Dog walking insurance

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Why do you need dog walking insurance?

Out and about or tucked up in a travel basket – when someone’s pet is in your expert care, accidents come with serious costs. From injuries to property damage, dog walkers’ insurance is there to give everyone peace of mind, freeing you up to plan the next route, not ponder the what-ifs.

  • protection from hard-hitting claims for accidents and injuries
  • cover for what you need from your phone to any pet supplies or stock
  • peace of mind, letting you focus on the day’s walk, not the what-ifs

What does dog walker insurance cover?

Human or canine, you know your business and clients best, which is why we put you in control. UK dog walking insurance usually starts with public liability, covering you for damage to someone’s property, or an injury you’ve caused. You can add cover for your equipment and personal accidents too.

  • Public liability insurance

    In case your dog walking business causes an injury or property damage.

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for your dog walking business.

  • Stock insurance

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

  • Business and office equipment insurance

    In case something happens to equipment like your laptop.

  • Legal expenses insurance

    In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your dog walking business.

  • Personal accident insurance

    In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident at work, or elsewhere..

  • Public liability insurance

    In case your dog walking business causes an injury or property damage.

    What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for dog walkers?

    Claims against your business for:

    • damage to someone’s property, because of your dog walking business
    • an injury caused by your business activities
    • accidental damage or injury caused by your employee, if you have one

    If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.

    For example:

    • while out on a walk a horse kicks the dog in your care, causing serious stomach injuries
    • you’re rushing to get to the next client and shut a dog’s paw in the door while loading them into the car

    Read more about public liability insurance

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for your dog walking business.

    What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

    Claims against your business for:

    • an injury or illness that comes 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:

    • one of your employees trips over a pothole while out on a walk, breaking their foot
    • a temp you’ve hired traps their hand in a dog cage while loading the car, causing a deep cut that requires stitches

  • 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 stock, like dog food, spare leads and cleaning supplies

    For example:

    • a flood in your storeroom destroys six months’ worth of specialist dog food, which you’ve just picked up from the vet

    Read more about stock insurance

  • Business and office equipment insurance

    In case something happens to equipment like your laptop.

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

    • theft of the equipment you use to run your business, like your phone or laptop
    • accidental loss of your equipment
    • flood, fire or accidental damage

    For example:

    • someone breaks into your home office and steals your laptop
    • your client spills coffee on your phone during an at-home orientation

    Read more about business and office equipment insurance

  • Legal expenses insurance

    In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your dog walking business.

    What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

    • legal costs associated with day-to-day operations, like an employee dispute
    • property damage, nuisance or trespass and associated legal costs
    • HMRC, tax and compliance issues, if they come up
    • includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline and crisis support to help you protect your reputation, as a highly recommended dog walker

    For example:

    • you run into a dispute with your client, who is refusing to pay an invoice
    • a Christmas temp you’ve hired brings a case against you for unfair dismissal

    Read more about legal expenses insurance

  • Personal accident insurance

    In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident at work, or elsewhere..

    What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

    • injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover in your policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
    • lost income, hospital bills or other medical costs associated with the accident

    For example:

    • you trip over one of the dogs at work and break your wrist
    • two dogs in your care are fighting, and you break several bones in your hand trying to separate them

    Read more about personal accident insurance

How much does dog walking 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 £4.74 per month

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The price is for up to £2 million of public liability insurance – 10% of customers paid £56.82 or less annually between 1st Jan – 31st May 2024. Equivalent to £4.74 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). 76% of customers have a £1 million limit and 24% £2 million. If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available. These all have additional costs.

Example dog walker insurance quotes, real prices

£6.56 /month

£47.92 /year

A dog walker offering services locally and to neighbours

  • Less than 1 years’ experience
  • Sole trader
  • No employees
  • Based in Chesterfield

Public liability

£1,000,000

Employers’ liability

Not included

Business equipment

Not included

£28.10 /month

£249.79 /year

A small dog walking company with cover for loss or injury to pets in your control

  • 5+ years’ experience
  • Limited company
  • 1 employee
  • Based in Chesterfield

Public liability

£1,000,000

Employers’ liability

£10,000,000

Business equipment

£5,000

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 02/09/2020). 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

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 walking 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 walking 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 business insurance or cleaning insurance?

  • Do I need cover for other types of work?

    If you provide these services alongside your 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 24/04/2024.

Example claim

Having dog walker insurance through Simply Business has saved people across the UK thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Jill saved more than £4,500

A dog in Jill’s (not her real name) care was hit by a car while on a walk, breaking a leg. The dog was on a lead, and luckily Jill was able to claim on her insurance for the vet bill, as accidental damage.

Insurance payout

£4,501.00

Covering the cost of accidental damage

Insurance payout

Covering the cost of accidental damage

Covering the cost of accidental damage

Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

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Insurance for dog walking FAQs

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 walker insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

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

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 walkers find things like stock and equipment cover useful, in case the equipment or supplies you use to run your business are lost, stolen or damaged.

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.

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.

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

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