Dog Walking Insurance: Cost, Liability & Quotes From $11

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Dog walking insurance policies and bonds are a requirement if you want to operate without worries and gain the trust of clients. What you’ll need are general liability insurance, fidelity bonds, commercial property insurance, workers' compensation insurance, and more. 

Also read: How Much Do Dog Walkers Make & How to Boost Income

Dog Walking Insurance And Bonding

Many clients will look for dog walking insurance and bonding before leaving their dogs in your care. Here’s a table that shows which bond and business insurance you need to have:

Note that general liability insurance and animal bailee coverage are bundled depending on which insurance company you decide to work with. As for business services fidelity bonds, you need to get this as a stand-alone product.

Dog Walking Liability Insurance

Similar to veterinarians, pet sitting businesses, and pet shops, your dog walking business isn’t immune from claims.

Also called dog walking liability insurance, general liability insurance bestows a shield if clients, independent contractors, visitors, and other third parties file a claim for bodily injury or property damage against your dog walking business. General liability insurance for dog walkers is useful when:

• The client’s dog bites someone while you’re walking it, and the person asks compensation for medical treatment, pain, and suffering

• You’re walking a guard dog, it gets involved in a fight, and injures another person’s pet

• The dog that the client entrusted to you chewed someone’s car, motorcycle, or any other property out of spite. The owner demands reimbursement for financial losses

In connection, general liability insurance takes care of these costs each time a claim is filed:

• Medical treatment of the person who got injured because of the dog you’re walking

• Refunds for losses if the dog you’re walking damaged or destroyed the property of third parties

• Settlements

• Defense costs such as attorney fees, investigation fees, and court filing fees if the third party decides to sue

• Court judgments

Limits Of General Liability Insurance for Dog Walkers

Additional Coverage You Get From General Liability Insurance

Insurance companies offer general liability insurance for dog walkers as a broad-form coverage. And so, this kind of dog walker insurance will have the following additional coverages:

Advertising Injury Coverage

Advertising injury coverage will cover settlements, defense costs, and settlements if your dog walking business faces a claim for slander, libel, copyright infringement, or invasion of privacy.

Rented Premises Liability Coverage

Your dog walker liability insurance will come with rented premises liability coverage, which is useful if you’re renting a commercial space for a number of days. If fire damages or destroys the commercial space you’re renting, rented premises liability coverage will reimburse the loss of the landlord.

Products And Completed Operations Coverage

Products and completed operations coverage covers costs if a client files a claim for bodily injuries or property damage after you completed a dog walking service.

Public Liability Insurance for Dog Walkers

In the USA, public liability insurance is offered as part of general liability insurance policies. Therefore, if you get general liability insurance, you automatically get public liability insurance for dog walkers.

Animal Bailee Insurance for Dog Walkers

Animal bailee insurance will protect you if something happens to the client’s dog while it’s under your care, custody, and control. This type of dog walkers insurance is available as a stand-alone policy or as an inclusion to general liability insurance. Animal bailee insurance is useful when:

• The client’s dog gets lost while you’re walking it

• A car runs over your client’s dog and injures or kills it

• The client’s dog gets involved in a fight and sustains injuries

• You were driving a car with the client’s dog. A vehicular accident happens, and the dog dies or gets injured

These are the costs covered by animal bailee insurance for dog walkers:

• Medical treatment of the client’s dog

• Public relations, advertising expenses, and rewards if the client’s dog becomes lost due to your fault

• Expenses for taking the dog to the vet if it sustains injuries during a walking session

• Replacement costs or reimbursement to the owner if the dog dies or is not recovered

How Much Insurance Money Can You Get From Animal Bailee Insurance?

Animal bailee insurance provides $5,000 coverage for each instance of death or injury. The policy also provides a $1,000 coverage for each time a client’s dog needs veterinary care.

Commercial Property Insurance for Dog Walkers 

Constructing or modifying a building for business use is expensive. Protect your investment with commercial property insurance. This kind of dog sitter insurance will refund your losses if your dog walking business’s building gets damaged or destroyed by:

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism

• Malicious mischief

• Civil commotion

• Riot

• Sprinkler leakage

• Sinkhole collapse

• Volcanic action

• Winds

• Snow 

• Rain

• Hail

• Vehicle

• Aircraft

Commercial Property Insurance Also Applies To Your Building’s Contents

Commercial property insurance doesn’t only protect the building of your dog walking business but also its contents. This kind of dog sitting insurance will reimburse losses if the perils we mentioned above cause the damage or loss of business property, such as:

• Computer

• Electricity generator

• HVAC

• Dog walking equipment (boots, leash, collars, pouch, etc.)

