While every pet care professional should be passionate about keeping their client’s pet from harm and away from danger, every once in a while things don’t go as planned. Being protected by pet sitting insurance is so important because you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars if a claim is filed against you, and paying for that by yourself could put a big financial strain on your business.
Let’s take a look at seven of the biggest pet sitter claims we’ve received here at PCI.
1. Big Messes!
Dogs can get pretty rambunctious sometimes. Any pet sitter knows that taking your eyes off of a pet can lead to some awful consequences. One pet care business located in Southern California was held liable for damage that a client’s dog caused while in their care. Some pretty expensive items were damaged, totaling $18,179. Thank goodness this business had a policy from Pet Care Insurance, because they were insured for the total amount.
Could your pet sitting business afford to pay almost twenty thousand dollars in damages and not do serious financial damage to your bottom line?
2. If Only The Dog Would’ve Looked Both Ways
A pet sitting business in Seattle Washington suffered one of the biggest nightmares any pet care professional should never have to go through. While caring for a client’s dog, the beloved pet was struck by a car. The owners held the business liable, and the business had to pay them $10,000. Their pet sitting insurance policy paid the money, but the real tragedy here is the poor dog.
It’s a stark reminder that those things that you say may never happen to you could be closer than you think.
3. Kitty Catastrophe
While most claims involve dogs, cats aren’t immune to harm. One pet sitter business in New York was caring for a client’s cat and the cat was injured. After medical care costs and damages, the business was responsible for paying $7,157.
Even if you only watch cats and think that they are low-maintenance and aren’t going to get in trouble, there’s a real-world claim to prove that mentality wrong.
4. Keep Your Paws Inside The Moving Vehicle at All Time
When driving, make sure to keep an eye on dogs you may have in your vehicle. Two different pet care businesses on different sides of the country, one in California and one in Florida went through the same injury with dogs in their care. What’s crazy is both incidents happened in February of 2018. We doubt the ability of dogs to coordinate such stunts, but if they both wanted to run away it didn’t work out. In these cases, both dogs were injured and needed to receive medical care.
Both businesses had Pet Care Insurance policies and were covered for $5,000 each to pay for the medical costs and damages.
5. Lost Dog
Few things strike fear into the heart of any pet care professional like losing a client’s pet. One business had just this thing happen in September of 2017. The pet sitter lost sight of the dog and it ran off. When the dog was finally found, it had been attacked by a coyote. The dog was taken to get medical care.
Pet Care Insurance paid $4,095.06 to the business to cover medical costs and damages. It just goes to show that your worst fears can get even worse.
6. Not All Dogs Play Well With Other Dogs
If you were expecting a dog attack claim, here it is. A client’s dog was in the care of a pet sitter and while they were on a walk in New York City, another dog fought and injured it. After receiving medical treatment, the vet bill was thousands of dollars. Luckily the pet sitter had insurance and received a check for $4,043.71 to help pay for the expenses she’d incurred.
7. Dogs Will Eat Anything
There are so many claims involving dogs eating things we’ll include a list of just 5 recent examples.
- Dog ate medication, PCI paid $2,496.36
- Dog ate gum and became ill, PCI paid $2,244.35
- Dog ate a palm seed and required surgery, PCI paid $2,099.80
- Dog ate chew toy, PCI paid $734.18
- Dog ate marijuana brownies and had to go to the vet, PCI paid $341.80
The lesson to be learned from all of these claims is that the risks of pet sitting are very real and without insurance, you are taking on all the risk by yourself. Keeping your business from being exposed to that kind of risk is not only responsible to you, it’s also responsible for your clients.
For quality pet sitting insurance that starts at only $139 a year, Pet Care Insurance has you covered.
