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Canada
Dog Walking & Pet Sitting Business Insurance Comparison Chart
by
Professional
United Pet
Sitters LLC
The
following
companies are known to provide quality pet sitting insurance.
Contact the companies directly for more details.
If you
provide pet
sitter insurance, including care/custody/control, and would like to be
listed, please send us an email.
|
Disclaimers:
Printable
Version: Updated 7/2/2009
Professional
United Pet Sitters LLC
is
NOT affiliated with any pet
sitter and dog walker liability insurance
companies, including the ones listed below.
Professional
United Pet Sitters LLC does
NOT offer or endorse ANY Pet Sitter insurance, business insurance,
health insurance, or bonding.
Pet sitter insurance
companies are listed below for your convenience only.
No
pet sitter insurance is included with membership to PUPS.
Professional United Pet Sitters LLC, PetSits.Com, Happy At Home Pet
Sitters, and the owners are not liable for errors in or related to
information presented here. Please contact the
companies directly for more current information. The
information listed is the limited understanding we have based on the
info we’ve received. It may be right, or it may be
inaccurate. Or the insurance may be changing while we speak.
This is just for information purposes only, and we can not
and do not guarantee the accuracy in any way at any time. We are not
personally or professionally affiliated with any insurance listed
below.
www.PetSits.Com
|
|
Provided
through:
|
Binks |
Verge |
Horizon
|
| Website |
www.binks.ca |
www.vergeinsurance.com |
www.acpsn.com |
| Cost per year (annual) |
$650 Base Rate per year plus
applicable PST for up to 3 persons.
|
$625 per year plus fees and taxes
|
$575
per year plus PST.
Additional contractors may incur an additional charge.
Higher
limits available.
+
2% fee for payment via credit card.
Small
animal livestock care may incur
additional premiums.
Not
available in Quebec
|
| You must be a member of |
PSI
+ $140/year
|
None
|
ACPSN
+
$70 new or $40 renewal
|
| Is there a discount
available for
certification? |
No |
No |
No |
Is bonding available?
Note:
bonding
generally applies only when subject is convicted of theft in criminal
court or proven guilty of a crime. Restitution may be sought
by the insurance company. |
Yes
Includes
coverage for Third-Party
Bonding.
|
Yes
Includes
$20,000 Third Party
Dishonesty Bond.
|
Yes
Includes
$5,000 dishonesty bond for
hired and incidental employees (including ICs)
|
| Is theft insurance
available |
No |
No |
No |
| Liability limits |
$2,000,000 General Liability
$500 Lost Key
$2,000,000
Annual Aggregate
$2,000,000
Each Occurrence
$2,000,000
Personal/Ad Inj
$2,000,000
Products/Completed Ops
$2,000,000
Non-owned auto/Op
$500
Lost Key
|
$2,000,000 Commercial general
liability, including in client's home
$50,000 pets in your care
$5,000 Business Property, can be
increased.
$500 Lost Key
|
$1,000,000 General Liability
$10,000 for
animals in transit
|
Is care, custody, and
control /
Animal Bailee included?
(covers
if you
are liable for damage/death of a pet - including vet care, property
replacement, etc) |
Yes
Limit Unknown |
Yes
Limit Unknown |
Yes
$5,000 per animal |
Is there coverage for
claims with no
pet sitter negligence?
(this can be used
if you need to take the pet to the emergency vet and the client is
unwilling to reimburse you for the visit) |
Unknown, Unlikely |
Unknown, Unlikely |
Unknown, Unlikely |
| Effective date |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown. Policy start date
is July 10, but partial year policies are prorated. |
| FAQ |
FAQ |
FAQ |
FAQ |
Are ICs, spouse &
employees
covered
Note:
ICs should always get their own coverage in the own business name
separately through their own business. It is best
for you to also cover them also with your policy through your business. |
Yes
You are covered for anyone acting on your behalf. |
Yes
Each must
be bondable
|
Yes |
| Are under 18 year old
employees
covered to do pet sits alone? |
Unknown
(Yes
in 2007)
|
Unknown |
No |
Can I bring my kids to
sits?
