Getting pet insurance in the year 2005 shouldn? be too
difficult. With all of the websites that offer insurance, not
to mention the amount of advertising that insurers aim at pet
owners, there should be no excuse for pet owners not to be
aware of the presence of pet insurance.
Finding the right
policy, at the right price could require a little work
however.
Would you know if the
breed of your dog is the canine equivalent of an Escort XR3i
owned by a nineteen year old speed garage DJ?
Are you aware that
some dogs are higher risk than others because of their
postcode? We?e teamed up with a selection of the UK? top
insurers to bring you the K9 Magazine idiot? guide to pet
insurance.
Getting the best from
your pet insurance, as with all forms of insurance, relies on
finding the right cover for your dog, your circumstances and
your budget. You will also need to know where to find the
right policy, how to manage your risk and what to do if you
need to make a claim.
Doing Your Homework
You?e made a good start by reading this article, but the real
graft starts with getting quotes. The majority of insurers
boast that they can offer you a quote in seconds, but don? be
fooled. If an online form asks you only three questions about
your dog, how can they know whether he is prone to hip
problems, is a racing Greyhound, or lives next to the
motorway? They don?. They rely on people whose dogs pose
minimal risk, to pay slightly over the odds to compensate for
the high risk breeds getting a good deal. The first thing to
remember is that, if you believe your dog to be the least
likely dog around to cause you to make a claim, let the
insurer know this and get a policy that reflects it. Do
rigorous research to root out that deal that applies most to
your circumstance.
Understanding How Pet Insurance Works.
Your pet and his situation are viewed by the industry as a
liability. By insuring your pet, the insurer is taking a
calculated risk. The insurer is betting on whether or not you
will make a claim, the less likely he thinks you are to do so,
the less he will require you to put down as your ?take? That
is what determines the cost of your premium (in most cases).
To understand how this works, think in terms of what could
realistically happen to your dog today, that would result in
an insurance claim. These are the things that you should
insure against. This is called Managing Your Risk.
Do I live near a busy road where my dog could be hit by a car?
If yes
Are my premises secure enough to make this risk minimal?
Is my dog a valuable, well known show dog that could be
tempting to thieves? If yes
Do I have him microchipped? Do I leave him at home for long
periods? Is my house secure?
Does my dog have any signs of illness that could require
treatment in the future? If yes...
Has my dog been for a check up recently?
Before and whilst your policy is running, you need to consider
these factors amongst many others to ensure that you know
which policy gives you value for money. For example, if you
have a Yorkshire Terrier that suffers from arthritis, ensure
that veterinary care is covered as a priority over things such
as public liability insurance, which would be more suitable
for an owner of a Great Dane pup or a racing Greyhound.
The insurance company will asses your dog on certain criteria
that will enable them to make a judgement on how likely you
are to make a claim.
Those criteria usually include
Breed: Taking into account associated hereditary medical
conditions.
Age/Sex: Taking into account potential likelihood of medical
care.
Value: Taking into account whether you have a pedigree or
cross breed, and it? purpose in life. (i.e. pet, show dog,
guard dog)
Location: Taking into account likelihood of public liabilities
and likelihood of accidents.
Lucy Edgington, of PDSA Pet Insurance explains the basic
principals of the pet insurance ?roduct?
"There are two considerations: The type of product, and how
the premium is calculated. There are numerous types of product
out there ranging from Accident Only, to 12 Month, (this is
where ongoing conditions are only covered for the first 12
months), Maximum benefit (where the benefit is paid on a per
condition basis up to the original benefit level) and finally,
Reinstatement, (this is where the benefit is reinstated at
each renewal.)
Why Insure Your Pet?
Melanie Denny of RSPCA Pet Insurance explains why those who
don? insure their pets are running a huge risk. ?aving good
pet insurance cover brings peace of mind that, whatever the
eventuality, pet owners will be able to afford the veterinary
care their animal deserves. Too often, minor medical problems
are allowed to escalate because people are worried about the
cost of veterinary treatment. Their animals can suffer
unnecessarily as a result.
The main benefit that pet insurance provides is that all
emergency veterinary treatment is covered, so owners are never
faced with an unexpected bill. There are a number of other
benefits depending on the policy and level of cover chosen.
RSPCA pet insurance covers up to ?4,000 of veterinary
treatment, for as long as the condition requires. The only
thing policy holders need to pay for is the excess charge -
?55 for cats and ?65 for dogs.
The policy covers kennel or cattery costs if the owner is
taken into hospital unexpectedly, and third party liability
for dogs. Owners can claim up to ?500 towards advertising
costs and a reward for finding pets that are stolen or lost.
Policyholders also receive the benefit of a 24-hour emergency
veterinary helpline, legal advice helpline and pet bereavement
counselling line. There is even cover for holiday cancellation
or curtailment due to pet illness, something that most travel
insurance policies would not cover. "
Finding The Right Policy.
The key to extracting value for money on your pet insurance
policy lies in identifying what you need to cover.
Melanie explained the importance of finding a policy that
suits your pet and its situation. ?olicies do vary, and it?
important to check exactly what is covered, but broadly
speaking policies fall into two categories annual or cover
for life. Annual policies tend to be cheaper, but owners
should bear in mind that these types of policies only pay out
for any one condition for up to 12 months.
Cover-for-life policies do not have the 12 month limit on
claims, which means that insured pets that develop long-term
illnesses can claim for treatment for as long as is necessary
to treat the condition. RSPCA pet insurance offers both a
standard 12-month policy and an advanced cover for life
policy, enabling pet owners to choose the best level for them.
Many insurers offer pet insurance to buy online and some offer
discounted rates for online purchase. It? a convenient way
for owners to shop around at their leisure for the best quote.
RSPCA pet insurance offers a discount of 5% for online
purchase."
Lucy Edgington explained how to find the best value for money
cover. ?he PDSA 1000, 2000 & 5000 products fall under the
Maximum benefit category which is considered to be the best
value for money concept in the market as it provides the
customer with ongoing cover (subject to continued payment of
premium) whilst not exposing the insurer to unlimited payouts
as the 'per condition limit' applies, thus ensuring that the
premium is competitive.
Needless to say the budget insurers go for the 12 month
product as they are cheap and easy to sell, but many customers
don't really know what they've let themselves in for before
it's too late! Conversely, the reinstatement product provides
a high level of cover (too much in many cases) however the
insurer is exposed to high and unknown claims costs therefore
making rates expensive.
There are still a number of insurers who have just a fixed,
one price suits all, product. This means that no matter what
breed, age and location, ALL customers pay the same price
resulting in the lower risk pets/policyholders subsidising the
higher risk pets, which simply isn't fair.
PDSA Petsurance is risk rated just like car insurance so we
consider the breed, age, post code, sex, value and a few other
things when calculating the premium. This means that everybody
pays the premium they represent as an insurance risk which is
a much fairer system.
Customers who buy online or otherwise should research the
various product concepts on offer and select the one that
suits them, their pet and their pocket the best. This would
invariably be either the Max benefit or Reinstatement products
as these provide on-going protection."
Hugh Worsfold of NFU Mutual, offered his advice on getting the
deal that suits you. ?etting the right policy would depend on
the cover required. When it comes to Vets fees, customers
should be aware that their cover would be subject to an excess
that could be anything from ?40 to ?75 or more depending on
the insurer. Some companies have an excess or a % amount of
the claim whichever is the greater."
What to watch out for
When buying a car, you can ask a friend for advice, in fact
you may know a thing or two yourself if you have owned a few
cars in the past. Insurance though, is an industry where all
the experts seem to be in the industry, which is why it is
important to be aware of the potential problems and worries
you could encounter when shopping for pet insurance. Going
through an independent broker could be a good option when
looking for a good deal. Melanie Denny explained what you
should watch out for when looking for pet cover.
"Most pet insurers have an age limit on new policies, but will
continue to renew cover throughout the animal? life as long
as the policy isn? allowed to lapse. Because of this, it?
important to insure the pet from a young age to ensure that
cover will extend into their twilight years. After all,
accidents can happen at any age, and vet? bills for common
problems such as broken bones and road traffic accidents can
run into thousands. Despite this, only 17 per cent of dogs and
11 per cent of cats are currently insured in the UK.
RSPCA pet insurance covers pets from eight weeks to 9 years
old, and pets re-homed from an RSPCA rescue centre are exempt
from the age restrictions on policies, providing cover is
taken out within 30 days of the pet being rehomed. Premiums
start from just ?5 a month.
The development of more sophisticated veterinary technology
and techniques is reflected in the price of treatment, and
vets bills are currently rising by between 10 and 12 per cent
a year. This is why it is important for people to take out pet
insurance, to help meet the cost of all eventualities"
Wendy Halling has been insuring her pets for fourteen years.
In that time she has amassed a wealth of experience on what to
look out for and how to make sure you have the right policy.
"We took out pet insurance with Pet Healthcare Services in
1991 for our old dog Jessie. I think we were offered a ?5
voucher so that is why we took this particular insurance. In
those days the maximum claim was ?2000 per illness, Jessie had
arthritis and needed long term medication, so the ?2000 didn't
actually last very long.
Our next dog, Morph was insured with the same company and his
insurance was ?3000 per illness, unfortunately he had a
lifetime of ill health including allergies to many common
things and gastric dilations which in the end we couldn't
cure, and he had to be put to sleep. His vets fees totalled
nearly ?12000 in his lifetime and the insurance only covered a
small portion of this.
When we got Yassko, who was born in March 2002, Pet Healthcare
Services were offering lifetime unlimited insurance for about
?300 annually. We were delighted, knowing how much vets fees
can be for a dog with long-term illness. Yassko is a very
bouncy, big German Shepherd and was fit and well until he was
about one year old. He then started to be sick, and there was
obviously something wrong. We took him for blood tests and
x-rays. These didn't show anything.
He was then referred to a local specialist vets centre, who
repeated the same style tests. After a few months we saw the
specialist again, who thought that Yassko might have a problem
with his back. An MRI scan showed he had slipped a disc. By
this time, he had been in pain for nearly a year and on
medication. He then had the disc removed and was making a
steady recovery. After six months he deteriorated again and
had to be referred back to the specialist. He then had a
myleogram and another MRI scan. Somehow, the myleogram, by
adding or removing the fluid in his spine has fixed his
problem. The specialist and our vet were puzzled, but we are
thankful he is now fit and well.
The costs of his veterinary treatment have been: ?1100
investigation, ?244 for x-rays, ?176 for endoscopy, ?725 for
the MRI scans, ?76 for treatment, ?1582 for the operation,
?295 for more X-rays, ?616 for more treatment, ?2094 for the
myleogram and the second MRI, ?200 for yet more x-rays, with
another ?600 for further treatment. All this totalled to
?7708!
As you can see from these figures we were very grateful to
have lifetime unlimited insurance, however, we then got a
letter that said the insurance company were changing each
illness to ?7000. We were horrified. Our vet advised us that
as Yassko may need further treatment for his spinal problems,
and to write to the insurance company saying how shocked we
were and asking why they could change the policy half way
through.
The insurance company told us that they were quite within
their rights to change the terms of the policy but as Yassko's
spinal problems had started while the policy was lifetime
unlimited this illness/problem would remain under the lifetime
unlimited policy, what a relief!
People need to be aware of exactly what their policy is
covering. Policies offering a small figure e.g. ?2000 per
illness, or ones that stop covering after a year, are no good
if your dog gets a long-term illness. Even ?7000 per illness
will soon be eaten up if the animal needs expensive treatment.
As far as I am aware, only Pet Plan are still doing the
lifetime unlimited policy.
Our insurance company has always been very prompt at paying
out, and has never quibbled over payment. However our vet says
some companies quibble over everything, and are very reluctant
to pay out. We have to pay ?70 excess which most one-off
illnesses needing anti-biotics or a bandage for example would
not reach this figure. Yassko? insurance premium is now ?450
annually, which is a lot of money!
What is it likely to cost?
Insurance policies do range hugely depending on the type of
cover required and the subject of the policy. Hugh Worsfold
explains what the average dog owner can expect to pay.
"Most people would want to insure for Vet's fees as these
bills can obviously mount up. Whether someone insures their
dog for 'loss of animal' will largely depend on the value of
the dog and whether it is a pedigree or cross breed. If
someone has obtained a dog from a rescue centre
and paid a nominal 'donation' of say ?25 or ?40 then it is
unlikely they would insure for loss of animal, where as they
would if they had paid ?450 for a pedigree black Labrador
puppy.
If you go on the Internet there is page after page of web
sites for different companies and brokers offering quotations.
In the papers everyday there are usually three or four adverts
for pet insurance. When you queue up at the checkout at Tesco,
Asda and Sainsbury's there are leaflets for pet insurance and
at the post office, so there are numerous sources. There are
also a number of websites that do price/cover comparisons.
From our claims experience the average claim value is ?222
(which is the amount paid out, after the ?50 excess has been
met). Settled claims (all net of the ?50 excess) range from
?7.72 (dental disease), through ?70.30 (gastritis) to
?2,930.49 (fractured neck).
Making a Claim
Frances Dunford, a housewife from Glastonbury, was very glad
she? taken out RSPCA pet insurance when her German Shepherd
puppy, Taz, started limping badly in February.
Taz was given an x-ray,
which revealed a small piece of bone trapped in his hip joint
socket. He was referred to a specialist, who found that Taz?
ligament was snapped and the cartilage had worn away. Taz was
given an operation to clean out the socket and wire it back
together again. Three months later, a post-op check showed all
was still not well with Taz? hip.
The end of the femur had
come out of place and was rubbing on the top of Taz? pelvis.
Taz was given a course of hydrotherapy, costing ?300, and
referred to a vet in Exeter, who was an expert in hip
replacement.
Taz went in for his hip replacement operation in June, but
upon opening up the hip the vet discovered Taz had a bone
infection, so the top of the femur had to be removed.
Now Taz is much better, and although his hip joint is ?loppy
as his owner put it, he is no longer in any pain, and is
looking forward to his first birthday! Altogether, Taz?
treatment would have cost Frances over ?1,000, but luckily
RSPCA pet insurance covered all her veterinary costs.
Frances said, ? am so glad I had insurance. There is a
tendency for owners to think if pets are young they will be
OK, but Taz is under a year old and has already run up a bill
of over ?1,000. If the hip replacement had gone ahead, this
alone would have cost ?2,500. I would recommend pet insurance
to anyone and everyone, because you just don? know what?
around the corner.?br>
Many people are reluctant to claim on their insurance, for
fear of increasing their premiums. In reality, there is very
little that you will have insured for, that can be covered by
simply dealing with it personally. If there is any
uncertainty, perhaps your dog has caused damage to property,
simply weigh up the cost of repair against the cost of the
excess or the premium increase. Your insurer should be able to
advise on this either way.
Most insurers have online claim forms that you can fill out,
but make sure that check your policy details before doing so,
to ensure that you are not claiming for something that you are
not entitled to. When you are making a claim, you will usually
have a choice of claim form. These range from veterinary
costs, boarding costs or liability claims. Again, make sure
you are using the right form.
Getting pet insurance should be fairly easy provided that you
know what you are looking for and you know where to find it.
Do your research, get plenty of quotes and make sure that you
choose suitable cover.
Pet Insurance doesn? just cover an accident or injury to your
pet. In many cases, you are covered as a pet owner. Here are
just some of the benefits that pet insurance could bring to
you personally.
Holiday Cancellation Cover. - If your pet falls ill,
causing you to cancel your holiday, certain policies will have
you covered and will be able to ensure that you don? miss out
financially as well as missing your holiday.
Advertising A Lost Pet. - If your pet goes missing, the
cost of advertising can quickly add up. Many policies will pay
out up to ?400 to cover costs such as newspaper adverts as
well as posters and flyers.
Third Party Liability. - Being a dog owner sometimes
comes with its own risks. Should your pet cause damage to
property or injury to a person, there is cover available for
this should you be found liable for the costs.
Bereavement Counselling. - Losing a pet can be a
traumatic and depressing time, some people need time off work,
others just need professional advice and help. Many insurers
offer a bereavement service to pet owners.
24 Hour Medical Advice. - If you find yourself having
to deal with a sick dog on New Years Eve, it can be hard to
find a vet. In non emergency situations, it would be ideal to
have an expert on the end of a phone to give advice and
reassurance. Many insurers offer this service as it is
becoming more common due to the competitive nature of the
insurance industry.
Illness Or Injury To You. - Should you require hospital
treatment, it is possible to find a policy that will cover
boarding costs for your dog, if they need to be looked after
professionally.
