There is no doubt pet insurance can literally be a life-saver for some pets and, given that supposedly 1 in 4 policies are claimed upon, you are much more likely to use your pet insurance than your house or car policies. But given there are literally dozens of pet insurance companies out there on the market, and all with different levels of cover and options to choose from, it makes it very hard to compare ‘like for like’ and know which is the best value.

There are ‘life-long’ and ‘12 month’ policies, policies that have limits per condition with significant variations between what is covered and what is considered a pre-existing condition. There are big differences in the amount of excess you pay, and some policies make you pay a proportion of the total claim. It is, therefore, not surprising that it’s usually these anomalies and small print that end up causing the most problems for pet owners. It’s relatively easy to jump on a comparison website and look for the cheapest policy but are you really getting value for money and, most importantly, are they going to pay out when you do claim?

Two of the most critical factors to consider are what are called lifelong vs 12 month cover and the issue of pre-existing conditions.

Life-long vs Annual Policies
On a quick comparison website you will quickly realise that the 12 month policies are much cheaper than the lifelong ones. Lifelong essentially means that whatever condition the pet develops, they are covered for that condition year after year. There will be a maximum amount paid out, either per year or in total, but it generally means that chronic recurring conditions are well covered – especially useful for chronic conditions like arthritis or illnesses like diabetes that will affect a pet for many years. ‘12 month’ means a condition once diagnosed is only covered for one year and then becomes excluded from cover. Understandably they are often quite a bit cheaper, but it means any problem that keeps recurring or is a long-term illness will eventually become excluded. The danger is that as the years progress more problems become excluded until there is not much you can claim for. At that stage you might think well I’ll simply switch to a new insurer, but then we hit the second issue – that of ‘pre-existing conditions’.

Essentially any disease/problem/condition a pet had before a policy was taken out is considered pre-existing and usually not covered, even if it was many years earlier and much more minor in its presentation. The requirement to provide medical records when submitting claims to insurers means they can see all your pet’s prior health problems.

My advice is to always take out a good ‘life-long’ insurance policy with a respectable company. If you have any questions feel free to give us a call and come in and see us for some free, unbiased advice!