There have been a lot of advances in pet healthcare in the past few decades meaning an increase in treatment options. While this is great for your pet, the cost of some treatments, especially at referral level or for out of hours care, can quickly mount up. For this reason many owners now choose to take out pet insurance.
Choosing insurance and making a claim can be a little confusing. There are lots of policies on offer and the level of cover varies hugely so it is always considering the following:
- How long is the cover for each condition? Some policies cover any condition for an unlimited time while others are time limited.
- What is the maximum level of cover per condition?
- How much is the excess and the monthly premium? In general, the lower the monthly premium, the higher the excess.
- Is there a co-payment that you have to make as well as the excess?
- Is there a time limit for making a claim? This is often within a year of the symptoms being noted.
Please remember that the policy is a contract between you and your insurer so you need to be aware of any time limits and exclusions when making a claim.
Insurers will not usually cover pre-existing conditions so bear this in mind if you are thinking of changing providers and your pet has an ongoing condition. Your pet will usually not be covered for medical conditions in the first fourteen days of cover, but may be covered in the case of an unforeseeable accident. Routine healthcare, such as boosters, flea and worm treatment, dental procedures and neutering are not generally covered, unless there is an underlying medical reason for the treatment.
We are not allowed to recommend specific companies or policies but we can put in place 4 weeks free pet insurance following a quick health check to give you peace of mind while you shop around.
When it comes to making a claim you will need to initiate the claim by contacting your insurers. A lot of claims are now done online and the process is generally quick and easy. We would ask you to settle at the time of treatment and then claim back the costs from your insurer. In some cases we may be happy to do a ‘direct claim’ meaning you just pay the excess and the insurers reimburse the surgery directly. This is usually if the treatment is particularly expensive and would need to be agreed in advance.