About Pet Insurance
Pet insurance is a policy you take out to help cover the cost of veterinary care if your pet becomes ill or is injured. In return for a monthly or annual premium, your insurer will reimburse you for eligible treatments. Policies vary widely, but most will help with the cost of diagnostics, surgery, medication, and sometimes even other therapies such as physiotherapy and behaviourist assessments.
Just like health insurance for humans, pet insurance offers financial protection and peace of mind when unexpected health issues arise.
While we all hope we don’t ever need to use pet insurance, illnesses and accidents can happen at any time, and treatment costs can very quickly add up. From emergency surgery after an accident to long-term medication for conditions like arthritis or heart disease, many pets will develop health conditions or sustain injuries that need hundreds or thousands of Euro worth of veterinary care.
Pet insurance helps to cover these unexpected expenses, giving you peace of mind that you’ll be able to afford the best possible care when your pet needs it.
You can’t take out insurance after an illness has already started – it would then be excluded from cover as a pre-existing condition – so it’s worth considering getting cover in place before you might need it.
Types of pet insurance
There are different types of policies to choose from, and understanding the differences can help you make the right choice for your pet.
Lifetime Cover – This is typically the most comprehensive option. Lifetime policies cover ongoing conditions such as dermatitis and ear issues, with an annual limit that resets each year. As long as you renew the policy, your pet remains covered for lifelong conditions.
Maximum Benefit Cover – This policy sets a financial limit for each condition. Once that amount is reached, the condition will no longer be covered, even if your pet still needs treatment in the future.
Time-Limited Cover – These policies offer cover for a set period (usually 12 months) from the start of treatment for each condition. After that, any further treatment becomes your responsibility.
Accident-Only Cover – As the name suggests, this type only covers treatment related to accidental injuries. It’s often the cheapest, but it won’t help with illnesses, which most insurance claims tend to be for.
Other things to be aware of when taking out a pet insurance policy
Dental cover – Historically treatment for dental disease was not covered by insurance companies, however more companies are now offering cover for dental disease treatment and due to it being extremely prevalent in all cats & dogs and expensive to treat, we strongly recommend a policy that covers for dental treatment.
Excess and co-payments – These are the amounts you pay yourself when making a claim. Some insurers also increase co-payments as your pet ages, so factor this into your long-term planning.
Cover Limits – Note what the claim limit is, is it per condition, per year or per lifetime as this will mean a huge variation in how much cover you have.
Cover for older pets – Many policies have age limits for new cover, so it’s wise to insure your cat while they’re young.
Premium increases after claiming – Some pet insurance providers will increase your premiums at renewal if you make a claim, but others will not.
Insurance does not cover routine or preventative healthcare e.g. vaccinations, anti-parasite treatments, food or prescription food or neutering however you should consider taking out our Pet Health Plan to help manage these day-to-day expenses
