, as opposed to being related to a purchase, according to United Policyholders’ Bach. And, if denied coverage, applicants must be advised of the reason.

But no two insurers follow the same Q&A; script.

“The bottom line,” Bach said, is that the questions “vary from insurer to insurer.”

Jeff Bertolucci can be reached at jbert@aol.com.