Concierge and errand services are popping up all over the United States, Canada and the world.  It is one of the hottest home based businesses.  There are only 24 hours in a day and everyone needs more time!  If you are pondering the idea of starting an errand/concierge service, a good general online article to read which gives information, although not completely accurate is

As with any business, insurance coverage for you and your business is necessary.    Many starting out in the industry do not think of or believe it is necessary however this is never farther from the truth.  As a business performing services for the public whether it's an individual or a company, there is liability.  Because of the industry being so new to the public, regular public insurance companies do not have established policies for coverage and upon inquiry will say "you are going to do what?" and "what services are you going to provide?"  They then pick and choose to develop a policy based on the services you will be providing.  This results in very expensive premiums.  (Note that general liability insurance DOES NOT provide coverage for the vehicle driven in the course of your business nor does it cover transportation of people.  This is separate auto insurance.)

At the present time, there are limited options available for obtaining general liability insurance specific to the industry and services you will provide.   

Errand/Concierge General Liability Insurance Program
Because of the need, Jackie Murphy, President &  founder of EK Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a EK Errands Express pioneered an Concierge/Errand Insurance Program which has a specific "shopping & errands" category available to EVERYONE..  Keep in mind that some services you may provide may actually be a profession of their own and have specific policies which may be added as an addendum to the general policy for an additional premium.  These types of professions include senior companion, travel agent services, meal planning/personal chef, house cleaning, pet sitting, event planner and others.  Additionally there may be other services which if more than 15% of your total business may require an addendum to your policy such as courier.  To know for sure, be specific in the types of services you plan to offer to make sure you have the appropriate coverage.

Contact information for the Errand/Concierge General Liability Insurance Program:

Dan McCarty or current agent handling "errand/concierge insurance"
Benefit Resourcing, Inc.
Association Insurance Services
11313 USA Parkway
Fishers, IN 46037
Phone: 317-558-6203
Fax: 866-923-1506
E-mail
Web:  http://www.benefitresourcing.net

The ICEA (International Errand & Concierge Industry) has worked with a company to establish a general liability insurance policy.  Contact information to procure this policy is as follows:

NSM Insurance Group
Ph: 800/543-3248
Ph: 937/432-1632
Fax: 937/432-1630

(Please note you do not have to be a member of ICEA to bind coverage through NSM however NSM rates are only available through NSM..  It is also my understanding that the industry code used for their policy does not include any type of janitorial or house cleaning services, which is a rider attached to the policy.)

American Family Insurance
(http://www.amfam.com/)
*note only writes in 18 states*

The NAICS code for personal concierge services is 812990.  If you do other services such as transportation or pet sitting, these have their own code  and may be a rider or separate policy.   

If you call around to local insurance agents know that most are not familiar with the industry or NAICS code.  The response will be "You do what?"  Hence, when putting together a quote, the agent will most likely be picking and choosing what categories they think you would fall under however this does not mean that a service you provide may be covered.  You should always be specific to ask if your GL policy covers a service.  Call as many as you can. The more you have out there searching the quicker some may get back to you.  It usually takes a couple of weeks for underwriters to write a policy. The sooner you have insurance in place the sooner you can protect yourself. Having quotes from different sources will also help in keeping your costs down, but keep in mind that you get what you pay for in insurance.  Be sure they are willing to cover ALL of your services, not just a few.

Pet Sitting Insurance is not a part of the general liability insurance.  You may add an addendum to the policy to cover pet sitting however from research and first hand knowledge, the coverage is not as extensive as you would receive by purchasing a specific pet sitting policy.  EK Errands Express recommends Pet Sitters Associates LLC.  The premium includes membership in the organization, and is very reasonable and inexpensive.  There are options to add IC's and other coverage to your policy which are very affordable.  (Keep in mind that if you add IC's to your policy, this may be construed by the IRS as employees.  For more information on IC's go to the IRS website and search for "independent contractors.")

General Liability Insurance DOES NOT cover use of a personal vehicle for your business.  You will need to obtain business coverage which would be commercial auto or a business rider to your personal auto insurance.  Contact your auto insurance company or research other general auto insurers to obtain more information.