The Three Core Policies
1. Public Liability Insurance
What it covers: Legal liability for injury to members of the public or damage to their property arising from your business activities.
Examples:
A client trips over a lead in your shop and is injured
A dog in your care escapes and damages a neighbour's property
A pet owner is bitten by another client's dog on your premises
How much cover: pet industry packages are commonly sold at $10 million or $20 million. Marsh's scheme for dog trainers, for example, offers "$10 million or $20 million limits" (Marsh). Your landlord or council may set a minimum, so check before you choose a limit.
Who holds it: almost every pet business.
2. Professional Indemnity Insurance
What it covers: Claims arising from your professional advice or services, including alleged negligence, errors or omissions.
Examples:
A trainer's method is blamed for a dog's injury or a worsening behaviour problem
A boarding business misses a medication the owner specified
A grooming product causes a reaction (depending on the wording, this can sit under public liability instead, so ask which policy responds)
Professional indemnity is usually written on a claims-made basis. One pet industry wording covers claims "first made against the Insured AND reported to the Insurer during the Period of Insurance" (AXA XL wording, via Marsh). In practice that means the policy you hold when someone complains is the one that matters, not the one you held when you did the work. Letting it lapse when you stop trading can leave old work uncovered.
3. Care, Custody and Control Cover
What it covers: Injury to, illness of, loss of, or death of animals while they are in your care.
Examples:
A dog injures itself jumping a fence at your boarding property
Two dogs in your daycare fight and one is seriously hurt
A cat escapes during boarding and is hit by a car
Why it's separate: standard public liability generally excludes property in your care, and the law treats pets as property. One pet industry policy wording excludes damage to "property in the physical or legal control of the Insured" and then adds pets back through its own extension (AXA XL wording). If your policy has no such extension, it may not pay for the dog at all.
Who it matters to: anyone who takes physical charge of someone else's pet.
What Animal Bailee Cover Actually Means
"Animal bailee" and "care, custody and control" are two names for the same idea: cover for animals you hold on someone else's behalf. The detail is where the surprises are.
What counts as damage. The AXA XL wording defines it as "injured, lost, fallen ill or death". Not every policy includes illness or loss, so a kennel cough outbreak or a dog that is never found may fall outside a policy that only says injury.
The limit. That wording caps the extension at "$50,000 per animal and $250,000 in the annual aggregate". A business boarding several dogs from one household on the same night can reach the aggregate faster than it expects.
Vet fees. Marsh notes that "veterinary fees are an optional extension under most pet professionals policies" (Marsh). If you assumed the vet bill for an injured client dog was covered, check that line first.
Other insurance. The same extension does not apply where another policy covers someone with an interest in the pet. Where the owner's own pet insurance responds, yours may step back.
Dangerous dogs. The wording excludes liability connected with dogs declared dangerous under state law. That matters most to trainers doing behaviour work. Check separately how your policy treats restricted breeds.
Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Insurance
Pet sitting insurance and dog walker insurance are usually the same package: public liability, care, custody and control, and optional professional indemnity if you give behaviour or training advice (Petcover).
What catches walkers and sitters out:
Marsh notes there are "currently no regulations for pet walkers". No law makes a solo walker take out insurance, though your council may require public liability for park work. Without it, one bad afternoon is paid from your own savings.
Boarding Kennel and Cattery Insurance
Boarding carries the most animals for the longest time, so care, custody and control does the heavy lifting. Petcover describes boarding cover as protection "if a dog is injured, becomes ill, goes missing or dies while in your care, custody or control", alongside cover for kennels, fencing, bedding and equipment (Petcover).
What catches boarding businesses out:
Illness picked up on site. Kennel cough is the obvious one. Confirm illness is in the definition, not only injury.
Night-time escapes and fights between boarders (
Marsh).
Vet fees. Often an optional extension rather than standard.
Closure. If an outbreak or a flood shuts you for a fortnight, business interruption cover is what pays the bills. Not every package includes it.
Catteries sit under the same cover. Pet Professional groups kennels and catteries together and lists care, custody and control and business interruption for both (Pet Professional).
Dog Grooming Insurance, Mobile and Salon
Dog grooming insurance typically bundles public liability, care, custody and control, cover for equipment such as clippers, dryers, tables and baths, and workers' compensation once you employ people (Petcover). Marsh adds professional indemnity for disputes over the standard of a groom.
What catches groomers out:
Cuts, burns and product reactions. Ask which policy responds to each: care, custody and control for the dog, public liability or professional indemnity for a product reaction.
Mobile work. A grooming van needs its own motor cover; vehicle liability is excluded from the liability wording. Ask whether your equipment is covered inside the van, and overnight when it is parked at home.
Restraint in a client's driveway. Pet Professional flags restraining pets during home visits as a mobile risk (
Pet Professional).
Doggy Daycare Insurance
Daycare puts many dogs together for hours, so dog-on-dog injury is the claim to plan for. Petcover calls care, custody and control "one of the most important covers for dog day care businesses" and adds public and products liability, premises, equipment and business interruption (Petcover).
Settle these with a broker before you sign:
What you have declared. Marsh defines pet day care as minding "without an overnight stay" and asks you to tell it if you add activities during the policy period. Adding overnight boarding or puppy classes without telling the insurer is how a claim gets declined.
Puppy socialisation and training. If you run classes, ask whether they sit under public liability, professional indemnity or both.
