Animal Bailee Coverage (Pet Protection)
Coverage if you are legally liable for injuries or damages to an animal in your care, custody, or control. At Pet Care Insurance (PCI), we refer to animal bailee coverage as Pet Protection Coverage. Why? Because that’s exactly what it does (and, p.s., it protects you, too.)
Peace of mind in action: Pet Protection (Animal Bailee) Insurance covered 59.97% of our claims from pet pros that general liability couldn’t touch* — that’s why we include the reassuring protection of animal bailee coverage in all our policies.
*Percentages based on PCI claims data through 2024
Benefits of Animal Bailee Insurance from PCI
With PCI, you can relax knowing your policy is purpose-made for pet care risks. Animal bailee insurance coverage is automatically included in every base policy, with optional higher limits available if your business needs them.
Animal bailee insurance coverage benefits include:
- No Deductible
- Easily upgrade your policy with higher limits
- Extends policy coverages to injuries, damages, or death of animals in your care
What’s Covered by Pet Protection (Animal Bailee) Coverage?
Accidents can cost you, but they don’t have to. Pet Protection Coverage is made to guard against paying out-of-pocket for accidents that happen to pets in your care. Show pet parents you’re ready for anything.
Animal Bailee Coverage Explained
What Is Animal Bailee Coverage?
Bailee coverage is additional protection we include at no extra cost in every pet care liability policy. It’s a financial safety net for your business if the worst happens and an animal in your care is harmed or dies.
Every PCI general liability policy includes $2,500 per occurrence, up to $5,000 per year of animal bailee coverage. You can even select higher limits to better fit your business.
Who Needs Animal Bailee Insurance?
Every pet care business that works directly with animals needs animal bailee insurance coverage, from groomers and pet sitters to dog walkers. No one wants to think about these situations, but being a pet caregiver means taking on the responsibility to prepare for accidents and injuries.
How Much Does Animal Bailee Coverage Cost?
Our base Pet Protection coverage is included in every PCI pet care general liability policy. You get $2,500 per occurrence / $5,000 per policy term of animal bailee coverage just for choosing us!
Need higher limits to fit your business? Customize your safety net with these extra protections:
$10,000 per Occurrence / $20,000 per Policy Year (+$19.00/annually)
$15,000 per Occurrence / $30,000 per Policy Year (+$29.00/annually)
Upping your coverage is easy. Set your limits when you buy a policy and opt into more coverage anytime through your online dashboard.
Want to know how Pet Protection will fit into your overall insurance costs and coverage? We tailor-made policies (with animal bailee included) perfect for pet professionals of all kinds:
Coverage Details & Limits
Limits of Insurance
The most your policy will pay in a 12 month policy period for bodily injury and property damage claims that you become legally obligated to pay due to your business services.
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
Each Occurrence
Aggregate Limit
The maximum amount your policy will pay in a 12-month period for bodily injury and property damage claims that result from the products you use to perform your services.
$2,000,000
The amount that your policy will pay for claims arising out of one or more of the following offenses:
- False arrest, detention or imprisonment
- Malicious prosecution
- Wrongful eviction or wrongful entry
- Oral or written publications that slander or libel a person or organization
- Oral or written publication or material that violates a person’s right of privacy
- The use of another’s advertising idea in your advertisement
$1,000,000
The maximum your policy will pay for a bodily injury or property damage claim that you become legally obligated to pay due to your business services.
$1,000,000
Applies to damage by fire to premises rented to the insured; also applies to damage regardless of cause to premises (including contents) occupied by the insured for 7 days or less.
$100,000
Any One Premises
A general liability coverage that reimburses others, without regard to the insured’s liability, for medical or funeral expenses incurred by such persons as a result of bodily injury or death sustained by accident under the conditions specified in the policy.
$5,000
Any One Person
This provides your pet business with coverage in the event that you are legally liable for injuries or damages sustained by an animal in your care, custody, or control.
$2,500
$5,000
Each Occurrence
Aggregate Limit
This provides coverage for medical expenses—regardless of who is at fault—for a client’s pet in your care, custody, or control.
$1,000
$2,500
$250
Each Occurrence
Aggregate Limit
Deductible
This coverage is designed to protect and pay for equipment or supplies that suffer damage or theft. This includes dryers, clippers, kennels, food, leashes, shampoos and more.
