It’s impossible to leave pets on their own and without pet sitters, owners will find it hard to be away from their pets to work, take a trip, or visit friends and family.
From extended stays to brief daily checks, pet owners can rely on pet sitters to take care of their pets. The average income of those providing pet sitting services is $12.68 per hour and $26,000 annually for each client. And to ensure they continue to make clients happy, many pet sitting businesses and independent pet sitters decide to get pet sitting business insurance
Insurance can help you if trouble happens. For example, you can still be held liable even if a pet you’re currently watching over gets injured by the dog groomer. The same is also true if the pet suddenly gets sick.
Today, we’ll teach you how helpful small business insurance is for pet sitters and pet sitting companies by explaining the basics of pet sitting insurance and bonding, outlining the common policies for pet sitters and pet sitting companies, and providing a comparison of pet sitting insurance rates. We’ll also review the most popular carriers.
Pet sitting business insurance is a policy that’s designed to cover specific risks associated with pet sitting, for example:
Property damage lawsuits
Personal injury lawsuits
Damage or loss of commercial property
Employee injuries
Pet sitting insurance ensures that you can take care of costly claims against your business. It will also help you recover financial losses.
Getting this insurance is very essential and you'll never know what could go wrong. For example, a simple accident could easily turn into a problematic legal fiasco. Without insurance, paying for attorney fees, other legal costs, and compensation might cost $500,000 - $1 million.
Additionally, having pet sitting insurance helps as it will make finding clients easier. For example, dog boarding facilities might require you to get a $1 million general liability policy. The reason why clients only work with pet sitters having insurance is that they also want to be covered in case something goes wrong.
But still, know that pet sitting business insurance can’t provide help all of the time. And so, it’s also important to get a bond.
In addition to pet sitters’ insurance, you must also purchase a bond. There are different types of bonds but the most common types, when it comes to pet sitting, are
Dishonesty bond
Surety bond
You use a dishonesty bond to pay the client in case your employee committed theft, which is never covered in liability insurance. On the other hand, a surety bond ensures your pet sitting company can reimburse the losses of the client if services aren’t completed or not provided well.
Having a bond makes you more trustworthy. In fact, many pet owners won’t even hire an un-bonded pet sitting business in the first place as they see a lack of bonding as unprofessional and non-commitment to quality service.
Hopefully, by now, you have a better understanding of how pet sitting insurance works and why it’s important to get a bond for pet sitting business. Now, it’s time to show you the different policies business insurance companies offer in their pet minding insurance.
Pet sitting insurance might exclude home boarding activities. This is why, even though it seems redundant, you’ll need to invest in a pet boarding insurance package.
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Pet sitting business insurance offers liability insurance for pet sitters as basic protection from exposures. In a nutshell, the purpose of liability insurance is to pay for legal fees and compensation to the aggrieved party. There are four types of liability insurance carriers offer in their pet sitter insurance :
General liability insurance
Public liability insurance
Professional liability insurance (e&o insurance)
is the most common type of coverage for pet sitters. This policy covers personal injury and property damage lawsuits. Insurance companies underwrite general liability insurance to cover the following perils:
Vandalism of the client’s property
Injuries or death of the client’s pet under your watch
Injuries to the client
Having general liability insurance for dog walkers and pet sitters will be extremely helpful. It’s because incidents that it covers can be very costly. Here’s an example:
Doggie Love, a pet-sitting agency, received a $1 million lawsuit after one of its employees allegedly caused the death of a client’s french bulldog
Independent pet sitters and pet sitting companies decide to get general liability insurance before anything else. You should too. It’s because this policy is comprehensive and comes with a lot of optional coverages such as:
Products and completed operations
Advertising injury coverage
Rented premises liability coverage
Products and completed operations will cover third-party personal injuries or property damage caused by a completed product or service. For example, if the client’s pet suddenly becomes sick after you looked after it, products and completed operations will protect you if the client files a claim later on.
Your pet sitting business might be accused of inflicting advertising or reputational harm. In this situation, advertising injury coverage can help. Advertising injury coverage will cover costs if your business is sued for slander, libel, false advertising, or copyright infringement.
Just like general liability insurance, public liability insurance will take care of personal injuries or property damage your pet sitting business might inflict on clients, vendors, visitors, and other third parties.
Public liability insurance is very limited in terms of the perils it covers. Unlike general liability, it doesn’t come with optional coverages you can avail for more protection. But it’s cheaper. That’s why this is the ideal coverage if you’re just starting.
Errors and omissions insurance is what provides coverage if a client suffers from economic loss because of your negligence or mistake. Know that clients can hold you legally responsible. In the pet sitting business, there’s negligence or mistake when:
There’s a failure to provide care to the pet that the usual pet sitter would have provided
There’s inaction when the pet became ill while under your watch
You intentionally hurt the client’s pet out of frustration or any other personal reason
There’s a failure to exercise due caution while handling a pet to prevent people from getting injured
So how does errors and omissions insurance work in practice? Errors and omissions insurance will cover attorney fees, other legal costs, and compensatory payments on your behalf. Note that perils covered aren’t negligence and mistake only. Errors and omissions will also help if the client files a claim because your business committed:
Misrepresentation
Violation of good faith and fair dealing
Sharing of the client’s confidential information with another party
Having errors and omissions insurance for pet sitting service is a good decision because claims due to negligence or any other related acts don't only happen in theory. Here are some real-life examples:
A person from Los Angeles filed a negligence lawsuit against Rover, a pet walking and pet sitting company, after their dog was killed
Owners Amy and Sean Houston, filed a negligence lawsuit against Rover after their french bulldog drowned while under the company’s pet sitter’s care. The couple demanded Rover to pay for cremation and reimburse the cost of the french bulldog, which amounts to $2,000.
How Much Coverage Can You Get from Errors and Omissions Insurance?
Similar to the errors and omissions insurance of pet training insurance packages, the errors and omissions insurance of pet sitting insurance packages has a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence and aggregate limit.
Some clients will hire your pet sitting business to look after their pet for days and will leave the key to their residence to your employees. Your employee might lose the key and the client will surely file a claim. Insurance companies offer lost key liability insurance that covers this peril.
You’ll have to pay the clients who had their keys lost. In connection, the function of lost key liability insurance is to provide money you can use to satisfy such responsibility. In addition, lost key liability insurance will also cover payments to locksmiths if ever clients want you to unlock their doors yourself.
If you’re using a vehicle to take clients’ pets to different places, then it’s a good idea to get commercial auto insurance. There are many things that commercial auto insurance can do for your business. The following are the protection it provides:
Auto liability coverage - Covers medical payments to injured third parties and damaged property as caused by a vehicular accident in which your pet sitting business’s vehicle is at fault
Physical damage coverage - This has two forms: collision and comprehensive. Collision physical damage coverage will take care of repair or replacement costs if your business’s vehicle incurred damage after crashing into an object or another vehicle. Comprehensive physical damage coverage will cover repair or replacement costs if fire, hail, storm, vandalism, theft, and other covered perils damaged the vehicle
Medical payments/personal injury protection - This will cover the medical expenses of the injured driver and passengers. Coverage applies even if the accident is caused by your vehicle.
The commercial building your pet sitting business is leasing or owning needs to be insured too. To do so, you’ll have to invest in commercial property insurance. Commercial property insurance has two primary functions:
Reimburse losses if your commercial building is destroyed by fire, extreme weather, and other related perils
Reimburse losses if your commercial building is damaged by fire, extreme weather, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils
Insurance companies include stocks and contents coverage in the commercial property insurance for pet sitting businesses. Stocks and contents coverage will reimburse your losses if CCTV cameras, office furniture, computers, documents, and other valuables become damaged or lost due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils.
Your employees might get injured while looking after a client’s pet. And so, it’s smart if you also get workers' compensation insurance. Workers' compensation insurance will cover expenses for treatment, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and lost income compensation. Lost income compensation will be equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage. Workers' compensation insurance will also provide death benefits to dependents if the employee dies because of his/her work-related injury or disease.
Tailored cat sitting insurance offers liability policies such as general liability insurance and E&O insurance. If you’re a pet sitting business specializing in cats, then this insurance coverage is a better option. An insurance package related to this is cattery insurance.
If you’re a dog walker, then you won’t qualify for pet sitting insurance. Dog walking and pet sitting are not the same. The table below summarizes the differences between a dog walker and a pet sitter:
| Dog Walker | Pet Sitter |
|---|---|
| Offers walking services to improve a dog’s health, stamina, and endurance | Doesn’t only walk dogs or other pets but also performs other services associated with pet care |
| Has custody of a client’s dog for hours only | Has custody of a client’s dog or other pet for hours, days, or months |
| Clients don’t grant dog walkers access to their house | Clients can grant pet sitters access to their house |
| Provides services to dogs only | Provides services to dogs, cats, and other common household pets |
Dog walking insurance is the best coverage if walking dogs is your specialty. Just like pet sitter insurance, insurance for dog walking has liability policies. You can make this more comprehensive through endorsements.
