Is pet insurance worth the money?

Keeping pets is an expensive business. In fact Sainsbury’s pet insurance estimates that it costs about £17,000 to look after a dog or a cat over their lifetime – a serious amount of money. And with figures like that it’s hardly surprising that many of us see pet insurance as an extra, unaffordable expense.

But consider the cost of vet bills if your pet needed surgery, or ongoing treatment for a minor condition – could you afford them? There are all kinds of horror stories about pets who need simple operations having to be put down because their owners couldn’t pay for the treatment. So when it comes to the crunch – is pet insurance worth it?

What you should know about pet insurance

While it’s not a legal requirement to insure your pet, it is considered to be an essential measure. Premiums are cheaper than you might imagine, starting from about £5-6 a month.

Of course the cost varies according to the type of pet you are insuring, it’s age, pedigree and whether it has any pre-existing conditions. Premiums also vary according to where you live, and are generally more expensive in the south of England and particularly in London.

Pet insurance is the only way to ensure you won’t have to foot the vet bills, but policies can be complicated as the way they operate and the cover they include can vary wildly.

What does pet insurance cover?

Pet insurance doesn’t just cover the cost of vet bills, but can also include other eventualities like covering your holiday if a pet falls ill, and paying for the cost of advertising  if a pet goes missing.

Routine vets expenses such as spaying will not be included, but other vet bills usually are –  up to a point. Some policies will set a limit for the amount they pay out each year, some go per condition, and others will only make a single pay out each year.

Unfortunately lots of insurers won’t cover much older pets, and often pre-existing conditions like diabetes won’t be covered or are much more expensive to cover. Equally if your pet is a pedigree, expect higher premiums as it will be more susceptible to hereditary conditions.

How can you keep the cost of pet insurance down?

You can think about pet insurance in the same way you would about insurance for yourself. That is, the healthier your pet, the cheaper it will be to insure. So making sure your cat or dog maintains a healthy weight, gets plenty of exercise and is up to date with all its vaccinations will help keep your premiums down.

As with other types of insurance,  you’ll generally find the cheapest deals online and if you’re happier to pay a slightly higher excess, your monthly premium will be lower.

So, is it worth the money?

Generally speaking for smaller animals like rabbits or hamsters pet insurance is usually not worthwhile, but if you have a cat or a dog you should be thinking seriously about investing in a good policy.

The likelihood of your pet needing some form of treatment at some point in their life is very high, and vet bills can very quickly run into the £1000s.

When you consider research from Sainsbury’s pet insurance which estimates that vet bills are increasing by as much as 15% each year, you might find that a small premium each month ends up saving you a small fortune.

{Image: Kevin Dooley}