Quick Guide To Dog Walking Insurance & Bonding

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Girl walking two dogs on leashes (caption: guide to dog walking insurance and bonding)

Being a professional dog walker may be your dream come true, but it’s also a risky business. The most obvious risk is your liability if the dog you’re walking bites someone. However, many dog walkers don’t consider the significant costs involved with injuries to pets or damage to the property in your care. Dog walking insurance can be a valuable tool to protect dog walkers and customers.

Dog walking insurance and bonding is a must if you own a dog walking business or you’re an independent contractor earning extra cash on the side. Accidents happen — and insurance protects you, your business, your clients, and their pets from a financial nightmare.

What Is Dog Walking Insurance?

As a professional dog walker, you’re responsible for the financial ramifications of working with multiple dogs. These can include expensive medical injury claims, legal costs, vet bills, and costs related to property damage and theft.

Dog walking insurance doesn’t just cover you. The best policies protect your business, including your employees. It’s also crucial for your professional reputation. Here are some examples of costly accidents that insurance will cover.

  • The dog you’re walking lunges at a pedestrian and bites them on the leg.
  • You’re at a dog park with a client’s dog, who gets in a fight with another dog, causing injuries to both.
  • A dog in your care gets away from you and gets hit by a car.
  • A dog in your care eats something toxic at home or on a walk.
  • You forget to lock your client’s front door, and their home gets burgled.

How To Get Bonded And Insured For Dog Walking

Not all insurance companies offer insurance for dog walkers, but more are entering the arena as professional dog walking continues to grow. The best way to find reliable insurance coverage is to do your research. All businesses need general liability insurance. this helps protect you, your employees, and the customers if something unfortunate happens.

We recommend Pet Care Insurance via Veracity Insurance Solutions and Lloyds of London. You can also ask fellow dog walkers what dog walker insurance they use and consult with a local insurance professional.

In addition to dog walking business insurance, you need to look into bonding requirements in your area. Many companies that offer dog walking or pet sitting insurance also provide bonding.

Why Is Bonding Important?

First, what is bonding? In general terms, bonding is a type of insurance that protects your customers against any losses caused by the contractor (the walker). Specifically, being bonded as a dog walker provides your clients compensation in the event of theft or property damage.

Bonding requirements vary by state. Some states require bonding before you can even register your business or purchase insurance. Even if it’s optional in your state, you should still get bonded. Why?

Purchasing a pet-sitting bond is an excellent business practice. Being bonded helps assure potential clients that you’re trustworthy and you won’t abuse your access to their home or the well-being of a family member.

TIP: If you have employees, you should obtain a fidelity bond to protect you as a business owner. This type of bond protects you against any losses resulting from dishonest acts by your dog walking staff.

What Does Dog Walking Business Insurance Cover?

All dog walking policies include general dog walking liability insurance, which helps you with the cost of legal claims against you from injuries or damages sustained by a third party during your business operations. Features of this coverage can include the following.

Medical Expenses

A common feature of general liability insurance, medical coverage reimburses your costs for medical bills and medical treatment associated with people sustaining injuries by a dog in your care.

Products/Completed Operations

Products/Completed Operations covers your liability for property damage or injuries to a third party once you cease your contracted operations.

Personal And Advertising Injury

Many dog walking insurance policies include personal and advertising injury clauses, which are common for many business insurance policies. This coverage includes claims arising from one or more of the following situations:

  • False arrest, detention, or imprisonment
  • Malicious prosecution
  • Wrongful eviction or wrongful entry
  • Oral or written publications that slander or libel a person or organization
  • Oral or written materials that violate a person’s right to privacy
  • The use of another’s advertising idea in your marketing

Animal Bailee

Animal Bailee Coverage provides coverage due to the loss or destruction of animals in your care, custody, and control. This is important if you’re concerned that the dog owners you are working for will hold you liable for any injury to their pet while you are walking it.

Vet Expenses

Veterinarian expense reimbursement coverage protects you for vet expenses — regardless of who’s at fault — for your client’s pet while in your custody up to the policy limit. If your client has pet health insurance, you may not need this feature.

Lost Keys

If you lose your clients’ keys, you’re covered for the cost to replace or re-adjust the locks at your customer’s home.

How Much Does Dog Walking Insurance Cost?

The best insurance policies for dog walking businesses average anywhere from $300 to $600 per year. the amount will depend on the specific dog walking businesses and the services they offer. Public and general liability insurance is needed, along with employer’s liability, care, custody & control over coverage, and personal accident coverage. Dog walking business owners may also want to consider worker’s compensation. The specific costs will depend on the number of walkers covered and the level of coverage a policyholder chooses.

Get A Quote From Veracity’s Pet Care Insurance Division

You can find a basic dog walking policy for under $150 per year, but keep in mind: cheaper insurance can often mean less comprehensive coverage and much lower benefit payouts. Saving money may not be worth it if you don’t cover all of your legal exposures. If they are not covered by insurance, you can personally be liable for what is left and any other damages. Dog walker insurance and business insurance protect everyone involved.

How To Grow Your Dog Walking Business

This brief video by Jump Consulting gives you some excellent tips on how to grow your client base for your dog walking business.

Are You Covered If You Join A Dog Walking Service?

If you’re not sure you want to start your own dog walking business, you have other options. Existing national companies, like Rover (read our in-depth Rover review) and Wag, have some significant benefits for dog walkers, which include insurance coverage. This way, you don’t have to pay for annual premiums out of pocket.

The downside to working for an existing service? Some companies don’t let you set your own rates, and they take a percentage of your earnings. Still, it could be worth it if you don’t want all the stress of launching and operating your own business. If you are a pet sitter, pet sitting insurance is another option you may want to investigate, especially if you start your own business. Pet sitting insurance helps protect you if something happens to an animal in your care. These policies also protect pets and owners, as they provide support and help with medical care if needed. Both dog-walking and dog sitting businesses, pet boarders, and even professional pooper-scooper services should employ customer contracts to protect the business, employees, pets, and owners. Yes, insurers even offer pooper-scoper insurance policies.

Be sure to check out our reviews of the best dog walking services and best pet sitting services to learn more about these companies – to work for or to scope out the competition.

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Disclaimer: Information regarding insurance company offerings, pricing, availability, and other contract details are subject to change by the insurance company at any time and are not under the control of this website. Information published on this website is intended for reference use only. Please review your policy carefully before signing up for a new insurance contract or any other contract as your unique circumstances will differ from those of others who may be used for example purposes in this article.

The information provided through this website should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease; it is not intended to offer any legal opinion or advice or a substitute for professional safety advice or professional care. Please consult your health care provider, attorney, or product manual for professional advice. Products and services reviewed are provided by third parties; we are not responsible in any way for them, nor do we guarantee their functionality, utility, safety, or reliability. Our content is for educational purposes only.

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