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Average Cost of Dog Walking Insurance (2026)
The average cost of dog walking insurance starts from around £65 a year (or roughly £6.50 a month) for a sole trader in the UK. Based on NimbleFins analysis of the protection provided and the costs of cover, dog walking insurance is both affordable and highly reasonable considering that a dog walker can easily earn £12 to £15+ for taking just one dog on a single walk. However, dog walking insurance costs can be higher depending on a number of factors, including your business structure and whether you hire help.
Here's what you need to know about dog walking insurance costs in 2026.
- How much is dog walking insurance?
- Other factors that affect your premium
- How to save money on dog walking insurance
Dog walker insurance quotes.
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Average Cost of Dog Walking Insurance (2026)
When calculating your dog walking insurance premium, insurers look closely at three main things: your business structure, your level of cover, and whether you have employees.
To make things simple, we've consolidated these factors into the table below so you can see exactly how your choices impact your final premium.
- Business Structure: A self-employed sole trader pays the least for cover. Moving to a partnership or a Limited Liability Company (LLC) increases costs. Having multiple directors in an LLC can bump up premiums significantly.
- Coverage Level: Bumping your public liability cover from £1 million to £2 million is incredibly cheap—usually only adding £3 to £5 a year to your average cost of public liability insurance.
- Hiring Employees: Hiring even one part-time employee or family member means you are legally required to hold Employers' Liability (EL) cover. This is the most expensive addition to your policy, often doubling or tripling your baseline premium.
| Business Type | £1m Public Liability | £2m Public Liability | £2m PL + 1 Employee (EL Cover) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole Trader | £62 | £65 | £140 |
| Partnership | £90 | £95 | £185 |
| Limited Company (1 director) | £72 | £75 | £160 |
| Limited Company (2 directors) | £185 | £195 | £375 |
Other factors that influence your dog walking insurance rate
Beyond the core factors above, there are a few other details that will affect your dog walking insurance premiums:
Location: Where you live and run your business can have a drastic effect on rates. Areas with a higher history of claims or higher vet fees can cause price differences of 20% or more between postcodes.
Optional Extras: Choosing add-ons like business contents (to protect your leads, harnesses, and crates), legal expenses, or personal accident cover will naturally add to your dog walking insurance rates.
Vehicle Use: If you use your car or van to transport dogs as part of your business, you'll need to tell your car insurance company to upgrade to "business use" cover. This will likely affect your vehicle premium.
How to Save Money on Dog Walking Insurance
To save money on dog walking insurance, it is vital to compare the market because prices vary drastically from insurer to insurer. For example, in our 2026 study, quotes for a self-employed sole trader with 2 employees ranged from £80 all the way to £380 for the exact same level of cover. Those on a budget should be especially careful to get quotes from multiple sources.
Choosing a higher excess is another way to get a discount on your dog walking insurance, but this may not suit everyone. Oftentimes, the premium reduction is quite insignificant when you consider the additional amount you'd need to pay out-of-pocket in the event of a covered claim.
Another excellent way to save money on insurance is paying upfront for the whole year. This will save you from paying the interest charges that are typically applied to monthly direct debits. Paying annually instead of monthly typically keeps your dog walking insurance costs around 10% to 12.5% lower.
Finally, don't pay for cover you don't need. For example, if your only "stock" is a few bags of dog treats and some waste bags, don't bother paying extra for stock cover.
- Compare quotes from multiple providers
- Check and adjust your excesses
- Pay annually instead of monthly
- Don't buy extra cover you don't need
Methodology
To find the average cost of dog walking insurance for 2026, we gathered dozens of quotes for public liability insurance, with and without employers' liability cover (which is required by law if anyone works for you) and adjusted these rates for 2026 market conditions. We varied quotes by different factors like the level of cover and type of business structure. All quotes used in this study included cover for loss or injury to pets (often referred to as Care, Custody, and Control cover).
Please note that insurance prices can vary significantly from situation to situation depending on the details of your application and current market inflation. As a result, the price you need to pay might be higher or lower than the rates mentioned here. Use this information as a rough guide to help you learn more about prices and how different factors can affect insurance rates in a general way—this can be especially helpful if you're just thinking of starting a dog walking business.