Pet Business Insurance: A Comprehensive Guide
Whatever type of pet business you own, there are going to be risks involved. While some mistakes are simple and easy to resolve, others may result in legal liability and financial losses. Pet business insurance ensures that you're prepared for even the worst-case scenarios and supports your business to stay afloat despite the challenges you might encounter.
With so many types of pet business insurance available from different companies, working out which type you need and what your best options are can be a daunting task.
Here, we discuss different types of pet business insurance, what they cover, and what factors consider when weighing the various options.
Why Would You Need Pet Business Insurance?
There are several reasons why it's paramount to invest in insurance for your pet business. These include:
- It's a legal requirement in some states: In some states of the USA, the federal government requires businesses with employees to have unemployment, worker’s compensation, and disability insurance. Some states may also require additional insurance. Always check with your state, federal and municipal council if there are mandatory insurances for setting up a pet business in your area.
- A pet business comes with unpredictable risks: Even if you have all your procedures, policies, and processes well planned or hire the most experienced and detail-oriented people in your business, unforeseeable occurrences may disrupt things or impact the well-being of the pets or your workers. If you have insurance, your business stays afloat when unexpected things happen.
- It gives clients confidence in your business: Having insurance tells your clients that you take your business and care for their pets or property seriously.
- Gives prospective landlords confidence in your business: If you need a commercial space for your business to operate from, having insurance tells prospective landlords you are a professional entity that takes their business seriously and will respect their property.
- Gives prospective lenders confidence in your business: Also, if you need to access business loans, having insurance indicates to your lenders that you have systems in place to keep the business running even if unfortunate occurrences come up.
How Much Does Pet Business Insurance Cost?
There's no one standard cost for pet business insurance. The amount varies from one business to another depending on factors such as:
- The size of your business
- The type of pet business and scope of services you offer
- Type of covers you take out
- Your insurance provider
- Location of your business
How To Choose Insurance For Your Pet Business
Choosing insurance for your business isn’t a light decision. You'll want to do thorough due diligence to identify the right type of pet business insurance and find a reliable service provider. Below are some of the factors you should consider when choosing pet business insurance.
Types of Pet Business Insurance
There are different types of pet business insurance ranging from general to super-specific policies. Below is an overview of the most common types.
General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance is a requirement for all types of businesses. It doesn't cover issues specific to pets but those related to general business operations. For example:
- Property damage
- Personal and bodily injuries that may occur within the premises
- Non-professional negligent
- Advertising injury
- Slander
- Copyright infringement
- Third-party property damage
An example of a scenario where general liability coverage comes in handy in your pet business is if a client gets injured on your premises or if you or an employee goes to a client’s home to offer pet services and you accidentally cause damage.
A general liability policy does not cover intentional personal or property damage. Also, it doesn't cover losses or damages due to willful negligence.
Commercial Property Insurance
As its name suggests, commercial property insurance covers your physical premises in case of damages that are not operations-related. It covers both the building and the equipment within the property against occurrences such as:
- Natural disasters
- Fire from neighboring properties
- Robbery
- Vandalism
The premium will depend on the size of your building, its location, and annual maintenance costs. Some plans may cover losses associated with financial loss on your business as the property is being prepared.
Most insurers offer a two-in-one general liability and commercial policy, usually referred to as a business owner’s liability. This combined policy is usually cheaper than buying each of the two policies separately. It's most suitable for any pet business with a physical premise, like a grooming salon, or pet care facility.
Worker’s Compensation Insurance
This insurance is mandatory in most states for any business that has employees. It covers workers’ medical bills and any partial wage loss in case the worker suffers an illness or a work-related injury. If you're a sole proprietor, you can buy this cover for yourself.
Insurance Covers Specific To Pet Businesses
Certain types of pet business insurance will be more specific to your business and its day-to-day operations. When looking for the best policies, consider whether you might need any of the following types of insurance.
Errors and Omissions Insurance: This policy is also known as professional liability insurance. It covers pet professionals such as groomers and veterinary doctors against liability that may result from an oversight or a mistake like a misdiagnosis.
Pet Sitting Insurance: This cover is specific to pet businesses that involve pet sitting e.g. in-home pet sitting or a pet boarding facility. It's personalized to cover yourself/employees, the pets, and the respective property.
Pet Trainer and Pet Behaviorist Insurance: This cover is essential, especially when dealing with aggressive pets. It covers personal injury, injury to the pets, and property damage that may be caused by the pet when handling it.
Dog Walking Insurance: This one is specific to dog walkers. It covers liability that may occur when walking a dog. For example, the pet may cause injury to someone else or someone else’s property. The dog may get injured or lost either accidentally or due to negligence.
Product Liability Insurance: Product liability insurance coverage is important if your pet business sells pet-related products like toys, food, leashes, collars, etc. It covers injuries or property damage that may be caused by your products.
Bailee or Animal Floater Insurance: Protects you against liability if you die while in your care.
Lost Key Insurance: It's essential if your business operations involve going to your client’s home and handling the house keys e.g. petting sitting or dog walking.
Factors To Consider When Choosing Pet Business Insurance
Take into consideration the following things when you're searching for your pet business insurance plan to help you make sure you're fully covered for all eventualities.
What are Your Insurance Needs?
Think through your business operations and identify risks that may cause liability. For instance, does your business involve going to a client’s home for dog walking or grooming? If so, you risk losing the client’s house keys, and lost key coverage may be necessary.
Does your business involve transporting the clients’ animals? If so, there's a risk of an automobile accident, in which case you may need commercial automobile insurance.
Do you use software for scheduling? The use of third-party software poses the risk of data breaches necessitating cyber insurance.
Policy Limits
Each insurance provider stipulates the terms and conditions for their various policies. Some providers also offer custom policies to meet the specific needs of your pet business. Policy limits and per-occurrence limits also vary from one provider to another.
Your Budget
Budget management is crucial for a successful business, so while it's important to mitigate as much risk as possible, insurance premiums must fit within your budget. Also, consider if the insurance company offers a flexible payment plan.
Tips For Buying Pet Business Insurance
- Whenever possible, buy your coverage from a service provider that specializes in pet care insurance. These providers understand issues that may arise in the pet care business and provide elaborate coverage.
- Compare quotes from various providers. Identify several prospective pet business insurance providers and ask for quotes. Compare quotes based not only on premium pricing but also on the scope of coverage, per occurrence limit, overall limit, and other benefits.
- Do your due diligence to establish that the provider is reliable. Check out online reviews of prospective companies and identify issues that previous customers have encountered with the insurers. The most common complaints about insurance providers include hidden terms and conditions that work against the customer and failure by the company to pay for claims.
- Ask fellow pet business owners for recommendations for a reliable insurance provider. Working with an insurer who other pet business owners in your circle can vouch for removes the guesswork in establishing their reliability
Conclusion
When operating any business, many scenarios can lead to liability. You need to think about damages or injuries to your property and employees as well as to the pets and pet owners you serve. Therefore, aside from a general liability cover, you also need policies specific to your type of pet business. Do your market research to identify a reliable service provider and coverage that provides you with the best value while fitting into your budget.