Dog Trainer Insurance
For trainers the advice is the product, so professional indemnity matters as much as public liability. Marsh is the endorsed broker for the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Australia, with public liability at $10 million or $20 million, professional indemnity up to $10 million and loss of keys cover for members (Marsh). Marsh discloses that the association receives a financial benefit from the arrangement.
What catches trainers out:
Dogs declared dangerous. Check the dangerous-dog exclusion before you take a behaviour case, and ask how restricted breeds are treated.
Public places. Classes on council land may require public liability (
BizCover).
Online advice. Ask whether professional indemnity covers remote consults.
Claims-made timing. If your policy has a retroactive date (the date your cover reaches back to), know it. Report an incident when it happens rather than at renewal.
Does Pet Insurance Cover Boarding or Daycare?
This is the question pet owners type. Mostly, the answer is no.
For owners. Several Australian pet insurance policies pay boarding fees at a licensed kennel or cattery only in narrow emergencies, usually when the owner is unexpectedly hospitalised and no one else can care for the pet. Pet Insurance Australia's Select and Protect cover pays after two or more consecutive days in hospital, or when you need emergency accommodation because of family violence, up to 30 days a policy period (PDS, October 2025). Another insurer's PDS requires four or more days and says it does not otherwise cover expenses to board your pet (insurance.com.au PDS). Routine boarding or daycare fees are not a claim. Vet bills for an illness picked up while boarding, such as kennel cough, can be covered like any other illness, subject to the policy; your insurer is the one to ask. ASIC's MoneySmart notes that treatment for diseases with a known vaccine is a common exclusion (MoneySmart).
For operators. An owner's pet insurance is not your cover. If a dog is hurt in your care, the claim against you runs through your own care, custody and control or liability policy, and an owner's insurer that pays a vet bill may look to recover it from you.
Workers' Compensation
Workers' compensation covers your employees if they're injured at work. In the pet industry the common claims are bites, slips and falls, and repetitive strain, especially for groomers.
When you need it. business.gov.au says employers must get workers compensation insurance from an authorised insurer, and the laws vary in each state and territory (business.gov.au). Casual staff count as employees. In most states you need cover as soon as you employ anyone.
NSW and Victoria exempt very small wage bills. In NSW you do not need a policy if you pay $7,500 or less in wages in a financial year, do not hire an apprentice or trainee, and are not part of a group of businesses (icare). Victoria uses a $7,500 test with no apprentices (WorkSafe Victoria). Check your own state's rule.
Sole traders. In business.gov.au's words, "If you're a sole trader, workers compensation insurance doesn't cover you." Personal accident cover, which several pet industry packages include, is one way to fill that gap.
Contractors. One pet industry wording requires subcontractors to hold at least $10 million public liability of their own, and Marsh tells trainers that independent contractors "will need their own insurance".
Where to start: each state and territory runs its own scheme, and its workers' compensation regulator can tell you how to get cover there. Safe Work Australia publishes the authoritative list (safeworkaustralia.gov.au):
| State / Territory | Workers' compensation regulator |
|---|
| NSW | State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) |
| VIC | WorkSafe Victoria |
| QLD | WorkCover Queensland |
| WA | WorkCover WA |
| SA | ReturnToWorkSA |
| TAS | WorkSafe Tasmania |
| NT | NT WorkSafe |
| ACT | WorkSafe ACT |
The workers' compensation authority and the work health and safety regulator are not always the same body. In NSW, SafeWork NSW is the WHS regulator while SIRA regulates workers' compensation insurance.
What Your Insurer Wants to See
Insurers price risk. The more you can show that you manage it, the easier the conversation.
| Risk | What to show |
|---|
| Incident documentation | Written incident reports for every event, no matter how minor |
| Waivers and service agreements | Signed terms of service for every client |
| Vaccination requirements | Documented vaccination checks before accepting any pet |
| Staff training records | Documented training, certifications and professional development |
| Facility maintenance | Regular safety inspections, documented maintenance schedules |
| Emergency procedures | Written emergency protocols, vet contact details on display |
Related reading: Disclaimer vs Waiver and Incident Reporting 101 cover the paperwork that backs this up.
How to Shop for Pet Business Insurance
Pet industry packages online. BizCover and Pet Professional sell packages built for pet businesses. Neither is an insurer. BizCover acts as an agent of the insurers, and Pet Professional refers you to BizCover's policies and receives a fee for doing so. BizCover publishes an average of $54 a month for pet professionals, based on its customers' payments from July 2023 to June 2024, which is a useful anchor and not a quote for your business.
A broker. A broker who knows pet businesses can compare wordings, not just prices. Marsh and Petcover both run pet industry programmes.
Your association. business.gov.au suggests checking with your professional association, which may offer industry-specific cover at a lower cost. Trainers have the APDT scheme above.
What to check when you compare:
Whether care, custody and control is included, and whether it covers illness and loss as well as injury
The per-animal and annual limits, and whether vet fees are included or an extra
Exclusions, especially dangerous dogs, vehicles and any activity you have not declared
The excess per claim
Whether contractors are covered or need their own policy
This is general guidance for Australian pet business owners. It is not legal, accounting, tax or financial advice. Your insurance needs depend on your services, location, staff and risk profile, and workers' compensation rules differ in every state and territory and change over time. Policy wordings quoted here are examples, not a description of your policy. Check the linked primary source, or a qualified insurance broker, before you act on anything here.
Sources
Marsh and AXA XL, Combined Liability Policy Wording, Pet Industry (July 2021):
au.marsh.comMarsh, Insurance for the Association of Pet Dog Trainers:
au.marsh.com
