Which Pet Insurance Policy Should I Choose?
I have been a qualified veterinary surgeon since 1980 and in that time I almost exclusively treated dogs and cats, throughout my career I always strongly suggested to my clients that they should have their pets insured. Why did I do this? Well from the vet’s point of view it means that if an animal is seriously ill you can suggest the best treatment without regards for costs and this can mean referral for such things as radiotherapy and chemotherapy as well as surgery carried out by the best surgeons in a particular area of expertise, often at university centers. In short I had the satisfaction of knowing that the animals under my care had the best possible treatment, for a vet there is nothing worse than knowing you can help a dog or cat but the owner just cannot possibly afford to pay for the treatment. Another benefit is that the vet is assured of prompt payment which can only be to the benefit of their particular practice and in the long term will help improve the services offered to the public.
The other side of the coin is what benefits do clients get from such insurance policies? Well obviously the clients will have no worries about payment of fees if the worst should happen and their dog or cat suddenly needs expensive treatment. This is particularly so in these hard economic times of the current world wide recession when families are finding it harder to get by with essentials, having pet insurance means you have one less thing to worry about. It does not however stop at cover for individual animal diseases there are other benefits to having pet insurance which are not at first obvious to the average pet owner. The most important of these is to make sure your policy has third party liability cover. You see even the calmest and most well behaved of dogs could possibly escape and cause damage to someone else’s property, a road traffic accident involving Rolls Royce for example, or even cause an injury to a person. If something like this happens you could be liable and open to huge legal bills and compensation claims, and all the headaches that could entail, so make sure that your policy includes an appropriate amount of third party liability cover as standard.
Most dog owners love their dog and if they should stray or get lost then this can be a worrying time, some pet insurance companies will help towards your pet’s recovery by helping with advertising costs in the local paper to let everyone know your dog has gone, and offering a reward to get your dog back. Nowadays travel abroad with your dog is possible so you would want some degree of cover when your dog is out of the country with you, again a peace of mind angle.
Finally as far as benefits go while it is a sad time some companies will pay out a sum of money to replace your dog if it should die as the result of an accident or disease and other companies will help with the cremation costs. You can see that with many policies the benefits do not just stop with insurance against illness.
Well of course there are pitfalls and some exclusions that you need to be aware of. Firstly, your policy will almost certainly not cover routine treatments such as vaccinations, flea control, or worming. Secondly, you won’t be covered for any pre-existing conditions that were already known about when you took out the policy (you should also declare any existing disease conditions when you take out the policy, or you risk it being declared invalid when you come to make a claim). You should make a point of checking whether the policy you’re considering places a limit on the age of your pet. For example many policies are only available for cats up to the age of eight years. As it is in later years that your pet is most likely to need treatment, it obviously makes sense to ensure your policy will cover this, especially if your pet has a few years under their belt!
So the big question is which policy should you choose? well there are a few top ones which spring to mind, all of which would be very suitable. I have been doing a little bit of research on the net over the last couple of days comparing pet insurance companies and I have found that Pets at Home insurance policies are up there with the best of them. Why do I say that? Well they offer flexible cover which should suite just about everyone’s pocket, they have four different levels of cover in fact. There is no maximum age limit to obtain cover for your pet and they offer further services such as access to a legal helpline as well as many of the benefits I mentioned above and you can use their Find a Vet service if the need arises. Finally the point that has swayed me in my choice is that they give something back, they donate one pound to support Adoption for Pets with every policy taken out.
For further information check out Pet Insurance Quotes from Pets At Home
Scott Nimmo BVMS MRCVS
Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below.
Or have a live consult with an online vet right now!
This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you have found it to be interesting or of value please share it with your social media using the buttons below.