Related read: How Much Do Dog Walkers Earn and How to Boost Income?
Carriers offer liability insurance for dog walkers, which offer protection because the dog being walked bit someone, injured another person’s dog, or got injured while walking. Specific liability policies dog walkers choose to get are general liability insurance, errors and omissions insurance, and public liability insurance.
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The average pet sitting insurance cost for a $1 million general liability policy is $26 per month or $312 per year
Errors and omissions insurance is $27 a month or $324 a year
Lost key liability policy in pet sitting business insurance costs $18 a month or $216 a year
We’ve also included a handy table below that outlines the average general liability rates of top companies for pet sitters insurance. Check it out as it will help with pet sitting insurance comparison.
| Insurance Provider | Average Monthly Rate | Average Annual Rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoverWallet | $12 | $144 | Pet sitting insurance quotes comparison online |
| Thimble | $14 | $168 | Short-term pet sitting insurance |
| Pet Care Insurance | $16.50 | $198 | Pet sitters and other pet care professionals |
| Pet Sitter Association | $18 | $216 | Sole-proprietorship pet sitting agencies |
| Pet Sitters International | $20.50 | $246.00 | Membership-based pet sitter insurance |
| State Farm | $26.50 | $318.00 | Small and big pet sitting agencies |
| Geico | $28 | $336 | Easy-to-manage pet sitting insurance policy |
Keep in mind that these are just the average rates obtained from comparing consumer data across the country. Your actual pet insurance quote may be cheaper or more expensive depending on your location, number of employees, and annual income.
However, the list should give you a good idea of how much to spend on pet walking insurance and figure out which companies to approach for cheap rates.
The average dog walking insurance cost is $33 per month or $396 per year for general liability coverage.
If you use our custom quote generator to find pet sitting insurance coverage, it’s very likely that several of the companies listed in the table above will contact you with competitive pricing and insurance rates. With some background about each pet sitting insurance carrier, you can ask pertinent questions that might help to lower your rates and make coverage comprehensive. And so, in this section, we’ll provide a brief review of the best pet sitting insurance companies. Let's talk about their cons, pros, and the pricing for a $1 million general liability coverage.
| Insuranks rating | 10/10 |
|---|---|
| Best for | Pet sitting insurance quotes comparison online |
| Average cost | $12 per month |
| Year Founded | 2016 acquired by AON on 2020 |
| Founder | Inaki Berenguer |
| Headquarters | New York |
| Customer Support | info@coverwallet.com or +16468449933 |
| AM Best Rating | No rating |
| BBB Rating | A+ |
| Number of Complaints | 168 |
Cancel a policy anytime
Compare quotes to find the best coverage
Online policy management with the MyCoverWallet app
Not an insurance company but an insurance broker
CoverWallet is an insurance broker with an online quotes comparison platform you can use to find insurance companies providing coverage for pet sitting businesses. All you have to do is provide basic details about your business and CoverWallet will then send accurate insurance quotes for an informed buying decision.
| Insuranks rating | 9/10 |
|---|---|
| Best for | Short-term pet sitting insurance |
| Average cost | $14 per month |
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| CEO | Jay Bregman |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Customer Support | hello@verifly.com |
| AM Best Rating | A+ ( excellent) |
| BBB Rating | A+ |
| Number of Complaints | 53 |
On-demand short-term pet sitting insurance for hours, days, weeks, or months
You can only contact customer service online
Thimble offers pet sitting insurance that includes general liability insurance and professional liability insurance. Avail this company’s services if you want to have coverage for only hours, days, weeks, or months.