Up to $10,000
Up to $50,000
$250
Limit per Incident
Limit per Year
Deductible
If you were to lose the keys to a client’s residence, this coverage could help you manage the cost of installing new locks or having the building rekeyed.
$2,000
$2,000
Each Occurrence
Aggregate Limit
* Please note these are brief definitions of coverage. Your policy may be more restrictive in its language. Refer to the actual policy for a complete description of coverages and exclusions.
Get Animal Bailee Coverage Today
Keep your business purring with PCI, where essential coverage like animal bailee insurance (Pet Protection) comes standard.
Animal Bailee Insurance FAQ
Yes — every pet care business needs animal bailee coverage. It’s so essential that we include $2,500 per occurrence / $5,000 per policy term in all base general liability policies, plus higher available limits. Most general liability policies for businesses don’t cover pets, so you need a policy customized with animal bailee insurance to fit the unique risks of pet care.
Consider the surroundings, possible risks, and amount of furry clients you are caring for when you select the limit that best fits your business.
If you need to increase your bailee insurance limits on a current PCI policy:
- Login to PetCareIns.com
- Under the Manage Policies box, select “Change Policy Options”
- Scroll down to Animal Bailee and click it to unfold your options
- Select the level of coverage you need, then select “Purchase Selected Options”
It is easy to update and add coverage at any time to your general liability policy for pet professionals. Please contact us if you have questions about adding additional coverage.
If you need animal bailee insurance, you probably want a few other types of insurance to cover all your pet care business risks. These are the coverages other pet care professionals commonly pair with animal bailee in our policies:
- General Liability Insurance: Covers bodily injury and property damage, products and services, advertising issues, fire damage to rental spaces, and medical bills
- Veterinarian Reimbursement: Pays you back when you take a pet in your care for emergency treatment
- Lost Key Liability Insurance: Reimbursement for having a client’s home rekeyed if you lose the keys or get locked out
- Broadened Property Damage Coverage: Protection against paying for special types of damage to clients’ property during care
- Equipment & Inventory (Inland Marine) Coverage: Pays for damaged, lost, or stolen business supplies, from pet toys to your business tablet
- Cyber Liability Insurance: Protection against costly lawsuits if clients’ personal or payment data is stolen in a cyber attack
- Employee Dishonesty Coverage: Covers you against the financial consequences of employee theft
- Independent Contractor Coverage: Protection for businesses who hire independent contractors
Groomer animal bailee coverage is a vital part of pet groomer insurance that guards against financial and safety risks. A slip of the shears, an allergic reaction to a product, or too much time under the hose can have serious medical consequences for pets. Consequences that create expensive bills and leave your business limping.
Animal bailee is designed to cover your grooming business against legal costs related to animal injury, giving clients trust in your services and you the support to style with confidence.
Pet sitters spend lots of one-on-one time with furry clients, making animal bailee insurance coverage a must. This coverage is designed to help in pet sitting insurance claims like these real examples from PCI policyholders:
- Pet parents blame you for giving Corduroy unfamiliar treats after discovering he has an intestinal obstruction and needs surgery.
- Kai chewed on a tree while you let her exercise in the client’s backyard, resulting in the need for dental care later.
- Houdini manages to sneak around you through the front door when you enter. You search the neighborhood but can’t find her during your cat sitting appointment.
Becoming a flight nanny, pet taxi, or animal transporter means combining travel delays, surprises, and risks with the unpredictability of pets.
Injuries while loading and unloading pets in carriers happen more often than you think, not to mention risks like losing pets in a crowded airport. Animal bailee insurance makes sure you’re covered when the unpredictable happens.
Caring for multiple animals means increasing the risk of injuries and accidents. Anxious pups might start a fight and injure each other, or you may accidentally give Fido’s medications to Fredo. Pet parents could even bring in a pet not realizing she’s sick and pass on her illness to other animals in your care.
When you’re responsible for pets’ safety, it can fall on you to pay for even unavoidable accidents. Animal bailee coverage can take the financial pressure off your business if the worst happens.
See What Else We Cover
Besides pet sitters, Pet Care Insurance also responds to many other professionals in the pet service industry, some of whom include:
