Dog trainer insurance

What Type of Dog Trainer Insurance Do I Need?

What Kind of Insurance Do I Need as a Dog Trainer?

To get comprehensive coverage, your dog training business insurance may require more than one type of policy. Just as there are a lot of different dogs out there, there are a lot of different risks as well.

Our goal is to find the right coverage to protect you from the biggest risks that you may typically face.

Dog Trainer Liability Insurance

As a dog trainer, you likely cover the basics with each animal: sit, stay, down, and heel. Dog trainer liability insurance, or general liability insurance, covers a lot of the basic risks associated with your business. These can include third-party accidents, property damage, and bodily injury.

Here’s an example. A six-month-old Golden Retriever is with her owner during a training session. The dog sees a squirrel and suddenly bolts to chase it, pulling the owner with her. The owner releases the leash, but not in time to keep from tripping over the ramp of an agility course you set up for other dogs.

The owner falls, breaks their wrist, and sues the trainer for damages, claiming that the course should have been set up in a different location.

Having general liability insurance could help cover the medical costs and the legal expenses.

General liability coverage can do even more. While even the best-trained dog can have a slip-up or an accident, the same can be true for your business. And those mishaps can be costly to clean up. The average small business claim for property damage is $30,000.

Here’s what general liability insurance usually covers for a dog training business:

• Third-party property damage (aka clients or vendors)
• Third-party bodily injury
• Medical expenses
• Personal and advertising injury
• And more

General liability insurance usually does not cover:

• Personal property damage
• Professional services
• Employee injury and workers compensation
• Damage to your work
• Motor vehicles during business use
• Intentional injury or damage
• And more

Professional Liability Insurance

Sometimes you may feel that you’ve done everything right, but a customer might see it differently and sue you.

That’s where professional liability insurance can come to your rescue like a St. Bernard on an alpine slope. Professional liability insurance can provide coverage if your client claims that you were negligent in performing your services.

Imagine this. You’ve trained your client’s Dalmatian to sit, stay, lie down, and wait before going in or out through a door. The dog has passed all tests with flying colors.

A week after training, the Dalmatian runs out of the back door at the client’s home and straight into the woods, getting seriously injured, which results in an expensive vet visit. In response, the dog’s owner sues you for negligence, claiming you passed the Dalmatian in obedience training although he wasn’t ready.

You’re not only facing a hefty vet bill, you also could be looking at substantial legal defense costs. With professional liability coverage, those costs could be covered, along with any claims against you, up to your policy limit.

Here’s what professional liability insurance generally covers:

• Legal defense costs
• Omissions or alleged omissions
• Negligence or alleged negligence
• Claims and damages
• And more

Having professional liability insurance does not usually protect you from:

• Property damage
• Intentional acts and omissions
• Bodily injury
• Medical expenses
• And more

Workers Compensation Insurance

Dog training often requires a lot of one-on-one time with your furry clients. So to handle more canine customers, you may need to bring on more human help.

With a few exceptions, workers compensation insurance is generally required if you have full- or part-time employees. This type of insurance covers medical bills, lost wages, and legal costs associated with an employee who gets hurt or sick on the job.

Unfortunately, workplace accidents happen. In fact, the annual recorded workplace injury rate is 2.8 accidents per 100 full-time employees.

With the average cost of workers comp claims in recent years being $42,000, investing in workers compensation insurance could make sense for you. Here’s what it generally covers:

• Medical Payments
• Lost Wages
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Death Benefits

Why Get Dog Trainer Insurance

You know that without good training, a dog owner is leaving themselves open to problems down the road. It’s a similar story with dog trainer insurance. Not having it could cost you quite a bit.

Think about this. Based on a study from the Small Business Administration, it was estimated that 36%-53% of small businesses are involved in a lawsuit in a given year.

Just defending yourself in a lawsuit can be expensive. Legal costs for a small business can range anywhere from $3,000 to $150,000.

Along with covering legal fees, dog trainer liability insurance can help your business in other ways as well. If you want to rent space for your growing dog training business, proof of insurance may be one of the landlord’s requirements.

Having insurance also can make your human clients feel more comfortable about you handling their canine family members. It shows you care about your business, which to them, is caring about their dogs.