So, you just got a new playful puppy! Or a cute little kitten! Or a beautiful new bird! Perhaps a squeaky little guinea pig?
You spend your time playing with your new pet, cleaning up their accidents, buying them all the essential new toys, food, coats and more toys. You register them at your favourite vet practice (Us of course!) and get them checked out and vaccinated. With all these important things you need to do, have you thought about pet insurance?
Australians have one of the highest per capita rates of pet ownership in the world and it’s been estimated that we spend $8 billion on our pets each year. According to the RSPCA the estimated cost of dog ownership for the lifetime of the dog is around $13,000. The ongoing costs of owning a pet includes food, grooming and general health maintenance. But what about the extra costs for things that we hope never happen? Unfortunately accidents and illnesses do happen and sometimes they can be ongoing and quite pricey. This is where Pet Insurance can help and come in to play.
To our minds, getting good quality pet insurance cover is a no brainer! The rate of progress in animal health over the last decade means that we can now provide hospital standard treatments and care to our pets, including virtually any diagnostic or treatment regime that is currently available for humans. We are lucky to have numerous veterinary specialists based in and around Brisbane as well as a world famous animal cancer hospital within 5 minutes from McDowall Veterinary Practice. The result of this is that we are managing to keep our patients happier and healthier for longer and it is now not unusual for our cat and dog patients to be reaching 18 years of age (the equivalent of 95-105 years in human ages!)
When looking into pet Insurance, it is always best to get cover for your pet as soon as possible. This means that the Insurance company will be less likely to exclude conditions as being “pre existing”. Each company will offer three different levels of cover:
- Accident Only Cover
Accident Only policies cover harm or injuries that are caused by accidents; such as snake bites, broken bones from a car accident or injuries from a fight with another animal. Pet owners do need to understand though that not all ‘accidents’ will be covered, things that can be prevented, such as tick or flea bites, won’t be covered. Also, any injuries caused by a pre-existing condition will not be compensated either.
This is basic cover and will not cover for any ongoing illnesses.
- Accident and Illness Cover
Accident and illness cover will cover the accidents as listed above and also any illnesses or disease that is diagnosed by a vet. Examples of coverage available include cancer, infectious diseases, hereditary conditions, and skin conditions. There are also common exclusions from this cover, such as illnesses that occur when there is a vaccination available to prevent it; as well at pre-existing conditions. Some policies will also only cover these illnesses for a period of 1 year after starting the policy. These policies are not ideal, as you would ideally want any diagnosed condition to be covered for the whole of the pets lifetime.
- Comprehensive Cover
Comprehensive insurance includes both accident & illness cover, and will generally cover both of these groups of problems for the lifetime of the pet. You can often also choose to cover the cost of some of your pets routine preventative health costs such as vaccinations, parasite control and desexing at an additional cost.
This is the more “comprehensive” cover and is probably worth paying a little more to achieve.
When researching different companies for insurance cover there are certain questions to ask:
- What type of insurance cover are you looking for ( Accident vs Accident and illness)?
- Will this policy/company cover your pet for life?
- Is the cover for each condition refreshed every year, or does the company no longer cover a particular illness once it has been claimed for in one year?
- Are there lifetime sub limits for various conditions?
- What reoccurring or hereditary conditions are covered?
- Is routine care covered and does it cost extra?
- Would you prefer to have a percentage of the claim repaid (typically 80%) or would you prefer to go with a policy that repays 100% of the claim minus an excess (normally $150.00)?
- Will the excess on the policy or the percentage payment change when my pet becomes senior?
- Will there be an excess for each claim or will it be waived for continuation claims?
- Are they able to process claims online?
- What is their turn around time on claims processing?
We have done a lot of research into various companies on the market and what they are offering, as we want our clients to be able to claim when they need to. We understand that you may have some questions after doing your research, so please feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss this further. There are also several comparison websites available that you may find useful.
We hope that this has been helpful and helped to simplify the important aspects of pet insurance for you. Our pets help to keep us healthy and happy; pet insurance is a great tool to help us ensure that they stay healthy as well.