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| Provided Through | PSA, Pet Sitter Associates LLC | Business Insurers of the Carolinas | Mourer-Foster, Inc. |
| You must be a member of | PSA (free membership) | PSI or NAPPS. | None |
| Cost per year (annual) | $164 Base Rate | Two
plans available. $274-$549 base rate for individual policy.
$325-$600 base rate for for standard policy (covers employees).
Additional Coverage
available: Plus membership to PSI ($129 new members) or NAPPS ($140 for company) required. Minus a 10% discount if you get certified (certification costs more than the 10% discount). |
Two
plans available. The program listed below is the
Kennel Pro Pet Sitter Program. $350 minimum, higher plans with higher limits available. Payment plans, semi annual, or quarterly also available. |
| Website | www.petsitllc.com | www.petsitterinsurance.com |
http://www.mourerfoster.com/
(must contact directly for details) |
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Bonding Available Note: bonding generally applies only when subject is convicted of theft in criminal court. Business owner repays any bonding company payouts |
No.
Instead, PSA provides
option theft coverage INSURANCE.
Besides theft, it also covers accidental breakage and
mysterious disappearance (will defend you in court if a client
claims you have stolen from them). This option coverage is $95 extra.
You do not repay anything PSA pays out, like you would for bonding. PSA says if you carry this, you can tell clients who as if you are bonded, "I carry liability insurance that includes coverage for your pets as well as your other personal property for accidental damage, mysterious disappearance, and theft" |
Yes, Bond is Separate, $50
- $250 based on chosen limit.
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Yes, $5,000.00
bond ( 5 employees or less including owner ) the annual premium is $100.00.
$10,000.00 is $114.82. $25,000 is $170.10 Covers business owner as well as (4 additional) employees. |
| Liability Limits | $2,000,000 Annual
Aggregate $1,000,000 Each Occurrence $5000 Medical Expense $1,000,000 Personal/Advertising Inj $2,000,000 Products/Completed Ops $100,000 Fire $5000 Medical $2000 Lost/Stolen Key $1000 Each Vet Expense $5000 Aggregate Vet Expense Note - you need to add the optional 'special properly of others' coverage to cover things like accidental breakage or damage to the clients property caused by you or your children. |
$2,000,000 Annual
Aggregate $1,000,000 Each Occurrence $5000 Medical Expense $1,000,000 Personal/Advertising Inj $1,000,000 Products/Completed Ops $100,000 Fire $2500 Lost Key |
$4,000,000 Aggregate |
| Cover Care Custody and Control (how much they'll pay if you damage/kill a pet - including vet care, property replacement, etc) | Included, up to $10,000 per occurrence of loss to pets. Note: That's not enough to cover some horses, livestock, and show animals. | You choose coverage. Minimum is $10,000. Add up to $275 to premium to choose higher limits up to $200,000. Per occurrence. |
$10,000 per
occurrence, |
| Effective Date | You determine effective date. The earliest your membership and insurance will take effect is the date of postmark on your envelope. | Policies are only issued effective the first of each month. If received after the cutoff date (near the first of the month), your policy will not be effective until the first of the next month. | Any date you wish to begin coverage. |
| FAQ | FAQ | FAQ | None |
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ICs, Spouse &
Employees covered Note: ICs should get their own coverage separately through their business.
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Only you are covered under the main coverage. Limited temporary help, which is help you pay less than $600 per year, is covered with no extra charge. Each other employee/IC/spouse costs $80 more. You do not need to identify each employee, just buy enough coverage to cover all employed at one time. |
Depends on policy selected - individual policy covers just you and spouse, standard policy covers everyone over 18 that is employed by you. | Yes, including employees, volunteers, spouses, & children |
| Are Under 18 year old employees covered, and Can I bring my kids to sits |
Update 10/20/07 - PSA will not sell insurance to minors. The
business owner (the one getting clients and setting up the
contracts with clients) must be over age 18. However, minor
employees can be covered. And your own children are covered.
They may do pet sits for your business, alone, and coverage can
apply if you buy coverage for them as a regular employee.
You may bring your minor child to pet sits (whether they are helping you or just tagging along) and your coverage will apply. If you bring a child to a sit and the child or his property gets hurt, that is not covered. |
No,
children under 18 are not covered. If you bring a child to a sit and the child gets hurt, you are not covered. If you send an under-18 year old to do a sit, you are not covered. |
Yes |
| Deductible | No
deductible for claims, EXCEPT $500 per incident IF you purposely
took an animal outdoors:
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$100 per claim, all claims | $250 for Care Custody Control Claims No Deductible on Liability Claims |
| Grooming / Nail Clipping covered | Only with special extra grooming endorsement, costs $100 | Only with special extra grooming endorsement, costs $100 | Yes |
| Day Care / Boarding Covered (in sitter home) | Generally only with special extra boarding endorsement, costs $155. Maximum number of pets at any one time: 10. Maximum income from overnight stays: 25%. Some special needs pets/situations will be covered incidentally without the special endorsement. | Not
Included. An optional limited In-Your-Home pet care
endorsement is available for $100. This covers up to 5
client pets in pet sitters home (not in boarding
kennels) Only available if boarding is 25% or less of your gross business income. No doggy daycare coverage. |
Yes |
| Housesitting (No pets) covered | Yes. Change reported Feb 2006 in PSA newsletter. Maximum income from house sitting must be less than 25%, and be "incidental" to your business. | Not Included. Optional House-Sitting endorsement is available for $100. It applies if house sitting is less than 45% of business income. New policy applies 10/2006. | Yes |
| Medicating covered | Yes, only if it's legal in your state | Yes, if legal in your state (as prescribed & directed by vet & client only) | Yes |
| Limits on #of Claims | No. They are reasonable - if you are a bad sitter who doesn't work with them on your claims or who puts yourself at risk for more claims, they'll drop you. Otherwise they work with you. | After 3 claims, you are automatically dropped | None |
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Is Pet Taxi covered Note: No auto insurance is included - just coverage for the pet |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Are overnights covered | Yes, at client's home.
