Pet insurance is designed to pay the veterinary fees if your pet becomes ill or gets involved in an accident, some pet insurance policies will also pay out if the animalis lost, stolen or dies.
UK pet insurance policies will usually pay all the vetinary fees up to a maximum amount, which can range from about £3,000 to £7,000 for most UK pet insurance companies for cats & dogs and petplan’s supreme cover includes unlimited vet fees per year for cats & dogs.
The pet owner will usually pay the fees to the vet themselves and then send in a claims form to get the money back, some insurance companies such as direct line will pay the veterinary bills directly for you.
Pet insurance won’t usually pay for existing medical conditions and preventative pet care treatments, such as vaccinations & neutering because these are known about before taking out the pet insurance policy, but recently some pet insurers i.e. directline & pet plan have included routine care cover as well to help pay for all the costs of pet care.
Some pet insurance companies cover more than just the animal health of your pet, they can also cover boarding costs for pets if the owner is hospitalised, money for advertising/reward if the animal is lost and money for cancellations of holidays due to the pet needing urgent medical treatment or is dying.
Some UK pet insurance policies for dogs also include third party liability insurance.
Like human health insurance, the notion of UK pet insurance is not typically one of “if,” it’s “when.” According to industry figures, nearly half of all UK pet insurance policy holders will make at least one claim on their policy over the duration of their pet’s life and many will make multiple claims.
These claims do not include regularly-scheduled items such as checkups or shots. They are claims due to unexpected pet illnesses or even surgery, both outpatient and inpatient. The fact of the matter is that there is a very real chance that your pet will fall ill or be injured to the point that medical treatment may cost more than you are financially able to pay at the time. UK pet insurance, just like human health insurance, can be – quite literally – a lifesaver at times like these.
Some of the more common benefits of UK pet insurance include, but are not limited to annual checkups, routine shots, teeth cleaning, kennel fees, and burial expenses. Typically, only one routine checkup per year is covered by UK pet insurance plans, but some of the more comprehensive policies will cover two. Most of the routine checkups clauses include routine shots and teeth cleaning but some may not. Be sure to review any policies that you are considering to be sure. Routine shots that are typically covered by UK pet insurance policies include bordetella, parvo, and rabies.
Kennel fees that are covered are likely not for ordinary boarding trips for when the owners go on vacation. They are more for emergency purposes such as when owners become so ill that they cannot care for their pets temporarily. Burial expenses may cover cremation or in some cases, a plot of land in a pet cemetery.
Another way that UK pet insurance is similar to human health insurance is that its cost is steadily on the rise. In spite of this, UK pet insurance is almost always a much more affordable option than the alternative of being caught off guard by unexpected veterinary bills or worse yet, having to put your pet to sleep because you can’t afford proper care.