How To Choose The Best Insurance For Your Pet – And The Amount It’ll Cost You

How to choose the best insurance for your pet – and the amount it’ll cost you.

One in five pet owners are struggling with soaring insurance premiums – it’s no wonder more pets have a social media account than the percentage of cats with insurance cover

Pet insurance costs have soared to an average £472 per year for a dog and £285 for a cat, a survey has revealed.

Almost two-thirds of owners have seen premiums for their pet rise – an average £123 for dogs and £57 for cats.

No wonder so few pooches and moggies have cover – less than a third of dogs and around one in eight cats.

Meanwhile, almost one in five pets now has a social media account – obviously easier to set up and less painful to the pockets of owners.

But it won’t do much for a pet in need or urgent veterinary care.

How much it’ll cost to insure your dog

Research from Which? also found the breed of pet and where you live can make a huge difference to the cost.

The consumer group averaged the five cheapest quotes for eight popular dogs and seven cat breeds on a comparison website, for lifetime policies with a Cambridge postcode.

Pet insurance costs are high for popular French Bulldogs

Maine Coon kitties are cute but can be costly to cover

Poorly pets can cost a small fortune in vet bills

A French Bulldog was the most expensive of eight dog breeds at £358, compared to £133 for a Jack Russell Terrier.

A Maine Coon cat came out the priciest cat out of seven breeds at £114, followed by a Bengal at £105 and Domestic Long-haired cat at £86.

This could leave millions of people having to cough up hefty amounts as a combination of escalating vet bills and complex treatments can quickly add up to thousands of pounds.

Figures from the Association of British Insurers show a record £1.8million was paid out in pet insurance claims every day.

How much it’ll cost to insure your cat.

Average claims were £750 but some hit eye-watering amounts into the thousands.

The most expensive were for blood disorders in dogs costing up to £4,000, while musculoskeletal problems cost up to £3,800 and liver disease up to £3,500.

But, there are ways to help keep the cost of cover down so you can protect you and your pet.

Tips for buying pet insurance
Take out insurance when pets are young as this will help to keep premiums down throughout their lifetime.

Don’t take out a 12-month policy, go for lifetime cover which means it is automatically renewed each year.

But, check about ongoing conditions.

Most policies continue to offer treatment for an ongoing condition into a new premium year – as long as you renew on time and don’t let a policy lapse.

Check age limits as some insurers will only start cover for pets below a certain age – some will refuse to renew once a pet reach above a certain age.

Check the excess, some policies can charge an extra percentage of claims as pets get older.

Check the level of cover.

Most insurers offer three levels:

Level 1 – you get a fixed amount of cover for vet fees each year and this is reinstated each year when a policy is renewed. This can be expensive.

Level 2 – gives a maximum limit on the amount paid our for each condition, so you can claim for as long as it takes to reach this limit. Generally less expensive than level 1.

Level 3 – offers a maximum limit on the amount paid out for each condition and a maximum time limit (usually 12 months from the onset) that a condition can be claimed for.

Once the max amount of money or time has been reached a condition is no longer covered.

This is commonly referred to as a 12-month policy.

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/how-choose-best-insurance-your-12297887