Episode 10: Top 15 Most Common Pet Sitting Insurance Claims

In this episode of "Bella In Your Business", we are joined by David Pearsall, Vice President at Business Insurers of the Carolinas, which specializes in commercial insurance, including businesses providing pet services.  David joins Bella for the first of what will be many episodes dealing with insurance for those in the pet sitting industry. This episode focuses on the the 15 most common pet sitting insurance claims. Bella asks the age old question of how to know when you should or should not put in a pet sitting insurance claim? David discusses the factors insurance companies look at when deciding on writing or renewing your policy and how you can use those factors to make that call.  Though, he emphasizes that you should also keep in mind that what may appear to be a small claim may eventually turn out to be a big one. Yikes! David kicks off the Top 15 by discussing the Top 5 most frequent pet sitting insurance claims (see below).  As part of it, he discusses the differences between Animal Care, Custody, and Control policies. David also mentions that the contents of the client’s home are usually excluded from most general liability policies, but some policies, like the one offered by the association, may have endorsements covering that. If you, your employee, or one of the animals in your care is attacked by a third-party animal, try to get the information about that animal’s owner.  More than likely, they will be liable for the incident. There sure are a lot of pet sitting insurance claims! Then, David covers the Top 5 most frequent third-party claims (also below). He mentions how often people are injured when two dogs are fighting.  He stresses that you should NEVER try to get between two fighting dogs. It will more than likely end badly. He suggests using methods such as loud noises or water hoses to break it up. Bites to children is big on the list as well. David recommends that you emphasize to your employees or independent contractors that it is their responsibility to keep other people, especially children, away from the dogs in their care as even the most well-tempered dog may bite if it is spooked or the child provokes it. Another big claim on the list is property damage to clients' homes.  David recommends sitters be cognizant of things like water faucets and running toilets.  He also suggests that sitters really know their cleaning supplies as there have been many claims related to sitters using a cleaner on a floor that ultimately ruins the finish. David then talks about the Top 5 Workman’s Comp pet sitting insurance claims (also below). He says the key thing is to get your employee taken care of and back to work as quickly as possible.   David says that if you or your employee has an accident or is injured, call the workman’s comp insurer as soon as possible!  The sooner they are involved the better your overall outcome is likely to be. He also suggests that you should have a relationship with a clinic where you send employees with non-life threatening emergencies as they are much less expensive and patients are often seen much more quickly there than in a hospital  emergency room. Here the Top 5 lists: Top 5 Pet Related Claims Ingesting  something foreign. (Example: medicine, toys) Dog bitten by another dog owned by third party Dog bitten by another dog in the sitter’s care Scratches and injuries (to animal) due to running into or stepping on things. Pet damages to the contents of homes. Top 5 Third-Party Claims Dog in a sitter’s care attacks or bites another dog Dog bites a person (other than you or your employee) Water damage. (Example: Sitter leaving the water on in a client’s home) Dog runs into or undercuts a person (other than you or your employee) Damages to the client’s home. (Example: Sitter causes a fire in a client’s home) Top 5 Workman’s Comp Claims Dog or cat bite to hands or arms Slips, trips, and falls Slips and falls on stairs Dog bites to other body parts Dogs at play..odd injuries. (Example:  Dog jumps up and knocks out a sitter’s tooth) Here is David's contact information: David Pearsall, CIC, CWCA Business Insurers of the Carolinas PO Box 2536, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 1-800-962-4611 x214 [email protected] Transcript: Bella: This episode is brought to you by my free webinar, Jump and Scale Your Business. It's my three-part training series all dedicated to finding and attracting the right kind of people that will scale your business. Did I mention it's free? Listen, you have to attend this if you want to grow your staff, you feel like you're being held hostage, you have high turnover, you feel burnt out, or you're just not seeing the results you want. Join me for this three-part free webinar series. Register now at jumpconsulting.net/scale. That's jumpconsulting.net/scale. I'll see you there. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready, Bella's got your chute. Let's jump. Hello, this is Bella from Jump Consulting, and I welcome everyone who's listening or watching. I have the honor and pleasure of doing the first of many series to come with the one and only David Pearsall from Business Insurers of the Carolinas. If you're a pet sitter in the industry, I am sure you've heard of Business Insurers of the Carolinas. And we have David here today to talk about the 15 most common pet sitting claims. This is something that he deals with day in and day out. I've had personal dealings with him, and I'm so pleased and excited, David, to see you face to face and actually be talking to you today. So welcome and thank you. David: Thanks, Bella. I appreciate you having me on today. I'm excited. It's the first time I've ever done a blab and I'm looking forward to doing many more and hopefully this one will be successful. People will learn something and get something out of it. As you mentioned, the top 15 claims, when I look at the claims, we have so many and so many to choose from. So I opted to break it out into different categories. So hopefully everyone in the pet sitting industry, I'm certain, will understand when I start going into them. Bella: I love the three topics that we have. It's liability, pet claims, and workman's compensation. I think before we jump into them, I would speculate, because I've had the same kind of questions before, David. And your illustrations will probably give the answer, but, you know, something happens in business and we say, will insurance cover it? Should I put in a claim? Should I pay it out of pocket? What do I do? Am I going to get penalized for putting in a claim? Is it worth it? Or am I going to get in trouble? There are so many things. So like we have this insurance, but we're not quite sure what or when or how to use it. So I think these illustrations you're about to give are really going to help jog people's memories. David: Ideally, that's what insurance is for. You have an accident. You need to look and certainly you want to check with your insurer and see if it's covered. One thing I'll let you know, because we work with many, many different insurance companies in our office and have throughout my career. Certainly everybody knows we work with the associations, so we have the association liability policies, but we also work with all the national carriers from Travelers to CNA to Hartford and so forth and so on. What most insurance companies will look at is two things. They'll look at your frequency, meaning how many claims you have, and they'll also look at your loss ratio. Usually it's not premium; you pay in each year. If you take that and you take the claims that you have paid out on your behalf, most insurance companies want to run a profitable business, just like most pet sitters want to run a profitable business. So that's what they look at. Bella: I know that makes sense. That’s something people can relate to because every pet sitter understands running profitably. David: Exactly. The first category is liability claims. Those are the ones that are most frequent. Those can include a lot of things: dog bites, property damage, or anything that involves a third party. Bella: Right, so that could be like if a pet sitter is walking a client’s dog and that dog gets loose and bites another dog or person? David: Correct. We’ve seen so many variations of that. Let’s start there. A pet sitter could be walking a dog, and maybe the leash breaks or the dog pulls and knocks someone down. That’s a liability claim. Another one could be when a sitter accidentally leaves a door open and a client’s cat gets out. Even if the cat is later found, the client may file a claim for emotional distress or vet bills. Bella: Wow. I can imagine that happens more often than people realize. David: Absolutely. The most common one that stands out, though, is dog bites. We’ve had cases where the pet sitter was walking a dog, and another dog approached and attacked. Sometimes the sitter gets bitten trying to break it up. Other times, the dog they’re walking bites someone else. Either way, there’s liability. Bella: So what happens then? If my sitter is walking a client’s dog and that dog bites another person, who’s responsible—the sitter, the company, or the client? David: The short answer is: potentially all of them. That’s why liability coverage exists—to defend you and pay claims if you’re legally liable. Typically, we’d see the client’s homeowner’s insurance step in for the dog owner, but as the business, you could still be named in the suit. Bella: So it’s like the legal version of “better safe than sorry.” David: Exactly. It’s always better to report it and let the carrier investigate. Even if it turns out to be minor, they can advise you on next steps.