Guide to pet insurance
4. When should I buy pet insurance?
This question can only really be answered based on individual circumstances. Below are some of the things you may want to consider before you invest in a pet insurance policy.
Type of animal
An important thing to consider is whether it will be worth insuring your pet. Will the vets’ bills be so large to be worth paying out the monthly premiums? The answer to this question will probably be relevant to the type of animal you have.
If you have a dog, cat or horse, the answer to this question is probably yes and you may well benefit from taking out pet insurance. You are likely to be more conscious of the fact that a dog or cat is ill and in need of medical attention, plus if the unfortunate happens, they may well need putting to sleep in later years.
On the other hand, if you have a hamster or gerbil, it is less likely to need medical attention for a number of reasons (including the fact that it lives in a cage for the majority of the time and it has a life expectancy of around 3 years) so it would probably not be worth buying pet insurance for it.
If your choice of pet is rarer and more exotic, insurers are likely to ask for larger sums to insure it.
Age
There are usually age limits for pet insurance. Many companies won’t insure your pet for the first time once it has exceeded a certain age. Normally this age is around 8 or 10 but for some breeds can be as low as 5 years old.
Generally speaking, once your pet is insured, the insurer will usually continue to provide cover for it for the rest of its life. However, this is not the case with all insurers and some may well stop providing cover, or restrict it, once your pet reaches the company’s cut-off age. Make sure you check the pet insurance provider’s rules on this before taking out a policy.
Before you buy pet insurance be sure to check what happens to the policy as your pet gets older because some insurers may increase the cost of your premiums or excess as time passes.
If insurers do provide first-time cover for older pets, it is likely to be much more expensive. From this, we can see that it is probably best to insure your pet from a young age.
Breed
Findings from Sainsbury’s Bank have shown that the cost of owning pedigree pets can be as much as a third more expensive than owning a cross-breed.
Sainsbury’s Bank said that the main reason for the higher day-to-day costs of owning a pedigree pet is the amount spent on vets’ bills.
Pedigree animals can incur higher vets’ bills because some breeds are prone to hereditary conditions.
Steve Johnson, Head of Pet Insurance at Sainsbury’s Bank, said: “Certain breeds, after generations of selective breeding, can be prone to various hereditary conditions which can require long term treatment.
“It’s therefore best to insure a pedigree puppy or kitten as soon as you take it into your care and select a policy which provides adequate levels of long term cover. Once a condition becomes apparent, it may be impossible to get it covered under a new policy.”
Valuable pet
If your pet is worth a large sum of money this is probably reason enough to insure it, just like you would an expensive piece of art or jewellery.
Pedigree pets certainly don’t come cheap and if something were to happen to your pet in the early stages of its life, you are likely to be left out of pocket and unable to afford another pet so soon.
Some insurance policies can provide cover for the replacement of your pet in the event of theft or death.
Risk factor
When thinking about buying pet insurance, you should probably consider the risk factors that your pet encounters on a day-to-day basis. This is because they are going to highly influence how often you will need to ring your insurer to make a claim and could therefore mean you need a different level of cover.
For example, if you have an indoor cat it is very unlikely to be involved in a car accident but may be subject to other risks.
If you have an outdoor cat and live next to a busy road, it is more likely that your cat will be involved in a car accident.
However, if you have an outdoor cat but live out in the countryside, your cat is at lower risk of coming into contact with cars.
In general, the lower the risk factor, the lower the cost of the insurance premium.
This does not mean that if the risk factor is at its lowest, you do not need insurance because your pet can become ill on its own without any influence from an external source.
Considering the risk factors that your pet comes face-to-face with will ensure that the cover you buy will be better suited to your individual circumstances.
Amount of money you have
If you are experiencing financial difficulties, you may well be thinking that pet insurance is a luxury you can’t afford. At the end of the day, it is very likely that at some point in your pet’s life, it will require some sort of medical attention.
The most basic level of pet insurance is a lot cheaper than people think and, although this may not cover every single eventuality, it is better to have some cover than none at all.
Insurance companies offer payment schemes where you can pay your premiums on a monthly basis to spread the cost. See section 6 'Paying for your pet insurance’.
By paying just a few pounds each month, you will protect yourself from large unexpected vets’ bills.
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