| Insuranks rating | 8/10 |
|---|---|
| Best for | Easy-to-manage pet sitting insurance policy |
| Average cost | $28 per month |
| Year Founded | 1963 |
| CEO | Todd Combs |
| Headquarters | Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States |
| Customer Support | (800) 841-2964 and customer service portal |
| AM Best Rating | A++ ( superior) |
| BBB Rating | A+ |
| Number of Complaints | 178 |
Easy pet sitting insurance
You can bundle your pet sitting policy with other Geico policies
Manage your policy through Geico’s easy-to-use app
Insurance policies in Geico pet sitting insurance can be as cheap as $1 a day
Might be more expensive than going with a dedicated pet sitting insurance provider
Geico is the nation’s second-largest commercial auto insurance company. It also offers business insurance products of its partners to customers. Try qualifying for Geico’s pet sitting business insurance which provides coverage if a client’s pet becomes sick or gets involved in an accident. Also, you will like the Geico mobile app which allows for the seamless and convenient management of insurance policies.
| Insuranks rating | 8/10 |
|---|---|
| Best for | Membership-based pet sitter insurance |
| Average Cost | $20.50 per month |
| Year Founded | 1994 |
| CEO | Patti J. Moran |
| Headquarters | King, North Carolina. |
| Customer Support | 800-962-4611 |
| AM Best Rating | N/A |
| BBB Rating | N/A |
| Number of Complaints | N/A |
Dedicated pet sitting insurance company
Get access to pet sitting resources through your PSI club membership
Cheap rates for those who qualify
Insures volunteer pet sitters, full-time or part-time pet sitters, and independent contractors
Doesn’t have a smartphone app, so handling your billing and claims may be difficult
Insurance application and claims filing is done through telephone calls and email
Pet Sitters International is more than just an insurance company. It’s a club that’s dedicated to providing education and resources to pet sitters. This insurance company claims to offer the broadest coverage of all carriers that offer insurance for pet sitters.
| Insuranks rating | 7/10 |
|---|---|
| Best for | Small and big pet sitting agencies |
| Average cost | $26.50 per month |
| Year Founded | 1922 |
| CEO | Michael L. Tipsord |
| Headquarters | Bloomington, Illinois, United States |
| Customer Support | 800-782-8332 and customer service portal |
| AM Best Rating | A++ ( superior) |
| BBB Rating | B |
| Number of Complaints | 538 |
Excellent customer service ratings
Allows customers to bundle policies
State Farm agents are anywhere in the United States, so it’s easy to get in touch about claims
Online claims tracker
Dedicated telephone lines for each type of claim
Smartphone app to help you manage your insurance policy
State Farm doesn’t insure independent pet sitters
State Farm is the biggest insurance company in the United States and it offers coverage for just about every type of business you could think of. The company covers pet sitters through its animal care and veterinary services insurance having commercial property insurance, liability insurance, accidental injury to animals coverage, loss of income coverage, and spoilage coverage.
| Insuranks rating | 6/10 |
|---|---|
| Best for | Sole-proprietorship pet sitting agencies |
| Average cost | $18 per month |
| Year Founded | 1988 |
| CEO | N/A |
| Headquarters | Pet Sitters Associates, LLC 2924 Northwinds Drive Eau Claire, WI 54701 |
| Customer Support | info@petsitllc.com |
| AM Best Rating | N/A |
| BBB Rating | N/A |
| Number of Complaints | N/A |
PSA membership will connect you with new clients.
Incredible rates on pet sitters insurance.
Customized policies for your pet sitting or pet care business
No in-person agents or smartphone app to manage your policy
Like Pet Sitters International, Pet Sitter Association requires membership from customers. As a member, you’ll be added to their business directory, which can help you secure new clients. You’ll also receive special pricing for PSA insurance. Customers can also customize policies for pet sitters, dog walkers, groomers, and more.
| Insuranks rating | 5/10 |
|---|---|
| Best for | Pet sitters and other pet care professionals |
| Average cost | $16.50 per month |
| Year Founded | N/A |
| CEO | N/A |
| Headquarters | Pet Sitters Associates, LLC 2924 Northwinds Drive Eau Claire, WI 54701 |
| Customer Support | info@petsitllc.com |
| AM Best Rating | N/A |
| BBB Rating | N/A |
| Number of Complaints | N/A |
Dedicated pet care business insurer
Great rates for simple policies
Some customers reported that Pet Care is unresponsive when it comes to insurance cancellation
Based out of Utah, Pet Care Insurance offers competitive pricing for insurance policies and is dedicated to covering small pet care businesses. Whether you’re a pet sitter, groomer, dog walker, trainer, or even a poop remover, Pet Care Insurance has small business insurance policies starting as low as $140 per month and averaging around $197 for pet sitting businesses.
References:
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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