Pet Insurance or The truth about cats and dogs

A dog may be a man's best friend, but a pet pooch can be the enemy of his bank balance!

You don't have to be a celebrity pet owner, like Paris Hilton or Geri Halliwell, to pay a fortune for a pet. Animal-loving Britons have collectively spent £2.6 billion purchasing pet cats and dogs in the last five years - that's £520 million each year - according to new research from Halifax Pet Insurance. During that time, dog lovers spent £2 billion purchasing canines at an average of £282 per animal, while cat lovers spent £639 million buying felines in the last five years at an average of £92 each.

Nor do the expenses stop there. Considerably more than half (59%) of cat and dog owners admitted that they didn't investigate simple costs such as food or veterinary care before taking on their pet. Owners underestimated the cost of vet bills by a massive 103%.

And vet fees are rising - at different rates around the country. Average prices in London have gone up by about 15% over the past year, those in the rest of the South-East are up 10%, while elsewhere in the UK they have increased by between 6 and 8%.

One of the ways of softening the blow of expensive vet bills is to take out pet insurance. Fewer than a third of Britain's seven million dogs are insured, and just 17% of cats, according to research organisation Defaqto. Defaqto says there are more than 250 differently branded cat and dog policies on the market, from around 75 distributors. But many of these are "own brand" products and in fact come from the same insurers.

You need to shop around to find which type of insurance suits your needs - and expect to pay according to your postcode, because of the variations in fees around the country.

The cheapest policies will have a ceiling on claims; and, just like human medical insurance, you won't get cover for pre-existing conditions. More expensive policies may still cap your claims in any one year, or the number of claims related to a particular condition. If you have special requirements, such as cover for taking your pet overseas, you need to check that the policy covers this.

Other features to look out for are the "excess" - the amount of each claim that you have to pay yourself. This can be anything upwards of £50, so you are not going to be covered for small injuries or treatments.

Also, look at the "extras" you get with the policy, such as the cost of advertising if your pet is lost or stolen, and third party cover in case your pet causes an accident.

18 April 2007 © Moneyextra.com

back

Moneyextra.com recommends you should consider taking independent financial advice before acting on any article. Please contact us for help with your individual circumstances if any assistance is required.