Pet insurance is often overlooked by new pet owners. However, it can be a vital aspect of your pet’s existence and help you out with many unforeseen costs. Pet insurance can cover everything from accidental injury to illness, skin conditions and overseas travel, providing you the peace of mind to know that you’re covered as life changes with you and your little friend! But it’s important to follow a few steps when choosing pet insurance compare to ensure and choose the right policy for you and your pet.
Go with these tips to ensure and choose the right policy for your family:
- Is your pet at the right age to insure it?- choose the right policy
First of all, most pet insurance companies won’t insure a pet that’s under eight weeks of age. Next, many pet insurers won’t provide illness cover for pets that have reached a certain age (typically nine years and older), but you should still be able to take our accident cover for them.
- Does the policy cover everything we’re looking for?
This is where it’s wise to compare pet insurance policies. Many policies cover different things and have different limits of cover, and you may find that the policy you originally had your eyes on doesn’t cover as much as you feel you need for your pet.
So, be sure to look out for the following when comparing policies:
- Benefit percentage: This is how much of your pet’s bill will be covered with a visit to the vet;
- Excess: if you make a claim regarding your pet, you may have to pay an excess fee which is often deducted from the benefit paid to you by the insurer;
- Annual benefit limit: Certain policies pay a lot less when it comes to the annual amount you can claim on your pet’s vet bills, pet treatments etc.
- Accident/illness cover: One of the ultimate points of insuring your pet is to cover them for accidental injury or illness. There should be no reason why a pet insurance policy doesn’t cover these elements.
- Extra coverage: Some policies also cover illnesses like cancers whilst others don’t. You may like to choose a policy that covers these extra, more intensive illnesses than standard illness cover policies.
- How much will you pay per claim?
It’s important to know how much excess you will stand to pay with every pet insurance claim. Excess, as aforementioned, is the amount you will have to pay every time you make a claim to the pet insurance provider. This isn’t usually too much money, but it is important to note that it often occurs in a policy and is usually deducted from the benefit you receive with every claim.
Finally, it’s also important to note the benefit coverage, this being the percentage your insurer will cover and how much you will have to pay out of your own pocket. Benefit percentages are usually around 80 – 90 percent but can be reduced as the pet ages (depending on your policy).
- Be sure to review it properly
As with any insurance purchase, you have to be sure that it is the right one for you, your family and, of course, your pet! This is the time when it is necessary to conduct a thorough review of your potential policy and whether or not it will cover everything you think may be important in your pet’s life.
Once you are happy with it – or you decide to alter it – you can then go on to finalise purchasing your pet insurance policy.
