Last January marked the beginning of the Chinese Year of the Dog. And according to Chinese tradition, anyone born the following year will be honest and loyal. They don't care much about money either. This might help explain why 5,2 million homes have dogs but don't have pet insurance. As many people have found out the hard way, they are leaving themselves open to huge vet bills.
The average cost to treat a dog after a car accident is £379, and just a scan could cost more than £1000. And as medicine and surgery get better and veterinary science gets more advanced, the cost of owning a dog could go up.
There is no National Health Service for pets, so if your dog gets sick, it could cost you a lot of money for tests, surgery, medicine, and care. Studies have shown that an insured pet owner makes a claim about once every three years, on average.
But do take care. There are a lot of differences between pet insurance policies in terms of what they cover, how much of a deductible you have to pay, how much you can get back each year, and what you can't get back.
So, if you're looking for pet insurance online, it's important to read the fine print. Don't just go for the cheapest thing. Cheap premiums usually mean that coverage is limited. Not all insurance companies, for example, will cover your pet for life. This means that if your dog's problem needs to be treated over and over again, coverage ends after a year.
Take Bonny, the spaniel that Sheila Follows has. When Bonny joined the family as a puppy seven years ago, Sheila was smart and got insurance for her right away. Up until the first spring, everything was fine. Then, Bonny got a skin allergy, and later that same year, she had trouble with her hip. Since then, he has been getting treatment, which means he has to go to the local vet often.
Sheila says, "To keep her allergies under control, Bonny needs to eat a special diet and get regular shots. My vet bill is usually between GBP375 and GBP450 per month, so getting insurance was one of the best things I did seven years ago. My monthly insurance payment is only GBP15, and I don't know what we'd do if we weren't covered."
The policy that Sheila has is a Budget policy from Pet Plan. It covers conditions for life for up to GBP4,000 each year. Pet Plan also has two other plans for pets: their Standard Policy pays up to GBP6,000 per year, and their Supreme Plan covers them for as long as they live. So you can see that even with the same insurance company, you might have to choose between different policies.
So there are a lot of options. Some policies will even cover kennel or boarding fees if you get sick, or they will pay your vacation cancellation fee if your pet gets sick before you leave.
We suggest that you look at several websites that offer pet insurance. Even better, print out a copy of their list of benefits and terms and conditions. Then, spend forty minutes comparing their premiums and looking closely at what you'll get for your money. We know it will be boring, but if you put in a little extra work now, you'll get a great deal and peace of mind later.
Even your dog would thank you if he could talk. But maybe a big lick will do the trick!
Postscript
The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) will treat your sick animal for free if you get Council Tax Benefit or Housing Benefit.
At the moment, about 5.8 million homes meet these requirements, and just over 7 out of 10 homes are served by a PDSA PetAid practise or a PetAid Hospital.
There are 328 PetAid practises, 4 PetAid branches, and 43 PetAid Hospitals.
