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Dog Insurance
Dog insurance is a very important investment if you wish to avoid the cost of veterinary fees, as every visit to your local veterinary practice is going to cost money. Vet fees are increasing year on year, albeit slowly, as, with new medical improvements and treatments becoming available, more conditions can be treated which would previously not have been possible. Dog Insurance is going to help you manage your dog's health and welfare from a young puppy to the more mature dog. The exponential increase in premiums is lower as your dog's age increases if you already have the cover, than if you take out the policy at an older age, so it will be less expensive to consider dog insurance when your dog is young.
Dog insurance is now available from more than the usual pet insurers and is easy to take out. Dog insurance is an important expense to protect your dog against the unexpected problems such as illness or accident that can occur throughout your dog's life.
Dog insurance is offered from a range of suppliers, including high street supermarkets, in a range of cover to suit both your budget and levels of cover required. Dog insurance policies can cover part or nearly all the costs incurred and the levels of cover you can expect will depend upon the premium you want to pay. Dog insurance policies like any other policy have excesses and benefit limits to keep the premiums affordable.
Vet fees are becoming more costly for treatment of illnesses and unexpected accidents that can occur, with an average vet fee of at least £30 for a consultation, let alone treatment and medicines. Dog insurance will provide protection against such costs, and cover can start from £6 a month to cover the unexpected vet fees, but you must check the policy benefits in detail and not only read the summary of cover.
You may not be aware that 50% of household pets will require some form of unexpected veterinary treatment during a year, but only 10% of those pets will be covered with some form of dog insurance. Therefore the full cost of treatment has to be paid for by the 90% of owners who do not have cover.
If you want to avoid extra expense then dog insurance should be taken out when you first acquire your pet, rather than wait until a problem occurs as it will be too late to take out a policy to cover that particular problem. No dog insurance policy will pay for treatment for your dog that already has acquired that medical condition.
You can pay your dog insurance premiums either annually or monthly by direct debit and you can usually obtain a discount on your dog insurance if you pay annually.
Dog insurance will normally cover vet fees, death from accident or illness, third party liability cover, cover to pay for advertising and reward for a lost pet, boarding fees, theft or straying, accidental damage caused by your pet, holiday cancellation cover if you are unable to go on holiday due to your pet suffering an accident or injury, quarantine costs and emergency expenses.
Before you commit to purchasing a dog insurance plan you should check out the following areas of cover:
- Excess - the part of any claim you are obliged to pay;
- Exclusions - dog insurance policies do have some exclusions which varies from insurer to insurer;
- Pre-Existing Medical Conditions - all plans will generally not cover your pet against medical conditions they already have or existed before;
- Price Increase - premiums for your dog insurance will increase as your pets gets older;
- Age Limits - most dog insurance policies have maximum age limits that they will accept your pet, which is generally 8 years of age.
Dog insurance policies will offer a variety of plans providing levels of insurance with annual limits and exclusions, so it pays to read the summary of cover and detailed levels of cover plus the terms and conditions before you commit to purchasing your dog insurance plan.