What's covered
One in three cats and dogs fall ill or are
injured each year – representing more than 4.5 million household
pets. With no NHS for animals and the average emergency visit to a
vet costing around £300, it makes sense for pet owners to purchase
insurance.
Some of the most common reasons for pets
needing a vet are:
- cuts/lacerations
- lameness
- road traffic accident
- tumours
- abscesses
- Bites
- foreign bodies (swallowed)
- pyrexia/anorexia of unknown origin
- gastro-enteritis
- ear infection
Typically, there are three types of pet
insurance policy. The cheapest is usually limited to a set period
of time, such as one year. However, with this type of limited
cover, you run the risk that if your pet is in the middle of
treatment when the insurance expires, the condition will no longer
be covered.
At the next level, there are policies that
will cover any condition up to a certain amount. This means you can
claim against the cost of treating a specific condition, until you
reach the cover limit, making this type of cover unsuitable for
pets suffering from long-term conditions.
Finally, there are ‘cover for life’ policies.
With these polices, you agree in advance the cost of insuring your
pet throughout its life. Each year you pay an agreed premium which
provides a fixed amount of cover for vet fees each year.
A cat with arthritis, for example, would be
covered for arthritis during its lifetime. Your insurance policy
will pay the costs of treatment for this condition only, less any
annual excess agreed at the outset.
Although this type of cover can be expensive,
it is suitable for long term, ongoing conditions, and provides pet
owners with maximum peace of mind.
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Insurance policy type
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Advantages
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Disadvantages
|
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12 months only
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Emergency treatment, covering basic vet
bills.
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Treatment may not be finished when cover
expires.
|
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Condition limited
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Pays for the treatment of a certain condition
for the lifetime of the pet.
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Higher cost, and claim limit may not be high
enough
|
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Cover for life
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Pays on all conditions, subject to a limit,
for pet's lifetime. Premiums fixed in advance.
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Excess applies per treatment, per year So if
your pet requires treatment for the same condition spanning more
than one policy year, you may have to pay multiple excesses for the
same treatment.
These policies often limit cover to one condition per year.
|
How are premiums costed?
Very young puppies and kittens are not
normally eligible for insurance. In fact, most insurers only
provide cover for animals of more than eight weeks old. During the
first eight weeks of an animal’s life, a pet will usually be with
its mother at the breeders, and medical problems are often
discovered at this stage.
At the other end of the spectrum, most
insurers either will not accept pets which are more than 7 or 8
years old, or if they will accept the pet, only at a higher premium
and excess (the initial portion of each and every claim which you
must pay). So much for age.
The pet’s breed and gender can also have a
bearing on cost. It is well known that some breeds have a tendency
to develop particular conditions, so you may find that some
insurers exclude treatment of specific conditions for certain
breeds, or alternatively charge a large excess.
Where you live can affect premiums too, for
the simple reason that vets are more expensive in some areas than
in others. So the cost of pet insurance can be something of a post
code lottery.
Even more interestingly, pet insurance
premiums can even be influenced by the gender, age, and marital
status of the pet’s owner.
Defaqto research shows that divorced men are
much less likely to make a claim than, say, married women.
If your pet has been neutered, this can lower the cost of
insurance, while having a pet micro-chipped often attracts a big
discount. This is because a micro-chipped pet is more likely to be
returned if it gets lost and insurers regard this as a sign of a
caring owner.
Decide what you want covered
In addition to the essentials described above,
some policies provide useful extras, such as cover in the event
that your pet goes missing or dies prematurely. In these instances,
cover might meet the cost of advertising your lost pet, or even
reward money.
In the event that your pet dies prematurely,
some policies cover the cost of buying a new pet. Finally, there
are ‘nice to have’ extras such as vet fees while you are abroad, or
kennel and cattery fees if you are hospitalized and are unable to
care for your pet.
The chart below sums up the options that are available:
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Policy features
|
Covers the cost of
|
Comments
|
|
Core benefits
|
|
|
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Vets fees
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Emergency treatment, chronic conditions,
dental fees.
|
Payable in three different ways; limits vary
markedly by insurer
|
|
Other professional fees (recommended by
vet)
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Behavioural treatment, complementary treatment
such as hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and alternative treatments,
such as homeopathy.
|
Not all policies offer this usually requires
vet to recommend the treatment
|
|
Liability (dogs only)
|
Physical injury to third party and accidental
damage to property.
|
|
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Additional benefits
|
|
|
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Loss of pet
|
Early death of pet due to accident or illness,
cost of buying new pet, advertising and reward for return of
pet
|
Cover for refund is only valuable if pet was
paid for
|
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'Nice to have’ features
|
|
|
|
Foreign travel
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Vet fees while abroad
|
This is increasingly available
|
|
Kennel/cattery Fees
|
Covers the cost of looking after the pet if
owner is hospitalised
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Some insurers will pay cost of daily minder
for the pet
|
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Transportation costs
|
Covers additional travel costs if pet is
referred to another treatment centre
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Few policies offer this
|
|
Helpline services
|
Vet advice service, vet finder service,
bereavement counseling
|
Often provided by qualified veterinary nurses.
Often sold as a benefit, but in practice is often required to
establish legitimacy of a claim.
|
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Waiver of premium
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Pays policy premiums while the owner is unable
to work
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Offered by only a few insurers
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What to watch out for
Exclusions
Different insurance companies apply different
exclusions. Some may refuse to cover older animals or certain
breeds if they feel they are too high a risk.
Other companies may refuse to cover your pet
for certain conditions, such as arthritis or hip conditions that
certain breeds of dog are especially prone to. Make sure you check
the exclusions to ensure the cover provided meets your pet’s
needs.
Exclusions may typically include the
following:
- Preventative/elective treatments, such as
neutering/de-worming/flea treatment/vaccinations/nail
clipping/grooming;
- Treatment arising as a result of pregnancy and
parturition (giving birth);
- Behavioural problems;
- Illness arising within the first 10,14 or 30 days of the
policy’s commencement date
- Home visits (except for equine insurance ) - unless
the vet feels this is absolutely necessary for the pet's
health/welfare
- Congenital or hereditary conditions
- Dogs restricted under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
- Wolf hybrids or animals listed under the Dangerous Wild
Animals Act 1976
- Pets used for work, racing, guarding or commercial gain
- Dental treatment, diet food
Pre-existing conditions
Most insurers won’t cover your pet for an
existing or recurring condition, which it suffered from before you
took out the policy. How strictly this rule is applied will vary
between companies.
For example, a dog that has suffered from arthritis in one
joint prior to the insurance starting may be excluded from all
arthritis cover by one company, just the specific joint by another,
or for any bone and joint problems by yet another.
What happens when my pet ages?
Check what happens to the cover as your pet
gets ages. Some companies may hike the premiums as your pet gets
older or increase the excess. Other companies may move from
charging a flat rate excess, to charging a ‘percentage of claim’
excess instead.