--- title: "Public liability insurance for dog walkers" description: "What public liability insurance covers, what it does not, and what else a dog walker needs. Plain explanation of care, custody and control — the clause most policies hide behind." canonical_url: "https://woodle-app.com/guides/public-liability-insurance-dog-walkers" last_updated: "2026-09-17T09:00:34.755Z" --- This is the one piece of paper that stands between a bad afternoon and losing your house. It is also the one most people put off, because nothing has gone wrong yet. ## What public liability actually covers Public liability covers **injury to other people and damage to their property** caused by your business activity. In dog walking, the realistic scenarios are mundane and expensive: - A dog you are handling runs into the road and causes a collision. - A dog slips its lead and bites a passer-by or another dog. - You let yourself into a client's house with their key and something breaks. In each case the claim is not against the dog or its owner — it is against you, because the dog was in your charge. ## The clause that catches people out Standard public liability typically excludes property **in your care, custody or control**. That phrase does a lot of work, because a dog is legally property, and a dog you are walking is very much in your care. So a bare public liability policy may cover the passer-by the dog bit, and **not** the dog itself if it is injured. Same incident, different answers. What you want is a policy written for pet professionals, which adds **care, custody and control cover** for the animals you look after. Vet fees for a dog hurt in your charge are the most common claim in this trade, and they are exactly the ones a generic policy declines. ## What else is worth having **Key cover.** If you hold client keys — and you will — losing one can mean replacing a lock, or a whole barrel system. Key cover pays for that and is usually a small addition. **Employers' liability.** Only if you take on staff, and then it is not optional: it is a legal requirement for almost all employers in the UK, with meaningful fines for going without. If it is just you, you do not need it. **Equipment cover.** Leads, harnesses, a crate in the car. Small sums, and most people self-insure this without thinking about it. ## What it costs, roughly For a solo dog walker in the UK, a specialist pet business policy is typically a low three-figure sum per year. It scales with the number of dogs you handle at once, whether you board, and your claims history. That is worth comparing to the number on a single vet bill for a cruciate ligament repair, which can run to four figures on its own. ## Questions to ask before you buy Insurance brochures are written to sound comprehensive. These four questions get you to what is actually covered: - **How many dogs am I covered for at once?** Policies cap it. Take on a fourth dog on a policy written for three, and you may have no cover at all for that walk — not reduced cover, none. - **Does it cover off-lead walking?** Some policies exclude it or require written owner consent on file. If you walk off-lead, get that consent in writing from every client, and keep it. - **Am I covered for transport?** Driving dogs to a walking spot is a business use of your vehicle. Your motor insurance needs to know, and your pet policy may or may not cover the dogs while in transit. - **What is the excess, per claim or per incident?** A group walk that goes wrong can produce several claims from one afternoon. ## Boarding and day care change the answer If dogs stay overnight at your home, you are in different territory: you need a licence from your local council under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations, and the council will usually want to see insurance as part of granting it. The inspection covers your premises, not just your paperwork. Do not take the first overnight booking and sort the licence afterwards. Councils can and do prosecute for unlicensed boarding. ## The practical version Get a specialist pet business policy with care, custody and control included, before your first paid walk. Add key cover. Keep written consent for off-lead walking. Tell your motor insurer that you carry dogs. Then file the certificate somewhere you can find it in two years, because that is when someone will ask for it. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.