Pet Sitter Insurance - A Common Sense Guide to Pet Sitter�s Insurance
In most states, pet sitter insurance is not an actual requirement,
although to operate a business as a pet sitter without the advantages
of pet sitter insurance is simply insanity waiting to happen. Pet
sitter insurance is an obvious sign of professionalism as well as
an obvious mode of self-protection. Other people’s pets are
unpredictable creatures with the ability to spring “surprise!” behavior
at you without warning. As the pet sitter, you are liable for the
injuries to the animal or human that someone else’s dog just
decided to “Surprise!”
Avoiding messes as these are exactly what pet sitter insurance is designed for,
not to mention the messes that happen inside the home. Should Ralphy decide to
suddenly chew through his owner’s wall while you are getting the food together
or should a valuable piece of jewelry turn up missing after your stay, the pet
sitter insurance is there to help protect you.
For most professional pet sitters, pet sitter insurance is a fairly reasonable
expense. Depending on the company and the coverage, pet sitter insurance may
run you between $200 and $300 annually for a single person who operates their
own pet sitting service. Adding on spouses and employees bumps it up by about
$100 per year, but ironically children under the age of 18 can typically be added
for free.
Pet sitters insurance may not be mandated by most states, however, it is becoming
more and more popular for counties or districts to require it. Pet sitters typically
need a business license, in which case they would also have to carry insurance
of liability to operate legally in the United States. The laws get tricky and
often have to be professionally interpreted to thoroughly understand them. The
bottom line never changes, and pet sitting without pet sitter insurance is simply
begging to be slammed with some sort of incident expense that may or may not
have actually been in your control.
Shopping for pet sitters insurance is not difficult. In fact, it’s one
of the easiest insurances to obtain. Many pet sitting organizations offer memberships
that offer tips, business ideas, and insurance. Of course, you will want to read
all the membership and insurance information very carefully to be certain that
you’re getting adequate coverage for your dollar, but most pet sitter insurance
offered either privately or through pet sitting organizations is fairly clear
cut.
It is unwise to save a few dollars and neglect to purchase theft protection in
your insurance policy. Just because you are well aware that you’re not
interested in rifling through anyone’s belongings and helping yourself
doesn’t mean that Little Johnny didn’t blame the pet sitter when
he swiped his father’s Rolex and pawned for well under value in order to
finance a bad idea. While pet sitter insurance will not prove you innocent, it
will help to offset the costs of legal trouble as well as place the power of
a larger business behind you as you dig yourself out of Little Johnny’s
hole.
Pet sitter's insurance is really a non-negotiable necessity that should not be
overlooked. Pet sitting can be a wonderful business for those who have the heart
for it. It would be a shame to lose an excellent pet sitter to an incident of
unpredictability simply because they neglected to carry insurance.