Therapy Dogs Nationwide hold public liability insurance with an indemnity limit of £10m. This is to protect against any incident that occurs, either by volunteer or dog, in an establishment as a result of a TDN visit. It does not cover any resultant medical claim in relation to the dog or volunteer.
Any medical claim relating to your dog during a visit must be made through your own pet insurance policy if you have it. Not all pet policies cover therapy dogs and we suggest you check with your insurer before commencing your visits[1]. It is your responsibility as the owner to ensure the safety of your dog and if in doubt remove yourselves from the situation.
A claim for the volunteer in relation to an incident during a TDN visit (for example for an injury) should be made to the establishment against their public liability insurance. An incident report also needs to be completed and logged with the TDN office immediately.
Our policy does not cover a volunteer to take their dog into their own place of work during paid employment. For example, to include but not limited to, a teacher taking their dog into school, an office worker taking their dog into work for a wellness day whilst being in the course of their paid employment, a care worker taking their dog into their residential home.
We, TDN, are constantly trying to find ways to improve the volunteer experience and extend cover, particularly to that of your dog whilst volunteering for us. To date, we have been unsuccessful in finding a company that will underwrite this type of cover, but we are still working on it.
[1] We have found Agria Insurance to be the most comprehensive, covering working dogs on all their policies. Please check with them directly for your specific needs. https://www.agriapet.co.uk/
