House Sitting Insurance
Protect the pets and the place with house sitter insurance made for you.
$26.10/ month
Trusted care starts here
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Pet and House Sitting Insurance for Safe Stays
Get confidence from key handoff to ‘welcome home!’ with coverage for pets, homes, and your business. House sitter insurance gives you the same peace of mind you give to clients with protection tailored to your biggest risks:
$2M of general liability coverage for pricey injury lawsuits and damage claims
Pet Protection Coverage shields you and pets in your care, custody, or control
Vet Reimbursement lets you get pets help now without worrying about your wallet
Lost Key Liability handles rekeying costs if you’re locked out or lose the keys
Relax and focus on the pets, the plants, and the place. The ‘what ifs’ are already covered.
Buy Online in 10 Minutes or Less
Instant Proof of Insurance
Employee Dishonesty Coverage
(Similar to Bonding)
Friendly, Certified Customer Service
Let Us Take Care of That
When the dishwasher starts leaking or the cat gets sick, support matters. Insurance for house and pet sitting lets you put love and care into every stay, no matter what. Here’s how we’ve helped house sitters like you:
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Insurance for House and Pet Sitting Explained
What Is House Sitting Insurance?
House sitter insurance protects you financially if accidents like property damage, pet injuries, and injuries to others happen while you watch a client’s home. Pet Care Insurance (PCI) shields your business from expensive claims and shows clients you’re a house sitter they can rely on. Here’s what’s included:
General Liability Insurance: Covers bodily injury and property damage to others, harm caused by your services or products you use, advertising mistakes, damage to spaces you rent, and others’ medical expenses
“I used the wrong litter in my client’s robot litter box. Now it’s broken and they expect me to pay for an $800 replacement.”
Pet Protection Coverage (Animal Bailee): Protects you from legal claims when animals in your care, custody, or control get hurt, lost, sick, or even die
“Moose broke away from his leash and took off. I searched for hours but couldn’t find him.”
Veterinarian Reimbursement: Pays you back for vet bills when an animal in your care needs emergency treatment
“Lady stopped eating and started to have trouble moving. I rushed her to the vet immediately.”
Lost Key Liability: Reimbursement for locksmith bills if you lose a client’s key or get locked out
“I got locked out of my client’s condo and their emergency contact was unreachable.”
Who Needs Pet and House Sitting Insurance (And When?)
If you stay in or watch over someone else’s home, belongings, plants, and/or pets while they’re away, house sitting insurance is for you. Because accidents only take a second around unfamiliar places and pets, house sitters can’t afford to skip insurance. Here are some reasons you might need house sitter insurance:
- For side hustlers: Even if you only house sit for extra cash, insurance keeps side gigs from costing you if there’s an accident by helping pay for vet bills and legal costs
- For independent contractors: If you’re a 1099 contractor for a house sitting platform or are self-employed, having your own house sitting insurance can keep you protected
- For house sitting businesses: Insurance separates you from the amateurs, proving you’re a legitimate business prepared to make it right if something goes wrong
- For scoring new clients: House sitter insurance is a promise with weight. It proves that you do what it takes to earn and keep clients’ trust.
What Does House Sitting Insurance Cover?
Insurance for house and pet sitting covers your financial and legal responsibility for the safety of pets and property in your care, along with your risk of injuries and damage to someone else, their pets, or their stuff.
You can also customize exactly what your policy covers with these optional add-ons:
- Broadened Property Damage Coverage (Popular!): Your house sitter policy already covers a client’s building, fixtures, and yard (the permanent stuff). Broadened property coverage adds protection for their belongings, like furniture and decor.
- Workers Compensation Coverage: Pays for employees’ on-the-job injuries. House sitting services with a staff are required to carry this coverage in most states.
- Cyber Liability Coverage: Helps pay for data breach lawsuits, ransomware attacks, and more if a hacker steals client data from you.
- Employee Dishonesty Insurance (similar to bonding): Covers your business if your employee steals from a client. Ever heard the term “bonded and insured pet sitter”? This is the bond they’re talking about.
- Equipment and Inventory Coverage: Pays you back if your work supplies are stolen or damaged. That could include anything from dog toys and cleaning supplies to your work phone.
- Commercial Auto Insurance: Protects you from damage or injury costs due to driving for your house sitting service.
- Employee Insurance: Covers your business for legal costs and claims if one of your employees harms a client’s pet or property
- Independent Contractor Insurance: Extends your business’s liability coverage to contractors you hire
Should I Get Pet Sitting Insurance or House Sitting Insurance?
Whether you’re house sitting with a side of pet care or starting a pet sitting business that includes overnight stays, you need insurance tailored to your risks. Here’s how to know which is right for you:
- Are you a house sitter who also cares for pets? Go with house sitter insurance. Coverage that matches your focus will help clients understand your protection and give you an edge over competitors (especially if you advertise on house sitting platforms).
- Are you a pet sitter who does overnight stays? Go with pet sitter insurance. If every (or just about every) job you take includes watching pets, dog sitter insurance or cat sitter insurance will reflect your pet-first focus to clients.
