Best Pet Care Business Insurance

The Hartford earns the top spot for pet care business insurance with a MoneyGeek score of 4.74. We found The Hartford offers the most comprehensive coverage options at competitive rates, with monthly premiums starting around $43 for pet sitters and dog walkers. However, we recommend comparing quotes other top-rated carriers for pet sitting businesses and pet care services to help you find the right coverage at the best price for your operation.

Note: We based all scores on a pet business with two employees across professional liability, general liability, workers' comp and BOP policies.

Thimble offers the cheapest pet care business insurance at $42 monthly or $503 annually. Pet sitters and dog walkers get the lowest rates with Thimble for general liability ($36 monthly) and BOP coverage ($56 monthly). For workers' compensation, NEXT and The Hartford charge less at $29 monthly. The Hartford also has the most affordable professional liability at $41 monthly for pet care services.

In general, pet care business insurance costs are the following for the four most popular coverage types:

• General Liability: $56 on average per month, ranging from $49 to $66, depending on the state
• Workers' Comp: $31 on average per month, ranging from $27 to $36, depending on the state
• Professional Liability (E&O): $46 on average per month, ranging from $39 to $53, depending on the state
• BOP Insurance: $83 on average per month, ranging from $72 to $96, depending on the state

Workers' compensation becomes legally required once you hire employees for your dog walking or pet sitting business. Beyond required coverages for pet care professionals, general liability and animal bailee insurance protect you from the daily risks of caring for pets and working in clients' homes.

• Workers' Compensation Insurance: Required by law in most states once you hire employees for your dog walking or pet daycare business. Covers medical bills and lost wages when staff get bitten, injure their backs lifting dogs, or slip on wet kennel floors at your facility.
• Commercial Auto Insurance: Covers accidents when transporting pets to grooming appointments, vet visits, or dog parks in your vehicle. Required if your pet care service uses vehicles for business purposes, protecting against damage and injury claims during pet transportation.
• General Liability Insurance: Protects your pet care business when a dog bites someone during a walk or destroys a client's couch while you're pet sitting. Most clients require proof of coverage with $1 million to $2 million limits before hiring you for dog walking or pet sitting services.
• Animal Bailee Coverage: Protects your pet sitting business when animals in your care get injured, become ill, or go missing during walks or overnight stays. Covers veterinary bills and search costs that standard general liability policies exclude for pets under your direct supervision.
• Professional Liability Insurance: Covers your pet care service if clients claim your grooming damaged their show dog's coat or your training failed to correct behavioral problems. Pet sitters and dog walkers typically carry $1 million in coverage for professional mistakes and negligence claims.
• Commercial Property Insurance: Protects equipment your pet care business uses daily, from leashes and crates to grooming tools and computers. Critical if you operate a physical location like a pet daycare, boarding facility, or grooming salon where you store valuable supplies and equipment.
• Business Owner's Policy: Bundles general liability and property insurance at lower rates for pet care businesses operating from home or renting space. Dog walkers and pet sitters save 15% to 25% buying coverages together rather than separately, with typical limits around $1 million.

Here's our step-by-step guide to getting business insurance for your pet care business at the best rates.

Pet sitters and dog walkers need specialized coverage for risks like pet injuries and employee accidents. The Hartford offers the strongest combination of animal bailee protection and claims processing for pet care businesses. Budget-focused providers save most with Thimble at $42 monthly, including workers' compensation coverage at $30 monthly.

We answer frequently asked questions about pet business insurance:

We selected the best business insurer for pet companies based on the following criteria:

• Affordability (50% of score): The lower a company's costs compared to the competition based on our base profile for four core coverage types, the better the company performs.
• Customer service (30% of score): We scored providers on overall customer satisfaction using industry studies, customer review forum ratings and public forum sentiment analysis from sites like Reddit.
• Coverage (15% of score): We scored business insurance providers for this category based on the flexibility, payment and actual coverage options.
• Financial stability (5% of score): Using financial stability industry ratings from companies like AM Best and Moody's, we created an overall rating to judge how likely companies are to pay out claims compared to the competition.

All pricing in this article is based on the following base profile to represent the vast majority of small businesses in all states:

• Three-person business with two employees
• Coverage: $1 million per occurrence and $2 million total per year for all but BOP, which includes the same coverage plus $5,000 of business property coverage
• $150,000 in payroll
• $300,000 annual revenue