Dog breeding insurance

Q: Can I buy business insurance if I’ve had any CCJs or IVAs?

Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.

Q: Will changing from sole trader to limited company affect my insurance policy?

If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 043 8527. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.

Join over nearly a million customers (including breeders like you) – we offer public liability cover from £4.95*

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10% of customers pay the equivalent of £4.95 a month*

Why is breeders insurance important?

From meeting customers to vet visits and wholesalers – wherever work takes you, dogs and breeding carry very specific risks. Breeder insurance is a key support for UK professionals, starting with solid public liability cover for expensive accidents, whether it’s third party property damage or an animal injury. From there, you can add employers’ liability insurance for anyone you’ve hired, plus stock and equipment cover.

dog breeders’ insurance including public liability, starting at £1 million
rated 4.8/5 based on 39.9K public liability customer reviews
optional personal accident cover for your own accidents and injuries

What does dog breeding insurance cover?

We’ll start with public and product liability cover, a key part of most dog breeding insurance policies. Our cover is built to protect you against property damage claims – whether you’re at fault or not – along with third party accidents and injuries. You can add other popular covers like equipment and stock protection, plus employers’ liability insurance if you need it.

Public liability insurance for dog breeders

In case your breeding business causes an injury, illness, or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance

In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your breeding business.
Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to equipment like your laptop or heating system.
Legal expenses insurance

In case you have to pay legal costs connected with your breeding business.
Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or off-duty.

Public liability insurance for dog breeders

In case your breeding business causes an injury, illness, or property damage.

What’s typically covered by public and product liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:
- damage to someone’s property, caused by your dog breeding business
- an injury or illness caused by your business activities or products
- accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees
For example:
- a customer catches their hand in a broken door frame while visiting your premises, breaking a finger
- a dog on your premises bites a customer’s child, and they develop an infection
What you’ll need additional cover for
- if you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance

In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your breeding business.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:
- an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)
**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:
- your apprentice gets bitten by a dog while working for you
- one of your casual workers falls down the stairs at the back of your outbuilding, breaking their leg
Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to equipment like your laptop or heating system.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- accidental damage to your fixtures and fittings, or the equipment you use to run your breeding business
- theft, flood, and fire damage
For example:

while prepping for a new winter litter, your heating system fails and you need to replace it the laptop you use to run your business falls out of your van, causing damage to the screen

Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Legal expenses insurance

In case you have to pay legal costs connected with your breeding business.

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs attributed to your dog breeding business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
- tax and compliance disputes, and investigations you need help with
- includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis PR support to help you protect your reputation as a recommended dog breeder
For example:
- a client begins legal proceedings against you over the dog you’ve sold, and you need to pay for representation
- HMRC investigate your tax affairs, costing you money and time away from your business
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or off-duty.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- accidental injury or death at or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- a dog bites you and the stitches become infected, taking you away from the business
- your employee breaks their arm while playing football, and can’t work at full capacity for at least a month
Read more about personal accident insurance

This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions

How much does dog breeder insurance cost?

Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

Prices start from £4.95 per month

Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Start your quote

The price is for up to £2 million of public liability insurance – 10% of customers paid £59.34 or less annually between 1st Feb – 30th April 2025. Equivalent to £4.95 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). 82% of customers have a £1 million limit and 18% £2 million. If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available. These all have additional costs.

Example dog breeder insurance quotes, real prices

£8.47 /month

£64.66 /year

Local dog breeder that runs hobby as a business

1-2 years’ experience
Sole trader
No employees
Based in Birmingham

Public liability

£1,000,000

Employers’ liability

Not included

Contents & business equipment

Not included

£103.24 /month

£917.71 /year

Small dog breeding business with three employees

5+ years’ experience
Limited company
3 employees
Based in Swansea

Public liability

£10,000,000

Employers’ liability

£10,000,000

Contents & business equipment

£2,500

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 13/08/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.

What kind of excess should I expect?

An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.

Insurance cover	Lowest excess	Highest excess
Public liability	£100	£2500
Employers’ liability	No excess	No excess
Tools	£60	£500
Stock	£100	£500
Business and office equipment	£50	£750

The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.

How it works

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How do I choose insurance?

Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Does dog breeder insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Does dog breeder insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider pet shop insurance or dog walking insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide these services alongside building work, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.

Talk to an expert

Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am – 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am – 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am – 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am – 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am – 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am – 02.00pm

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0333 043 8527

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FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions

How do claims work?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.

£51 million in claims paid out in 2023

83% of claims were settled in 2023

The figure above is rounded across our range of products. “Settled” covers paid, declined or withdrawn. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis. Our specialist partner Sedgwick will pay the claims on behalf of the insurer. Reviewed on 26/02/2025.

Chosen by nearly one million small business and landlord customers

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then, with nearly a million customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

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Insurance for dog breeders FAQ

Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about dog breeders’ insurance, UK requirements, and public liability cover features. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

Should a dog breeder have insurance?

Despite best efforts and lots of experience, accidents do happen. Public liability insurance is usually an important cover for dog breeders, and can protect you if someone is injured or property – including their dog – gets damaged or injured.

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ anyone, even in your own home – and failing to take out the right cover can often result in heavy fines. Alongside this, lots of professional dog breeders find equipment cover useful, in case the kit you use to run your business gets lost, stolen, or damaged.

Can I add cover for a different trade or profession to my business insurance policy?

Yes. It’s important to make sure you have the right type and level of insurance for the different types of work you do. For example, if you’re a breeder, you may also do the odd pet-sitting job – you’ll need additional cover for this, but you can have it all on the one policy. When you start your quote, you’ll have the option to add another trade or profession to your policy. If you need to add a third trade, give us a call on 0333 0146 683 and one of our insurance experts will help you set up your policy in minutes.

Can I add cover for a different trade or profession mid-way through my policy?

Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 043 8527 to update your policy before you take on this new work. If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.

Can I buy business insurance if I’ve had any CCJs or IVAs?

What’s the difference between paying by Direct Debit and paying in one lump sum?

You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:

one-off credit or debit card payment
BACS payment
Direct Debit

If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.

Will changing from sole trader to limited company affect my insurance policy?

Does public liability insurance cover my business for the actions of my employees?

This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.

If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.

There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.

We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions

Dog breeding insurance

Why is breeders insurance important?

What does dog breeding insurance cover?

Public liability insurance for dog breeders

What’s typically covered by public and product liability insurance?

Employers’ liability insurance

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Business and office equipment insurance

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

Legal expenses insurance

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

Personal accident insurance

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

How much does dog breeder insurance cost?

Prices start from £4.95 per month

Example dog breeder insurance quotes, real prices

What kind of excess should I expect?

How it works

Pick what goes into your policy

Get prices from a range of insurers

Buy online in minutes

How do I choose insurance?

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Does dog breeder insurance cover my work correctly?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Talk to an expert

Online

Phone

FAQs

How do claims work?

£51 million in claims paid out in 2023

Compare and buy in minutes

Rated 4.6/5

Here to help

24/7 claims

Insurance for dog breeders FAQ

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