Claims Examples

We recognize that pets are your greatest risk.

Every day you, your pets, your clients or your business are at risk. From simple accidents to runaway pets we have a plan for you. Our custom approach allows you to ensure you’ve covered where you need be. We can help protect you and your fury friends from a wide range of dangers you potentially face every day.

From the English Bulldog being startled and falling off the grooming table breaking its hip, to the Akita in your obedience training course attacking and biting a visitor, to the unthinkable fire at your daycare where not all the pets can be saved, why take a chance on the people, pets and places you care about.

Most standard business insurance policies provide very little if any coverage for the loss or injury of animals and isn’t going to provide proper protection for you or your clients.

We know better. We are Canada’s first insurance broker to specialize in protecting pet care professionals and we’ve been doing it since 2006. We can protect your business and even save you money with a customized insurance policy created exclusively for your business.

Here’s a sample of the real-life woes that the PROfur® Masterplan policy has covered over the last few years. There are always exclusions in an insurance policy, and we’ve tried to eliminate as many as possible to give coverage that is customized for the unique risks of the pet care industry. While claim settlements are determined solely by the insurance company, we make ourselves available to advocate for our clients should you encounter a problem during a claim to ensure you’re treated fairly.

Real Life Examples of Claim

  • Lawsuit – Dog Walker
  • Emergency Vet Expenses
  • Runaway
  • Lawsuit – Groomer
  • Fire
  • Allergic Reaction
  • Emergency Vet Expenses
  • Theft
  • Emergency Vet Expenses

A dog got away from a dog walker and jumped on a young child causing the child to fall and hit his head. The child reportedly suffered a concussion and the parents initiated a lawsuit against the dog walker. After a 3 1/2 years, the lawsuit was settled for around $43,000 plus the legal fees to defend the dog walker. It is unknown how well the child recovered, although given the young age and relatively low settlement, it is expected that the child is unlikely to suffer long-term effects.

A dog was in the process of being groomed, but was very stressed during the process.  The dog pulled hard on the grooming loop and passed out.  He was taken to the vet right away to be checked out, where fluid was found on his lungs.  The poor dog had to go for emergency surgery and overnight care at an emergency clinic.  The insurance company for PROfur® paid $2,000 in vet fees.  This claim had the potential to turn into a malpractice/professional liability claim if the pet’s owner felt the groomer had been negligent in continuing to groom when the dog was so stressed.  Fortunately, with the dog fully recovered and the vet fees paid for, the situation was diffused and no lawsuit was presented.

A cat was brought in to be groomed, and being a master escape artist, is believed to have ripped a hole in a window screen and made a dash for freedom.  Sadly, the cat was not able to be found after a substantial search by the client.  The client was reimbursed $1,000 for the expense of buying a new pet and for mileage expenses incurred trying to find their cat.  A sad story indeed.  Regrettably, insurance can’t replace the emotional or sentimental value of a pet, however it can allow you to try and make the best of a bad situation for a client.

A groomer was grooming a dog that was new to her.  The dog darted from the groomer and broke through the locked door.  The groomer always keeps the door locked to avoid accidental escape, but this was a big, strong determined dog.  The dog ran outside and darted onto the road just as a cyclist was passing by.  The cyclist, who was in the middle of training for the PanAm Games taking place 2 months later, hit the dog and flipped off his bike.  The bike was damaged.  The cyclist was taken to hospital by ambulance, and later advised the groomer that despite some road rash, he was ok.  The dog didn’t suffer any injuries, and the dog’s owner later confided that the dog had done this with their previous groomer but failed to let the new groomer know this important fact.  A short while later, the cyclist retained a lawyer who initiated a lawsuit against the groomer for his injuries – it was settled 2 years later for $25,000.  The dog’s owner bore no responsibility for the incident.

A fire broke out in a unit above our client’s grooming salon, causing extensive smoke damage to the salon.  Fortunately no pets were injured, although the salon shut down for a few months until our client could re-open.  His PROfur® Masterplan policy enable him to setup the grooming salon in a new location, paying about $46,000 for the extra expenses incurred to make the move, renovations at the new location, and a payment to help offset the reduction in business experienced until he could get the new salon up and running again.

A groomer’s client claimed that the groomer has used some type of product that caused their dog to have an allergic reaction.  Their client presented an invoice for vet treatments and ultimately the claims adjuster paid the $2,700 bill – this was $700 more then $2,000 of coverage on the groomers policy!  The insurance company for PROfur® actually paid more then our client was covered for – how about that!  We don’t argue when this happens, although we suspect the adjuster decided to pay this particular bill to diffuse the situation and avoid a potential malpractice/professional liability lawsuit.  Whatever their reasons, it sure helped the groomer out.

A dog was being walked when it cut its leg on a rock.  The walker took the dog to their vet for stiches.  Unfortunately the wound didn’t heal well and the dog required ongoing vet care.  The vet expenses totalled $1,900, which was covered under the PROfur® insurance policy.  The dog made a full recovery!

A client’s grooming spa was broken into.  The thief smashed a window to get in and took all scissors, clippers and blades.  Our client was able to replace all the stolen items and repair damages through her PROfur® Masterplan insurance policy with the insurance company paying for almost $4,000 in expenses.

