The Pet Sit Blog

Top three pet claims released by national insurance company

September 21, 2009

Posted in: Uncategorized

Business Insurers of the Carolinas, a Chapel Hill, NC, based insurance company that services the pet-care industry, released its top three categories of insurance claims received from professional pet sitters during 2008.

David Pearsall, director of sales and marketing for Business Insurers of the Carolinas, said that his company, who underwrites the bonding and insurance policies for a majority of pet-sitter businesses in the United States, has received a wide variety of claims over the last year, but most are the result of pets behaving like pets.

The top claims from professional pet sitters fall into these three categories:

1. Walking/Playing/Running – This broad category includes injuries such as pets being bitten by snakes while on hikes, torn anterior cruciate ligaments while playing Frisbee® and slipping on ice while walking. Most payouts for these incidents ranged from $1,000 to $5,000.
   
2. Swallowing or ingesting objects – These claims cover dogs swallowing toys, eating rocks, inhaling fox tails and everything in between. The average payout was $1,865.
   
3. Getting in and out of a vehicle ­- These claims include torn ligaments, broken paws and other injuries of pets who landed awkwardly while getting in and out of vehicles. The pet sitter’s insurance covered medical expenses that ranged from $4,921 to more than $14,000. 

Dr. Louise Murray, DVM and director of medicine at Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in New York City, has seen many instances of two of Pearsall’s findings: pets swallowing objects and injuries resulting from walking/playing/running.

“Many pet owners just don’t realize that pets will eat and swallow just about anything,” Murray said. “I’ve removed everything from coins and knives to eye glasses and baby bottle nipples.”

Murray warns that if an animal can pick up an object, it can and will swallow it.

“This really should inspire every pet owner to be a good housekeeper and keep objects picked up and out of a pet’s reach,” she said.

Murray has also seen many cases of ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments in pets that resulted from walking, playing and running.

“These injuries can be costly and are sometimes unavoidable,” Murray said. “The insurance that most professional pet sitters carry offers peace of mind to pet owners that their pets will be protected.”

Hiring an insured professional pet sitter to care for your pets while you are away can pay huge returns if that pet is involved in an accident. To locate a professional pet sitter in your area, please visit www.petsit.com.