• Furniture

• Building fixtures

Limits Of Commercial Property Insurance for Dog Walkers 

The limits of commercial property insurance vary depending on which insurance company you work with. But still, here's a table showing the minimum limits of this dog walking business insurance. 

Commercial Auto Insurance for Dog Walkers 

Insurance companies offer commercial auto insurance. You need this dog walking van insurance if your business owns and uses a passenger van, compact van, or panel van to transport the clients’ dogs.  These are the coverages you get from commercial auto insurance:

Auto Liability Coverage 

Auto liability coverage in commercial auto insurance for dog walkers and pet sitters is useful if you caused a vehicular accident and injured third parties or damaged properties. It will pay for the medical expenses of persons you injured and will reimburse persons whose properties got damaged. 

But note one thing though. Auto liability coverage won’t take care of expenses if your vehicle caused the accident due to the following reasons: 

• The driver is DUI 

• The driver is operating with no license

• The vehicle is running with no headlights 

• Overspeeding

• Other illegal activities

Physical Damage Coverage

Nowadays, having a vehicle repaired or maintained in an auto repair shop is very expensive. This is why physical damage coverage is very helpful for your dog walking business’s commercial auto. 

This has two forms-collision and comprehensive. Collision physical damage coverage will cover costs if your commercial vehicle incurred damage after colliding with a vehicle or object on the road. On the other hand, comprehensive physical damage coverage will cover expenses if fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils damaged your business’s vehicle.

MedPay/Personal Injury Protection

MedPay/personal injury protection covers you, the driver, and the passengers when a vehicular accident happens and injuries are sustained. Both cover your treatment, the passenger’s treatment, and the driver’s treatment. 

Moreover, coverage applies whether or not the accident is your commercial vehicle’s fault. But note that compared to personal injury protection, MedPay isn't as comprehensive. 

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage provides protection in case you or any other insured driver gets involved in an accident caused by a third party. This insurance will cover medical treatment and other costs if the driver, who caused the accident, can’t provide indemnification. 

Rented/Hired Auto Liability Coverage

Commercial auto insurance comes with rented hired/auto liability coverage that covers indemnification, defense costs, and court judgments when:

• A commercial vehicle that your dog walking business hires to transport employees or goods causes an accident

• Your employee is using his or her own vehicle to run an errand for your business and causes an accident

Limits Of Commercial Auto Insurance for Dog Walkers 

Commercial auto insurance provides varying amounts of coverage. Insurance companies allow you to decide how much to get from the policy. Here’s a table showing the minimum limits of commercial auto insurance for dog walkers:

Workers’ Compensation Insurance for Dog Walkers

Workers' compensation insurance is useful if you have employees, because it’s a coverage for them if ever work-related accidents or illnesses occur. 

But note that if you’re in a state where workers' compensation insurance is required for those working solo, then workers comp insurance is crucial even if you have no employees. Here’s a breakdown of workers’ compensation insurance’s coverage:

Employee Treatment/Medical Procedure

While providing a dog walking service, you or an employee might get bitten by a dog, get hit by a car, or experience heat stroke. Emergency medical treatment/procedure is needed when this happens. One of the jobs of workers' compensation insurance is to cover all of the expenses for surgeries, therapies, etc.

Hospitalization

Workers' compensation insurance will shoulder the bills in case you or an employee suffers from an illness or injury associated with dog walking and needs to stay in the hospital for days, weeks, or months. 

Medication

If the attending physician requests you or an employee to buy specific medicines to heal a work-related injury or illness, workers' compensation insurance provides the  money to be spent. 

Rehabilitation

Some injuries or illnesses might force you or an employee to take rehab. Workers' compensation insurance also helps with this. Specifically, it will pay for therapist fees, rehab equipment, and other associated expenses.  

Lost Wages

Workers' compensation insurance will reimburse lost income if you or an employee can’t work due to a work-related injury or disease. Compensation for lost income is a weekly allowance equal to two-thirds of the average weekly wage. 

Death Benefits

Your or an employee might die from a work-related injury or illness. It’s also the job of workers' compensation insurance to provide death benefits. Death benefits include but are not limited to funeral payments and financial aid to dependents.

Dog Walking Insurance Cost

Dog walking insurance cost depends on different factors such as your business size, revenue, history, claims history, and more. Expect to pay $33 per month or $396 per year for a $1 million general liability insurance. 

As always, keep in mind that your actual rates will vary. Each policy is customized for the individual policyholder and their precise risks, so premiums may be cheaper or more expensive. 

Below, you’ll find a table outlining the average rates of the best dog walker insurance companies: