Pet Care Professionals Insurance

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Explore and learn more about some unique risks as well as the related insurance solutions

Professional Pet Insurance Interactive
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Commercial Property Insurance

Possible Liability: Your kennel, pet shop, pet daycare, pet sitting/walking business, pet hospital or veterinary clinic falls victim to fire, theft, or any other type of disaster included in the policy.

Solution: Coverage for the building, signage, furniture, equipment, inventory, fence, and landscaping to be repaired or replaced in case of untoward incident.

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Commercial General Liability

Possible Liability: Claims due to accidents for damage to other people’s property, bodily harm, personal injury. 

Solution: General Liability is necessary to save businesses from financial loss, lawsuits, claims, or damages due to non-professional negligent acts by your services, company operations, or your workers.

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Workers Compensation

Possible Liability: Most states require employers to cover for any employee work-injuries.

Solution: Make sure to add this to your policy to avoid penalties and be able to provide benefits to eligible employees.

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EPLI

Possible Liability: Employees that might sue their employers for what they feel are unequal or unfair treatment.

Solution: Employment Practice Liability Insurance usually comes as a standalone policy and can cover the business and upper management officers. A Third-Party coverage option can also be added by endorsement to address claims made by clients and vendors for acts done by employees.

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Cyber Liability

Possible Liability: Risk of customer’s financial info getting lost, stolen, or endangered can turn into a legal responsibility for a business to communicate about any such breach and even pay for financial damages.

Solution: Adding a cyber liability policy can assist with the fees and losses in the aftermath of a cyberattack.

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Professional Liability

Possible Liability: Licensed professionals and staff can be sued for alleged misdiagnosis or incorrect dental procedures. Exorbitant settlements may force the practice to close.

Solution: Professional liability insurance can protect a veterinarian, pet trainer, and/or other licensed staff from costly lawsuits.

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Responsibility and Management

Possible Liability: Responsibility for any unfortunate event that may happen to livestock owned but others on your farm.

Solution: Adding Care, custody, and control as an animal bailee or boarding kennel endorsement to your policy can protect you from liability.

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Errors and Omissions

Possible Liability: Sometimes a simple clerical error, non-provision, or missing information in a service or product offered by a business can cause lawsuits.
Solution: Professional Liability Insurance can be added as a security measure in cases where negligent acts, errors, or omissions transpiring during company activities, and which potentially result in a financial loss for the client.

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Business Owners Policy

Possible Liability: As a pet care professional, you might not need as many inclusions in a policy.

Solution: BOP is a custom-made policy that can protect your assets, employees, your business, and other details you may want to set up. It would be best to discuss this further with your agent.

DISCLAIMER: Consult actual policy for exact terms and conditions or talk to your insurance agent for clarifications.

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Get the specialized insurance and service you need as a pet care professional. You’ll find our people truly care and enjoy helping you.

Key Coverage Benefits

  • Coverage for operations of pet training, sitting, grooming, and walking. Kennels with day and overnight services are eligible.
  • Animal Bailee Coverage for dogs and other animals in your care, custody, and control. Available limits of $500, $1,000, or $2,500 per animal.
  • Property Coverage for your fencing and other outdoor items
  • Coverage for Incidental Pet Breeding and Sales

Additional Important Features

  • General Liability
  • Property Coverage for your Building and Contents
  • Inland Marine Coverage for your equipment
  • Business Income and Extra Expense
  • Auto – Including trailers used for transportation

Value-Added Services

Outstanding Claims Service

  • When we’re notified of a loss, we call you back within 24 hours, follow up regularly, and work with you until your claim is resolved.

Consultative Risk Management

  • We offer risk management solutions that help you improve safety.
We understand

We Understand

We know the unique exposures of operating a doggy daycare / boarding kennel

A-rated carriers

A-Rated Carriers

We work with the top A Rated Carriers to offer the broadest liability coverage for the pets and property in your care

Full Coverage

Full Coverage

We offer a full array of coverage options including optional coverage endorsements for pet sitting, dog walking, pet training and grooming.

General liability covers common risks

Pet care professionals such as dog walkers, pet sitters, vets, and others are responsible for two lives in their businesses. These are their clients or customers and their pets. If one of them gets involved in an accident, pet care professionals will be held liable. Due to this increased risk, businesses that involve in handling pets would often purchase general liability insurance as their very first policy. This protects them against some common liability issues in their field. This insurance policy would provide coverage for the following:

  • Customer and pet injuries
  • Customer property damage
  • Advertising injuries

Here are some bundle policies to save money and increase security

If you have a small pet care business such as a dog walking business, you may opt to bundle general liability insurance with commercial property insurance in a business owner’s policy. A business owner’s policy is usually less expensive than purchasing it separately. Here are the following pet care businesses that could opt for a business owner’s policy:

  • Have less than 100 employees
  • Have a small office or workplace
  • Make less than $1 million in annual revenue
  • Operate in a low-risk industry
  • Need less than 12 months of business interruption insurance

What coverage can general liability provide for pet care companies?

Customer and pet injuries

There’s a high chance that you could be held responsible if a pet owner, pet, or delivery person gets hurt at your office. If a person sues due to a dog bite, you could be held liable for the medical expenses and also, of course, legal court fees and expenses of hiring your own lawyer. This is also the same case for pets that are injured outside of your business. One example is when you’re pet sitting at a client’s home and you accidentally drop their puppy and then break its leg. You may have to pay for the dog’s medical expenses.

General liability insurance covers:

  • Medical bills
  • Attorney’s fees
  • Court-ordered judgments
  • Funeral expenses in fatal incidents

However, this policy does not cover the injuries of your employees. You will need worker’s compensation insurance for such.

Customer property damage

Accidents happen all the time and are also unavoidable in the pet care industry. General liability insurance protects your small business when customer property is damaged. In case a pet sitter accidentally breaks a valuable personal property of your client such as an expensive statue or bowl in their home, general liability insurance could pay for the expenses of replacing the damaged or broken personal property. However, if there is an instance that an employee causes even more expensive damage and the customer decides to sue, this insurance policy could also cover the court fees.

Advertising injuries

It’s possible that one of your employees could copy a competitor’s slogan or logo while advertising your company and your services. There might be also some cases when also one of your employees could say something negative about your competitor. Accidental advertising injuries are also covered by general liability insurance and also the following:

  • Defamation; both libel and slander
  • Copyright infringement

Business Owner’s Policy insurance bundles policies to protect pet care businesses

A business owner’s policy offers you a very affordable and extensive defense against different risks faced by pet care professionals. This policy bundles together general liability insurance and commercial property insurance at a cheaper rate than purchasing each separately. This policy will safeguard you against the following:

  • Lawsuits related to customer injuries or property damage
  • Lawsuits related to pet injuries
  • Lawsuits related to advertising injuries
  • Damage to your building, equipment, and other business property
  • Temporary closure

Tailor a Business Owner’s Policy to fit your business

Pet care business owners can also customize a business owner’s policy to fit their needs. Business interruption insurance and other endorsements could be added. However, not every business could qualify for a business owner’s policy.

Businesses that qualify for a Business Owner’s Policy usually:

  • Have lesser than 100 employees
  • Have a small office or workplace
  • Make less than $1 million in annual revenue
  • Operate in a low-risk industry
  • Need less than 12 months of business interruption insurance 

What coverage can a business owner’s policy provide for pet care businesses?

Customer and pet injuries and property damage

The general liability part of a business owner’s policy can help you pay for legal bills and other expenses related to customer and pet injuries that occurred in your business or outside of your business and/or damage to your client’s property. It can provide coverage for the following:

  • One of your clients slips in soapy water and breaks a wrist or leg at your grooming shop
  • A dog attacks and injures another dog during a pet training session
  • A pet sitter accidentally breaks a valuable or expensive item at a client’s home

Lawsuits related to advertising injuries

The general liability part of a Business Owner’s Policy also offers coverage against advertising injuries including the following:

  • Defamation such as libel and slander
  • Copyright infringement

One example is when a dog walker writes a negative review about a rival dog walking company and your business gets sued for libel. General liability insurance would cover fees for the legal defense.

Damage to business equipment and other property

A business owner’s policy also includes property insurance that protects the following:

  • Pet grooming supplies and veterinary equipment
  • Office furnishings and fixtures
  • Your building if you own it

This insurance policy will also cover theft, vandalism, and even a damaging weather event. It would also cover damaged property or property destroyed by fire whether it started at your own business or somewhere else.