Our client had just taken the grooming loop off the toy poodle when a customer came in with a big dog.  The larger dog startled the toy poodle, who sustained tendon damage when she jumped off the grooming table.  The poodle was taken to the groomer’s veterinarian right away and underwent emergency surgery.  The adjuster for the PROfur® Masterplan insurance policy dealt directly with the vet to confirm insurance coverage.  The toy poodle was home and on the mend, and the vet had their $2,000 invoice paid – all within 3 days of when the big dog came through the door, helping our client to maintain the professional reputation of her grooming salon.

Real Life Examples of Claim

Lawsuit – Dog Walker

A dog got away from a dog walker and jumped on a young child causing the child to fall and hit his head.  The child reportedly suffered a concussion and the parents initiated a lawsuit against the dog walker.  After a 3 1/2 years, the lawsuit was settled for around $43,000 plus the legal fees to defend the dog walker.  It is unknown how well the child recovered, although given the young age and relatively low settlement, it is expected that the child is unlikely to suffer long-term effects.

Emergency Vet Expenses

A dog was in the process of being groomed, but was very stressed during the process.  The dog pulled hard on the grooming loop and passed out.  He was taken to the vet right away to be checked out, where fluid was found on his lungs.  The poor dog had to go for emergency surgery and overnight care at an emergency clinic.  The insurance company for PROfur® paid $2,000 in vet fees.  This claim had the potential to turn into a malpractice/professional liability claim if the pet’s owner felt the groomer had been negligent in continuing to groom when the dog was so stressed.  Fortunately, with the dog fully recovered and the vet fees paid for, the situation was diffused and no lawsuit was presented.

Runaway

A cat was brought in to be groomed, and being a master escape artist, is believed to have ripped a hole in a window screen and made a dash for freedom.  Sadly, the cat was not able to be found after a substantial search by the client.  The client was reimbursed $1,000 for the expense of buying a new pet and for mileage expenses incurred trying to find their cat.  A sad story indeed.  Regrettably, insurance can’t replace the emotional or sentimental value of a pet, however it can allow you to try and make the best of a bad situation for a client.

Lawsuit – Groomer

A groomer was grooming a dog that was new to her.  The dog darted from the groomer and broke through the locked door.  The groomer always keeps the door locked to avoid accidental escape, but this was a big, strong determined dog.  The dog ran outside and darted onto the road just as a cyclist was passing by.  The cyclist, who was in the middle of training for the PanAm Games taking place 2 months later, hit the dog and flipped off his bike.  The bike was damaged.  The cyclist was taken to hospital by ambulance, and later advised the groomer that despite some road rash, he was ok.  The dog didn’t suffer any injuries, and the dog’s owner later confided that the dog had done this with their previous groomer but failed to let the new groomer know this important fact.  A short while later, the cyclist retained a lawyer who initiated a lawsuit against the groomer for his injuries – it was settled 2 years later for $25,000.  The dog’s owner bore no responsibility for the incident.

Fire

A fire broke out in a unit above our client’s grooming salon, causing extensive smoke damage to the salon.  Fortunately no pets were injured, although the salon shut down for a few months until our client could re-open.  His PROfur® Masterplan policy enable him to setup the grooming salon in a new location, paying about $46,000 for the extra expenses incurred to make the move, renovations at the new location, and a payment to help offset the reduction in business experienced until he could get the new salon up and running again.

Allergic Reaction

A groomer’s client claimed that the groomer has used some type of product that caused their dog to have an allergic reaction.  Their client presented an invoice for vet treatments and ultimately the claims adjuster paid the $2,700 bill – this was $700 more then $2,000 of coverage on the groomers policy!  The insurance company for PROfur® actually paid more then our client was covered for – how about that!  We don’t argue when this happens, although we suspect the adjuster decided to pay this particular bill to diffuse the situation and avoid a potential malpractice/professional liability lawsuit.  Whatever their reasons, it sure helped the groomer out.

Emergency Vet Expenses

A dog was being walked when it cut its leg on a rock.  The walker took the dog to their vet for stiches.  Unfortunately the wound didn’t heal well and the dog required ongoing vet care.  The vet expenses totalled $1,900, which was covered under the PROfur® insurance policy.  The dog made a full recovery!

Theft

A client’s grooming spa was broken into.  The thief smashed a window to get in and took all scissors, clippers and blades.  Our client was able to replace all the stolen items and repair damages through her PROfur® Masterplan insurance policy with the insurance company paying for almost $4,000 in expenses.

Emergency Vet Expenses

Our client had just taken the grooming loop off the toy poodle when a customer came in with a big dog.  The larger dog startled the toy poodle, who sustained tendon damage when she jumped off the grooming table.  The poodle was taken to the groomer’s veterinarian right away and underwent emergency surgery.  The adjuster for the PROfur® Masterplan insurance policy dealt directly with the vet to confirm insurance coverage.  The toy poodle was home and on the mend, and the vet had their $2,000 invoice paid – all within 3 days of when the big dog came through the door, helping our client to maintain the professional reputation of her grooming salon.

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