- Does over a fourth of your annual revenue come from house sitting without a pet present? Neither is right for you. We’re all about pets here at Pet Care Insurance (it’s in the name), so we’re not the right policy if you rarely care for animals. Check the list of activities we don’t cover to make sure PCI is a good fit.
How to Add Homeowners as Additional Insureds
Clients may ask you to add them to your policy as an additional insured. This means they want coverage under your insurance if your service leads to them being sued. (For example, if a friend drops off your lunch and injures themselves on the client’s property.)
You can add unlimited additional insureds to your policy anytime through your user dashboard for less than a dollar a month.
House Sitting Insurance Designed for You
PCI works with A-rated carriers to deliver coverage you can trust. Click the info buttons to learn more about how each part of your house sitter insurance keeps you protected.
Limits of Insurance
General Liability Coverage
The most your policy will pay in a 12 month policy period for bodily injury and property damage claims that you become legally obligated to pay due to your business services.
Limit per Incident: $1,000,000
Limit per Year: $2,000,000
Animal Liability Limit
The most your policy will pay in a year for bodily injuries and property damage to others because of an animal in your care
Limit per Incident: $100,000
Limit per Year: $200,000
Products-Completed Operations Aggregate Limit
The maximum amount your policy will pay in a 12-month period for bodily injury and property damage claims that result from the products you use to perform your services.
Personal and Advertising Injury Limit
The amount that your policy will pay for claims arising out of one or more of the following offenses:
- False arrest, detention or imprisonment
- Malicious prosecution
- Wrongful eviction or wrongful entry
- Oral or written publications that slander or libel a person or organization
- Oral or written publication or material that violates a person’s right of privacy
- The use of another’s advertising idea in your advertisement
Each Occurrence Limit
The maximum your policy will pay for a bodily injury or property damage claim that you become legally obligated to pay due to your business services.
$1,000,000
Damage to Premises Rented to You Limit
Applies to damage by fire to premises rented to the insured; also applies to damage regardless of cause to premises (including contents) occupied by the insured for 7 days or less.
Any One Premises: $100,000
Medical Expense Limit
A general liability coverage that reimburses others, without regard to the insured’s liability, for medical or funeral expenses incurred by such persons as a result of bodily injury or death sustained by accident under the conditions specified in the policy.
Any One Person: $5,000
Pet Protection (Animal Bailee) – Animals in Your Care, Custody, or Control
This provides your pet business with coverage in the event that you are legally liable for injuries or damages sustained by an animal in your care, custody, or control.
Limit per Incident: $2,500
Limit per Year: $5,000
Veterinarian Expense Reimbursement (Regardless of Fault)
This provides coverage for medical expenses—regardless of who is at fault—for a client’s pet in your care, custody, or control.
Limit per Incident: $1,000
Limit per Year: $2,500
Deductible: $250
Lost Key Liability Coverage
If you were to lose the keys to a client’s residence, this coverage could help you manage the cost of installing new locks or having the building rekeyed.
Limit per Year: $2,000
Please note these are brief definitions of coverage. Your policy may be more restrictive in its language. Refer to the actual policy for a complete description of coverages and exclusions.
Why House Sitters Choose PCI
Generic business insurance often skips coverage for your care, custody, and control of animals. PCI understands the risks of pet care, so we give you the protection you need to love clients’ homes and pets like your own.
Here’s how house sitter insurance keeps you safe in real sitting scenarios like these:
Get affordable insurance for house and pet sitting risks all in one place with PCI. Need to adjust your coverage? Our friendly, licensed customer service agents are here to help.
Your Opinion Matters Most
House Sitter Insurance FAQs
Am I covered for overnights and long-term sits?
Yes! Our house sitter policy can cover you for overnight stays and even long-term sitting for up to 30 consecutive days (including overnight stays).
Are there limits to the number of pets I can watch in one home?
House Sitting Insurance from PCI will cover you while you sit for up to five pets at a time. If you need to cover 6+ pets at once, or pet sit the same animals over 30 days, we can connect you with our A-rated partner, CNA. Get a quote from CNA or call PCI at 888.568.0548 for help finding the right coverage.
Am I covered for jobs that are just house sitting with no pets?
As long as sitting gigs with no pets involved aren’t more than 25% of your total annual revenue, PCI House Sitter Insurance can also cover you for house-sitting-only clients.
Does homeowner insurance cover me as a house sitter?
No. Some house sitters try to rely on their clients’ homeowners insurance instead of getting their own liability policy, but that’s a risky move. Most homeowners policies aren’t made to cover a business operating in a house and rarely cover anything once it’s in your care, custody, or control. House sitter liability insurance is specifically designed to cover all your biggest risks.
How much does house sitting insurance cost?
House sitting insurance from PCI costs as little as $26.10/month or $292.20/year. Get an instant quote online in 10 minutes or less. Just go to our online application, select house sitting, pick the coverages you want, and get your custom quote today.
Important note: Your Vet Reimbursement and Pet Protection have a seven-day waiting period, so get covered now for peace of mind later.
See Who Else We Cover
Adding new services? We also cover these policies for pet pros, and more:
