Pet insurance is a policy that is similar to car or home insurance. It will usually cover most accidents, injuries and diseases that your pet may suffer from. Having insurance for your pet is vital. Emergency or long-term veterinary care is often expensive, so it is best to cover yourself for any unexpected vet bills.
Let’s delve into the wonderful world of insurance, unpack the different types of policies and demystify the terminology that is often confusing.
What is pet insurance?
Think of your insurance policy as a safety net for your pet. Often, veterinary bills can be expensive for animals who require diagnostic imaging, bloods, surgery or hospitalisation. If you are not covered by a pet insurance policy, it would be your responsibility to fund the treatment for your pet.
Some practices may be able to offer support for clients that are unable to afford veterinary bills, but also many practices are unable to offer this service. It is recommended that you have insurance so that you are able to afford more options for your pet if they were to fall ill.
How is it different to the Pet Health Club?
The Pet Health Club covers planned, preventative healthcare – for example, your flea and worm treatments, vaccines and more, which aren’t typically covered by insurance. Pet insurance, on the other hand, is intended to cover the unexpected – illness or injury. The two are complementary, each covering a different aspect of your pet’s medical needs.
What are the different types of pet insurance?
There are 3 main different insurance policies that can be taken out. Some offer a more comprehensive cover than others, but it is best to take out as much cover as possible.
Lifetime policy
As the name suggests, a lifetime policy will cover your pet for their lifetime. This means that if your pet was diagnosed with a long-term illness, such as heart disease or diabetes, and they required lifelong medication, your insurance policy would cover the diagnostics and medication required.
You will have to pay your excess (see terminology section below) per condition, per year for most lifetime policies. This policy offers the most comprehensive cover, and it is recommended that this policy should be at the top of your list for consideration.
There are often different levels of lifetime policies where the amount of cover differs. You can usually cover your pet for a range between £2000 – £12,000 per condition, per year.
Annual policy
An annual policy renews on a yearly basis. This means that a condition can be claimed for under the annual policy and be covered for 12 months only. If we take the same scenario of a pet with heart disease, the policy would cover heart medication for a year. After this point, the condition will no longer be covered, and it would be up to the owner to pay the full cost.
Annual policies are often cheaper, but owners would need to be prepared to fund on-going treatments after 12 months.
Accident only
An accident only policy does exactly what it says on the tin. The policy covers a pet for an unexpected accident, such as being hit by a car. What the policy wouldn’t cover for though, is further investigation into an illness or disease.
The policy will usually have a cap on the amount of cover, but this would normally be available per injury, per year.
Are you unsure on what policy to take out? Speak to us and we can help guide you through the process. We will be unable to recommend an insurer to take a policy out with, but we can certainly discuss the benefits of each policy in more detail.
What isn’t covered on pet insurance?
No matter what insurance policy you decide to take out, insurance policies will not cover the following:
- Routine neutering
- Flea and worming treatments
- Vaccinations
- Breeding (unless they offer a breeder policy)
- Pre-existing health conditions
Some insurers may consider pre-existing conditions, but usually these conditions need to have subsided for at least two years, or as stipulated by the insurer. If you are looking for insurance to cover pre-existing conditions, do plenty of research to make sure that your insurer is fully aware of your pet’s medical history.
Insurance terminology
There are a lot of terms used in pet insurance and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming and confusing. Let’s break down the different terminology meanings so that you fully understand your policy information.
Excess –
The excess is a contribution that you pay, usually per condition, per year. Some excesses are fixed, and others are a percentage of the total claim itself. You will pay your monthly premium as normal and then pay your excess on top of this, if you make a claim.
Pre-existing condition –
A pre-existing condition is a diagnosis that has been made before an insurance policy was taken out. For example, if your pet has been diagnosed with diabetes and you then decided to take out an insurance policy, the diabetes would be classed as a pre-existing condition, and would likely not be covered by the insurer.
Congenital condition –
This is a condition that was present at birth.
Pre-authorisation/Direct claim –
A pre-authorisation is when a future claim is accepted by an insurer before the treatment has been carried out. It is usually the veterinary practice and the insurer that communicate, with the veterinary practice sending an estimate to the insurer.
Pre-authorisations normally take place if you are wanting to submit a direct claim. This is where the insurers pay the veterinary practice directly for the veterinary bill. However, double check with us whether we can accept direct claims from your insurer.
Complementary treatment –
Some policies will give a contribution towards complementary treatment. This is treatment such as behavioural treatment, hydrotherapy and physiotherapy.
Continuation claim –
A continuation claim is payment for an on-going claim. Pets who receive regular treatments at the practice will likely have a continuation claim in place with their insurers.
Changing insurer
Unfortunately, unlike car or house insurance, changing insurance company can be quite complex. While it is perfectly possible to cancel and old policy and start a new one with a different provider, you can run into trouble with “pre-existing conditions”. People often don’t realise that anything that the old insurance company paid out for will be a new “pre-existing condition” for the new company – and they may not cover it.
Insurance prices
Different policies have different headline prices, but also cover different things – which is why it’s so important to shop around AND read the small print!
Remember too that most policy premiums DO go up year on year, based on inflation AND the age of your pet. Older pets are more likely to be poorly, so the insurers typically charge more to cover them. The reasons behind any policy increases will be explained in your policy terms and conditions, but they aren’t usually directly linked to what the company has paid out on your policy.
Is pet insurance worth it?
Pet insurance is absolutely worth the monthly outgoing. With pet insurance in place, you can avoid having to foot the bill for expensive veterinary treatment without help from your insurer. By taking out good cover, such as a lifetime policy, you are able to breathe a sigh of relief that your pet will be covered if they get into an accident, or they fall ill.
It is always important to fully understand your policy terms and conditions before you take out pet insurance. Make sure that you know your excess amount, as well as your total cover per condition, per year. Understanding your pet’s cover before any illness or accidents happen can also ease any worries about costs, or the level of treatment you can afford, should the worst happen.