Note
- insurance
coverage does not include injuries or damage to the children or the
children's property. |
Unknown
(Yes
in 2007)
|
Unknown |
No |
| Do I lose coverage if
I place a
certain # of claims? |
No |
Unknown
|
No |
| Deductible |
$500 Property Damage |
$500 to business property |
$250
for lost key
$250
for crime or bond issues
$500
for all claims
|
| Medicating covered |
Yes
...but with controls. Contact Binks for further discussion. |
Unknown
|
Yes |
| Is housesitting (No
pets) coverage
available/included? |
Yes
Must be incidental to overall pet-sitting operations. |
Yes |
Yes including snow removal and
lawn
care. |
Is pet taxi covered?
Note:
No auto-insurance is included - just coverage for the pet |
Yes |
Unknown |
Yes |
| Are overnights at the
client's home
covered? |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Is boarding / day care
covered at
your own home? |
Yes
...but
if your operations are more
like a kennel, Binks will arrange coverage differently.
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Is grooming covered? |
Yes
Must be incidental to overall pet-sitting operations. |
Unknown |
Yes |
| Is poo scooping only
service (no pet
sitting) covered? |
Yes
Must be incidental to overall pet-sitting operations. |
Unknown |
Probably yes, under lawn care. |
| Are all animals
covered? |
Yes
...but if horses or rare/exotic animals are involved, Binks should be
advised. |
A sitter was told that they will
cover backyard animals, such as a cow, if and only if there is also an
indoor domestic animal in the home. We have not verified that. |
No
Large
show animals and agricultural
animals are excluded
|
| Is online listing
available |
No
A
listing is included with your
membership to PSI on their website.
|
No
|
No |
| Insurance Provided By |
Unknown
Was
ING Insurance Company of Canada
in 2007
|
Unknown |
Unknown, was Aviva Insurance
Company
of Canada in 2007 |
| Additional
Information:
Injury
to yourself or your personal belongings (including pets)
As far as we know, no Pet Sitter insurance covers harm to yourself,
people you bring along, personal pets you bring along or your personal
/ business belongings.
If
you are hurt in a client's home, this would something that would
usually be covered by Worker's Compensation. Many business
owning sitters do not have worker's comp for themselves (and some are
not allowed to get it in their states to cover THEMSELVES), but must
have it for their employees. So you will want to consider
looking into a worker's comp plan for yourself to cover
injuries acquired on the job. Or start a big savings account
for emergencies!
The
vast majority of regular health insurance providers do NOT cover
injuries acquired while on the job.
You
can try to sue a client for injuries acquired do to their
negligence. For example, if the roof caves in on
your head, you could probably sue for your injuries. The
client's personal insurances may cover these situations.
Injuries
to yourself acquired from a pet in your care, under a pet sitting
contract, may be entirely your responsibility. Some states
regulate that once you agree to take control of the pet by caring for
it, you are entirely responsible for injuries caused by the pet to
others or yourself. Your Pet Sitter insurance will cover
injuries to others (up to the limit), but not to your own
person. Other states have different standards, so you could
try to sue the owner and hope for the best.
As a side note, if a client pet (or any wild animal for that matter)
bites you and you report it to a doctor, by law most if not all have to
report it to the state. Police will likely come to take
information, and may take the dog/cat, no matter what the
circumstances. Vicious and dangerous hearings may
result. So obviously, don't lie and tell a doctor your own
pet bit you to hide the truth!
Another
side note - if you get bit and need a stitch or 2 and some antibiotics,
it will cost lots - a lot more than you expect if you are used to
having health insurance. So just step back and rethink twice
if you are a little nervous about any animal. It's certainly
not worth the cost!
Negligence
Required
Pet Sitter insurance generally covers you ONLY if you were negligent in
your duties. If something is beyond your control, you are not
covered or liable. For example, if a broken sink starts to
leak and you haven't touched it, you are not responsible.
There are a lot of fuzzy areas, and the pet sitter insurances above (at
least the first 2) have a good track record of sorting out fuzzy items.
Exception:
PSA does include limited vet coverage for non-negligent situations as
listed in the chart.
Considering
a Claim
Consider placing a claim even if you think you are not
covered. Adjusters have the job of finding out what your
coverage really is, so it can't hurt to file a claim (unless you are
filing many and are about to get dropped).
Potential
Areas Covered: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New
Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia,
Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Northwest
Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon.
Click
here to return to the PUPS
Pet Sitter Insurance Comparison summary page
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