No at your own home unless you have the extra kennel coverage AND no more than 25% of your income comes from overnight stays. |
Yes at a client's home as per NAPPS teleconference 4/17/06 | Yes |
| Is Poo Scooping with No Pet Sitting Covered | Yes. PSA is recommended by major Poop-scooping only organizations. | No. Poop scooping only businesses are not covered. Poop scooping only for clients is not covered (you must be providing pet sitting services also to the particular client be covered). | Yes |
| Are all animals covered | Yes. But please note that the limit per occurrence is $10,000 - which may not be enough to cover some horses, livestock, show animals, etc adequately. PSA newsletter Feb 2006 | The PSI March 2006 newsletter says they cover all animals through
'zebras' as long as they are truly client's pets. Examples of NON-'pets' would be livestock farms, breeding farms, showing horse farms, horse boarding facilities. If it provides the client with a form of income, it's likely NOT covered. For example, 1 or 2 pleasure horses is covered (up to the CCC limit). A farm of 6 horses used for breeding is not covered. |
Yes. But note that Mourer Foster will reject coverage to sitters who provide farm / large animal / horse care as more than an occasional part (small percentage) of their business. |
| Is there coverage for claims with no pet sitter negligence? | Yes, limited care of pet | No | Yes |
| Insurance Provided By | Evanston Insurance Company | Century Surety Company | CNA |
| Physical Harm to self or equipment covered (I.E. Pet Sitter gets bit) |
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, 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! Your regular health insurance through other sources will likely 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, 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! |
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| Non-Negligence Claims |
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. UPDATE: The PSA newsletter I received in May of 2006 said something about now also covering some limited non-negligent claims. |
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| Other Questions | Place 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). | ||
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Canada Insurance Comparison Chart (as of 2006-06-02, updated 2007-10-01): | |||||
| Provided Through | Binks | Verge | Schofield-Aker/Aviva | Horizon | |
| You must be a member of | PSI | None | PDWAI/IACP | ACPSN | |
| Cost per year | Basic program is $600, but there may be additional premium
depending on the size and scope of services offered. Plus membership to PSI ($114 or $104 USD for canadian members) |
$625 plus $50 P.S.T. |
$700 plus 8% P.S.T. totaling $756.00, Plus associate or higher membership to PDWAI/IACP ($50-$75) |
$575 plus P.S.T. Plus membership to ACPSN ($70 first year, then $40) | |
| Website | www.binks.ca | www.vergeinsurance.com | www.dogpro.org | www.acpsn.com | |
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Bonding Available Note: bonding generally applies only when subject is convicted of theft in criminal court. Business owner repays any bonding company payouts |
Bond included with Third Party extension. Coverage is further expanded to include the principal and any independent contactors within the definition of "employee". | Bond Included | Employee Dishonesty with Third Party Extension (appears to be included ?) | Bond Included with Third Party Extension | |
| Cover Care Custody and Control (how much they'll pay if you kill a pet!) | Included, subject to a limit of $500,000. Coverage applies to damage to a pet or to damage to the contents of a client's home. | Included, up to $20,000 per occurrence of loss to pets | Included, up to $20,000 per occurrence of loss to pets |
$5000 or $10,000 per animal
$10,000 per occurence | |
| FAQ | FAQ | FAQ | |||
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ICs, Spouse &
Employees covered Note: ICs should get their own coverage separately through their business.
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Yes | Yes, but must be bondable | Unknown | Yes | |
| Are Under 18 year old employees covered, and Can I bring my kids to sits | Yes, but Binks strongly recommends that employees and IC's be carefully screened regardless of age. | Unknown | Unknown | No and No | |
| Deductible | $500 property damage | $500 to business property | $1000 to all coverages |
$250 crime / lost key / bond issues $500 all other claims | |
| Grooming / Nail Clipping covered | Yes, if incidental to overall pet-sitting operations. | Unknown | Unknown | Probably | |
| Day Care / Boarding Covered (in sitter home) | Yes, but if your operations are more like a kennel, Binks will arrange coverage differently. | Yes | Unknown | Yes | |
| Housesitting (No pets) covered | Yes, if incidental to overall pet-sitting operations. |
Yes | Unknown | No | |
| Medicating covered | Yes, but with controls. Contact Binks for further discussion. | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | |
| Limits on #of Claims | No | Unknown | Unknown | No | |
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Is Pet Taxi covered Note: No auto insurance is included - just coverage for the pet |
Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | |
| Are overnights covered | Yes | Yes, both in YOUR home or the client's home | Unknown | Yes | |
| Is Poo Scooping with No Pet Sitting Covered | Yes, if incidental to overall pet-sitting operations. | Unknown | 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 to care for. We have not verified that. | Unknown | Yes, but large show animals and agricultural animals excluded. | |
| Insurance Provided By | ING Insurance Company of Canada | Unknown | Unknown | Aviva Insurance Company of Canada | |
| Other Questions | Place 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). | ||||
| Other Countries: |
| Australia Barker Meier |
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