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Pet Advice Categories

Why

  • Pet insurance provides cover for veterinary fees should your pet become injured or ill.
  • As a pet owner, it provides you with peace of mind, knowing you can afford the best available treatment for your loved ones.
  • We recommend the concept of pet insurance because we believe it is in the best interest of your pet – we do not recommend one individual policy over another.

Other Benefits

  • Apart from veterinary fees, pet insurance often includes other cover such as:
  • Hydrotherapy & Complementary treatment
  • Damage to someone else’s property.
  • Purchase price of your pet.
  • For lost pets, the cost of advertising and the cost of a reward.
  • Costs of looking after your pet if you need to go into hospital.
  • Costs of cancelling your holiday if your pet requires emergency care close to departure.

What is not Covered

  • Anything that relates to your pet’s medical history prior to the policy starting (pre-existing conditions).
  • Anything related to pregnancy.
  • Preventative health care such as vaccinations, flea and worm treatment, neutering (a few companies do make a contribution towards preventative care).
  • Routine dental care (not always excluded).

What to Consider

  • Amount of Cover Provided: There are three general types of cover, ’Time and Benefit Limited’, ‘Benefit Limited’ and ‘Life Cover’.
  • Premiums: This is the cost of the policy.  Typically you get what you pay for, the more substantial the cover then the higher the premiums.
  • Excess: The amount you pay towards the cost of the treatment. Varies depending upon insurance company and policy so check the details.
  • Changing your Insurance: Be careful! If you change after a medical condition has occurred it is likely to be excluded under the new policy.  When first choosing, carefully consider your needs now and in the future.
  • Age: Typically, insurance can be taken out from 8 weeks of age.  As your pet gets older, unless you have an existing policy that you can renew annually, insurance cover for pets over 8 years of age is harder to find.
  • Check Details: Always check details, as the amount of cover, what extras are covered, what is excluded, premiums and excesses do vary.

Three Different Types of Cover

Time and Benefit Limited

  • 12 month policy for each medical condition, up to a financial limit.
  • Each condition covered for 12 months
  • If financial limit reached within 12 months, cover stops.
  • Once the limit is reached (time or financial) then the condition becomes excluded and it is excluded from future claims.
  • Basic policy and usually the cheapest.

Benefit Limited

  • Financial limit for each new condition.
  • Each condition is insured until financial limit has been reached.
  • No time limit provided you keep insurance cover in force.
  • Once financial limit reached, then the condition becomes excluded and it is excluded from future claims.

Life Cover

  • New conditions are insured up to a financial limit each year.
  • Where the financial limit is reached in the year, no further claim can be made until you enter a new policy year.
  • No limit on how many times the condition can be covered in this way – ‘life cover’.
  • Most comprehensive policy available.