Animal workers face unique risks in their day-to-day that may warrant a variety of insurance coverage. You can piece together the standard business coverage to fit your situation, or you can go with a more specialized package that includes vet expenses or animal liability coverage.
What types of insurance does my pet business need?
Depending on your type of pet business, you may need standard business and specialized coverage. General business insurance that you may need:
Commercial property — Shelters your grooming, daycare or other types of buildings from weather damage or theft.
Commercial car insurance — Protects your business car or mobile pet business from vehicle accidents, theft or harsh weather depending on your coverage.
Business interruption — Helps you recover lost revenue and expenses when an event forces you to temporarily close your business.
General liability — Offers broad liability protection for physical injuries and property damage.
Public liability — Adds extra liability protection for physical injuries and property damage caused by daily operations. For example, a customer might slip on your freshly mopped floors.
Coverage you might need tailored to pet businesses:
Product liability — Protects pet businesses from damages related to products you use or sell to customers. For example, a dog getting skin rashes from the shampoo your grooming business uses.
Professional liability — Guards your professional advice and services if you accidentally cause harm or losses to your customers. An example might include a pet getting cut from tools while you’re grooming.
Medical malpractice — Veterinarians and other professionals that offer healthcare to pets should consider this form of professional liability insurance.
Pet business insurance package — Some companies specialize in insurance packages for pet businesses, including extra coverage like lost pets or keys.
Which pet businesses need insurance?
Almost anyone who works with animals may need business insurance coverage. Types of businesses include:
Animal kennel or club
Daycare or boarding
Horse farrier or jockey
Mobile vet or grooming
Pet care and product shop
Pet food manufacturer
Pet groomer
Pet sitter or walker
Trainer or behaviorist
Veterinarian
How much does pet business insurance cost?
A basic policy specialized for pet businesses might cost you $130 or $200 per year. Your exact cost will depend on your location, types of coverage you need, the annual limits you choose and the risks involved with your profession.
However, your premium will increase when you add standard business coverage like commercial property or car insurance. For example, a business owner’s policy might cost a small business around $700 per year.
Compare insurance for pet businesses
What do specialized pet business policies cover?
Pet business insurance may offer helpful coverage for both the business and the pet side of the work. They may include coverage like:
General liability — Protection for physical injuries and property damage.
Products-completed operations — A type of product liability that protects animals or their owners. This coverage kicks in for injuries or property damage that happen after leaving your business, such as a skin rash appearing.
Advertising injury — Protects your business from advertising errors like misleading advertising, slander, violation of privacy or copyright infringement.
Damage to rental property — Covers physical damage or theft to a clinic or facility you rent. Some policies specify which types of damage get covered.
Medical expenses — Pays for others’ medical bills for injuries involving your pet business. This coverage kicks in no matter who’s at fault.
Vet expenses — Pays for an animal’s vet bills if they’re injured on your property or while in your care. This coverage also pays no matter who’s at fault.
Animal bailee — A liability coverage that pays an animal’s vet bills if your business is found legally responsible for the injuries.
Lost keys — Replaces your customer’s home keys or locks if you lose the original keys.
What should I watch out for?
Keep these factors in mind when you’re buying a policy for your pet business:
Leaving pets unleashed — Some policies exclude coverage or charge a deductible if animals get lost or injured off leash in a public area.
Personal property — Your personal belongings won’t get protection under your business insurance policy, including your pets.
Occurrence and aggregate limits — Your policy may include different maximum payouts for each type of coverage. You’ll also see a per year and per situation maximum.
Leaving risks uncovered — Since pet businesses involve multiple moving pieces, make sure you think through all the risks involved with your business and assure you’re covered for them.
Bottom line
With animals around, your business needs plenty of coverage to match the special risks you face every day. Make sure you’re buying the pet business insurance policy that serves your needs best.
Questions about insurance for pet businesses
Yes, but it depends on the insurance company and organization you’re a member of. For example, you can buy discounted pet business insurance from the Business Insurers of the Carolinas as a member of the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters.
Some policies start immediately after verifying your payment. Other companies may ask for a start date one or more days in advance.
Yes, specialized insurance companies offer coverage tailored to pet sitting, grooming, walking, daycare, boarding or veterinary care.
Sarah George is a writer at Finder who unravels complicated topics about insurance, business and finance. She's been wordsmithing for nearly five years, after earning an English education degree. Her insurance know-how has been featured on CarInsurance.com. You can usually find Sarah sipping hot tea and talking through movie plots in her downtime.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.