The Best Policy for your Pet’s Health – The Low-Down on Pet Insurance!
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2005 saw the first successful open heart surgery performed on a cat. Harry, a two year old Maine Coon, was born with a weak heart and by the time he had reached his second birthday had been given just days to live. But after a groundbreaking five hour operation carried out at the Royal Veterinary College in London, he is now on his way to making a full recovery. The ?10,000 ($18,000) operation added a tenth life to Harry’s nine and was covered by a pet insurance policy that Sally and Terry Dolan, Harry’s parents, had taken out when he was just a kitten.
Feeding bowls, beds, toys, brushes, and …. pet insurance. As a new pet parent there is just so much to consider when opening up your heart and your home to a new four-legged family member. Pet insurance may not be the first item on your list when it comes to preparing for the latest addition to the family, but there are many good reasons why it should be.
With the ever-increasing sophistication of veterinary treatments available nowadays, such as the surgery performed on Harry, the cost of veterinary care can be prohibitively expensive. Add to that the fact that Harry is far from the exception, with 1 in 3 pets requiring unexpected veterinary care in any one year, and you can see why pet insurance should be a priority.
Though pet insurance is a fairly new concept in the United States it is fast becoming a popular option for new pet parents looking to offset the costs associated with veterinary care. In fact pet insurance is the most claimed for type of insurance, more so than homeowners or auto.
When it comes to selecting a pet insurance policy for your pet it pays to do your research as there are some key differences between the types of cover available:
Exclusions: Many policies will automatically exclude or provide limited cover for hereditary conditions, or will exclude all previous conditions your pet has suffered from, whether cured or not. This can be a problem as many hereditary diseases are chronic and can be costly to treat.
Time Limits: Some policies will only cover a disease for a limited period of time, most often just twelve months, which can become an issue if your pet develops a chronic illness such as diabetes or hip dysplasia that can last a lifetime.
Maximum Benefits: Beware of policies that will only pay up to a specified amount for a particular condition. $7,000 per condition may sound like a high amount of cover but as in Harry’s case some illnesses may cost a lot more to treat. You may want to consider a policy that offers annual limits that replenish each year so that your pet will always have adequate cover.
Insurance Company Reputation: As with any insurance product you want to purchase from a reputable company with a strong financial record, a long history of paying claims and a high AM Best or Moody rating (A or better). Ask the company how long they have been in business, how many policy holders they have, and what their retention rates are like.
Finally, when you are researching all of your options, ask your veterinarian for advice. They have the most experience with pet insurance and will be able to point you in the right direction as to the best policy for you and your pet. As with other types of insurance, pet insurance is a product that you hope you will never have to use but you are happy to have it when the worst happens. It certainly never crossed Sally Dollan’s mind when she brought Harry into her home as an eight week old kitten that the pet insurance policy she had purchased would save his life just two years later.
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By Natasha Ashton, Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Petplan USA
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
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