Dog grooming insurance

Public liability insurance for dog groomers

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

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone’s property, caused by your pet/dog grooming business
• an injury or illness caused by your business activities or products
• accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees

For example:

• you accidentally catch a dog’s paw while grooming, and they need a visit to the vet’s
• a customer trips over another dog in your waiting room, banging their head on a cabinet which causes mild concussion

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 grooming 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 employee gets bitten by a dog while working for you
• one of your part-time workers cuts themselves on some clippers, and needs stitches

Tools insurance

In case your grooming tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance?

• loss, damage, or theft of your hand tools and portable electronics
• your tools while they’re on a client’s premises or in transit in the UK, in any vehicle you own or lease

For example:

• a flood at your business premises damages five sets of clippers and drying machines
• you stop to pick up supplies while driving to a client’s house and your bag containing your clippers and dryer is stolen from your passenger seat

Read more about tools insurance

Stock insurance

In case the supplies you rely on are lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

• loss, damage, or theft of the essentials you keep in shampoo, dog treats, grooming treatment items, and cleaning supplies

For example:

• a flood in your premises destroys six months’ worth of stock you’ve just had delivered
• you need to replace a new order of supplies, after rats cause damage to your stock room

Read more about stock insurance

Contents insurance

In case something happens to your fixtures and fittings or office equipment.

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 dog/pet grooming business
• theft, flood, and fire damage

For example:

your three business laptops, a tablet, and sound system are stolen during a break-in at your premises an employee is transferring equipment from your premises to a trade show and a box falls out of their car, containing five clipper sets

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

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

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• legal costs attributed to your pet/dog grooming business 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 pet/dog groomer

For example:

• your apprentice begins legal proceedings against you following a contract dispute, 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 wound gets infected, preventing you from working for over three weeks
• your business partner falls down some stairs at a wedding and breaks their ankle – they need six weeks off their feet

Read more about personal accident insurance

Can I just cover my most expensive tools?

Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.

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.

Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.

You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.

Does pet groomer 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 dog walking insurance or dog breeders insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

• Pet business insurance
• Pet shop insurance
• Pet accessory shop
• Aquarium / tropical fish shop

Other types of insurance

• Limited company insurance
• Self-employed insurance
• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance
• Contractors insurance
• Sole trader 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.