Our Guide to Pet Insurance

Veterinary medicine has become very advanced, and we regularly use expensive medical techniques to diagnose and treat diseases and pet owners have a much closer bond with their pets and care more for their pet’s health, therefore pet insurance has increased hugely in popularity. 

In the unfortunate event that your pet becomes injured or ill, pet insurance can cover the veterinary fees. Allowing you the peace of mind of getting the best treatment without worrying about how you will be able to afford the treatment.  

Today there are plenty of insurance companies and they all have unique policies to choose from. Insurance companies will normally cover diseases and illnesses, and some may cover dental treatments. It is always important to read through all the terms and conditions. Preventative treatments are often not covered by insurance policies.  

We recommend that every pet owner gets pet insurance, however, we cannot recommend any individual insurance company.  

The younger your pet is when you insure them the less likely conditions will be excluded when you claim.  

Your breeder can get your puppy vet checked before you purchase the puppy and get 1-month free insurance through some insurance providers. Other insurance companies will insure a puppy before you have picked up the puppy. 

We can register your puppy for 1-month free insurance as long as you puppy is healthy and under 6 months of age.  

Types of pet insurance policies: 

1. Accident: provides cover for accidents only and no cover for illness
2. Annual policies or 12 month policies: these policies may cover a condition for a period of 12 months, but if you pet is diagnosed with a condition, then the condition or organ system will be excluded from the policy, even if the condition has not been treated. 
3. Individual condition cover or Maximum benefit Cover : With this policy one can claim a maximum amount per condition without a time limit. When you reach the maximum amount, they will no longer cover the condition.
4. Lifelong cover: These policies reset yearly, each time the policy renews. They often provide ongoing cover for lifelong conditions like diabetes, heart conditions, kidney disease and osteoarthritis. Cover limit may be per condition or per year for all conditions. 

Pet Insurance Pitfalls 

• Exclusion period – often when one takes out an insurance policy, there is an exclusion period of 2 to 3 weeks. This means if your pet gets ill in that period the insurance company will not cover the costs of treatment. 
• Pre-existing conditions – if your pet has previously been diagnosed with a problem before you took out the insurance policy, then the policy will not cover that condition. If you change insurance companies, then they may also exclude some conditions that was previously covered by your previous insurance company. Try to stick to one insurance company.  
• Automatic exclusions – some insurance companies will automatically exclude certain breed problems associated with specific breeds. Please read Terms and conditions of every policy. 
• Excess – is the amount of money you have to pay in order for your insurance to pay the account. You may be asked by the practice to pay this if the practice claims on your behalf, or your insurance policy will deduct from the final bill. You normally pay one policy excess per condition. Some policies may have an additional co-payment which will be a percentage of the treatment claimed. 

Please check the policy terms and conditions carefully. 

Pet Insurance Benefits 

Pet insurance are mainly used to cover unforeseen veterinary fees if your pet becomes injured or unwell.  

Some policies may offer other benefits such as: 

• Boarding or kennels costs if you had to go into hospital for emergency medical treatment 

• Paying the price you paid, if your pet is stolen, lost or die as a result of injury or disease 
• Third party liability if your pet injures someone or damages someone else’s property 
• Paying the cost of your holiday if you had to cancel due to your pet requiring emergency surgery close to the date of your departure