Temporary closure

It could result in significant financial losses if your pet care business is forced to close. For example, your animal hospital may need to close for renovation after a calamity such as a tornado. Business interruption insurance would protect your small business against lost revenue, rent owned during renovation, and other expenses concerning a sudden disruptive event. These are often included in a business owner’s policy.

Workers’ compensation protects employees at your pet care business

As we have previously said, you face double the risks when you run a pet care business since you are responsible for both the pet owner and their pets. The behavior of pets can be unpredictable when they are in a new environment. Worker’s compensation insurance would cover expenses if one of your employees gets bitten, scratched, or injured in any other way at their work.

Workers’ compensation can help pay for an injured employee’s:

  • Immediate medical costs like emergency room expenses
  • Ongoing medical costs such as medications
  • Part of the wages lost while the employee is recovering

Workers’ compensation protects pet care business owners

An employer’s liability insurance safeguards you when a pet groomer, dog walker, or other pet care employee sues you over an injury. This is usually included in a worker’s compensation policy.

Employer’s liability insurance can help pay for:

  • Attorney’s fees
  • Court costs
  • Settlements

You might find yourself paying for an expensive legal defense even though the lawsuit is senseless. This, however, has limits to how much it can pay for a lawsuit.

State laws set workers’ comp requirements for pet care businesses

Each state in the country has its own laws for worker’s compensation requirements. One example we can think of is when animal hospitals in New York must have workers’ compensation insurance for their employees and even their part-time workers. However, in Alabama animal hospitals, they are only required to carry worker’s compensation when they have five or more employees.

You can also, of course, purchase a policy to protect yourself if you’re self-employed or an independent contractor, sole proprietor, or partners.

Monopolistic state funds

In some states, pet care businesses must carry workers’ compensation insurance through a monopolistic state fund. Those states are the following:

  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Washington
  • Wyoming

This might not include employer’s liability insurance if you purchase workers’ compensation through a monopolistic state fund. However, you can still get it from a private insurance company.

Lower workers’ compensation costs with risk management

Pet care professionals face everyday risks such as slip and fall accidents and also, of course, getting also bitten and scratched. You can create a safer work environment whether you own a pet boarding business or a veterinary clinic with the following:

  • Employee safety training
  • Proper equipment such as gloves
  • Prompt cleanup of messes and spills

You can lessen workplace injuries by managing your risks. This means lesser claims and lower insurance premiums.

Errors and omissions insurance protects against work mistakes

Your pet care business needs to be prepared for consequences when one of your clients accuses you of an oversight related to your care of their beloved pet. Lawsuits can be really disruptive to daily operations especially for small pet care businesses like you with limited resources. Errors and omissions insurance would cover legal fees when one of your clients decides to sue you for a mistake and your negligence.

This insurance policy provides coverage for the following:

  • Professional mistakes such as administration of wrong medication
  • Failure to deliver promised pet care services
  • Accusations of negligence

What coverage can Errors and Omissions insurance provide for pet care professionals?

Professional mistakes

Being accused of a mistake while taking care of a customer’s pet can be costly even though it’s not your fault. One example is when a dog dies during anesthesia. Your veterinary practice could face a costly legal battle. Errors and omissions insurance for pet care businesses can cover attorney’s fees, settlements, and other expenses related to mistakes and oversights.

Failure to deliver promised pet care services

Your customers have high expectations of you when it comes to caring for their pets. One instance is when a pet sitter misses an appointment. This could have serious consequences especially if their pet is a senior one. Errors and omissions insurance can cover legal expenses when a client sues you over failure to fulfill a contract or deliver pet care services.

Accusations of negligence

Again, your clients have high expectations when it comes to their pets. If you weren’t able to properly medicate their pets then they died and the client decides to sue you, you could be, of course, held liable for the incident. An errors and omissions policy can pay for your legal defense and other related expenses when a client claims your negligence led to an animal’s injury or even death.

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Address: 4380 South Syracuse St. Suite 310 Denver, CO 80237
Email: info@teamais.net
Main Line: (720) 221-8168
Toll-Free: (877) 658-2472
Fax: (720) 221-6787
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