Insurance Advice - Factsheet

We have produced this fact-finding document to help you decide if pet insurance would be a good idea for you, and if so then what type of company would be best.

Under new legislation that started in January 2005 we have been fully authorised by the Financial Services Authority to discuss insurance and to complete insurance claim forms, and as such we are strictly controlled as to the quality of advice we give. Therefore you should be assured that our information is fair and in your best interests.

Our aim is to give unbiased advice and to offer you our years of experience in dealing with pet insurance companies. We also have an inside knowledge of what can go wrong with pets and what professional fees could be involved in getting your pet back to best health. All of which means that by reading this leaflet you should have enough knowledge to make an informed decision as to what is best for you.

Why Insure?

Pet insurance is designed to cover unexpected veterinary fees and other pet related costs. It is a medical policy, and as such a good policy will take away the financial anxiety when your pet needs medical attention.

1:2 insured dogs make a claim and 1:4 insured cats make a claim, each year.

As a general guide, a good insurer will cover the following, but always read the small print to see if this is the case with your chosen insurer. Few people realise that insurance is not just there for major problems requiring in-patient care. Consultations and repeated visits for treatment may also be claimable if you spend more than a certain minimum.

Out-patient fees and consultations.
Drugs and Medicines
Diagnostic tests like blood samples Xrays, ultrasound, endoscopy
In-patient care; hospitalisation Operations and procedures (other than neutering)
Night and weekend emergency fees
Road accidents
Ongoing medication for chronic conditions
Referral fees to a specialist
Dog fights
Cat bites
Third party liability for dogs

Types of Insurance available

There are numerous insurance companies offering pet healthcare policies, and each has its own way of deciding what they will pay for and, more importantly, how much they will pay for.

Twelve-month schemes.
These are now very common, and most companies offer them as a compromise between cost and cover. They will pay out only for the first twelve months of a claim, after which you are on your own. On-going costs, say for dermatitis or arthritis which can be substantial over many years, are not covered so the policies can be cheaper as they won't have to budget for huge fees.
Be very weary of such policies. We don't recommend them because we have seen too many clients stuck having to pay substantial costs for years afterwards, and as more problems occur then more exclusions apply. They are attractive for their cheap monthly costs, but if fact they often turn out to be an expensive mistake in the longer term.
These policies sometimes advertise that they give cover for life, which is true if you consider that your pet can be covered for life, but that is very different from saying that the condition is covered for life: It won't be! By the time your pet reaches ten years of age, you may well find that you can't claim for any more conditions!
Cover-for-Life schemes.
True cover-for-life scheme do just that: They cover a condition for the life of the pet, or at least until a substantial limit has been reached. They are not limited to paying only for the initial diagnosis and treatment, and in the long term can save you a lot of money. Conditions such as dermatitis and arthritis don't go away, and treatment costs are ongoing and expensive. With Cover-for-life policies you should get back most of the costs of the medication and other treatments, regardless of how often you put in a claim.
Such schemes are naturally more expensive per month because they have to budget for possible payments over many years. However over a longer time period then you are quite likely to get back more than you put in if you have a pet that becomes ill.
Cover-for-life schemes either offer a maximum figure that can be spent per condition, or a maximum figure than can be spent per year.

Cover-for-life schemes are by far the best option for most people, and certainly for dog owners since dogs are more likely to visit vets than cats

For dog breeds over 25kg (e.g. Labradors, Boxers, German Shepherds) and some other high-risk breeds like Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, then our advice is to go for a policy that has at least a £5,000 limit per condition or per year. You would be unlucky to exceed this amount, but even so, at least you will have got back £5,000!
For smaller dogs then you might be ok with a lower amount, say £4,000
For cats, because they are smaller and therefore will need smaller amounts of medication then £3,000 will cover most eventualities.

Excesses

All companies expect you to pay for the first part of a bill, call the excess, just like with car insurance.
The excess may be a one-off amount, usually £50-£80, per condition.
A few companies take off this excess per year, but at least you still get cover for the bulk of the costs, year after year after year.
Some companies also expect you to pay a percentage of the total, usually around 15% in addition to the excess.
There are no hard and fast rules about which method is better than the others.

What conditions are NOT covered?

Routine preventative treatment is not covered, as it is considered part of ownership of a pet. These include:

Vaccinations
Worming
Flea products
Foods and diets
Neutering operations
Congenital problems
On-going problems

A note about specific exclusions:

All insurers will impose additional specific exclusions on conditions that existed prior to the policy being taken out. On your application form you will be required to give details of all previous illnesses, or those within a certain timescale. Give the practice a call so that we can list them in full, as it is easy to forget a condition of a few years ago. If you do not declare a problem then you may find that your policy will not pay out if a similar but unrelated problem occurs. In the event of a claim the insurer will ask us for full medical details and we have to declare them, so that could put us in an awkward position and you may find that your claim is rejected.

Paying for the policy

Payment is made directly to your insurers. This practice does not act as an agent for any company and we have no legal connection with any company. Our experience of insurance companies is that there are sometimes mistakes made and if payment is not maintained then your policy will be void. Therefore we offer the following advice:

Whenever possible, pay by Direct Debit from a bank account or building society account. These are least likely to go wrong or to stop.
Don't pay by Direct Debit from a credit card. The card has a limited life and the new card will have a new number. This will mean that the insurance company will not be able to collect the premium, and may fail to notify you before you make a claim. We are aware of several instances of this.
Payment by cheque carries the standard risks of this method. Be aware too that renewal information is easily overlooked or ignored, leaving you without cover.

Is Insurance for you?

Ask yourself a few questions:

Do I have a spare £2,000 for unexpected illnesses?
In the rare event that referral treatment is needed, how would I cope with a £4,000 bill?
I have a large dog over 25kg. Could I manage the typical £45 per month treatment costs for arthritis when he or she gets this common condition?
Am I able to afford ongoing costs for a chronic condition such as dermatitis, joint disease or irritable bowel syndrome?
Will I be better off putting money aside each month in readiness? How much per month should I put aside? (Typically put the value of the monthly premium of a good insurer, as these amount will reflect the likely costs the insurers would expect to pay out)
How often have I been to the veterinary practice in the last year? Is it more than three times? (This is the average number of times, including for booster vaccination. If you exceed this number then the chances are that your pet is statistically more likely to be ill than the average, and thus cause significant bills)
Does the cost of the premium and the cost of the excess that I can't claim back total more than the cost I have spent at the veterinary practice this year (excluding boosters, wormers and flea products)
What would happen if my pet had an illness that I could not afford to sort?
Am I eligible for RSPCA charity treatment? (You will need to be on certain social benefits or tax credits)
Do I have a savings account that I could use?
Has my pet already had several conditions?
This shouldn't be a deterrent at all. True, those conditions will be excluded, but there are thousands of other conditions that your pet may suffer from, which should be coverable. And the fact that your pet has already been poorly is a strong indicator that he or she will suffer more than the average number of problems, and you will be paying higher veterinary costs than average too.

This practice and Insurance Companies

We have no financial connection or contract with any insurance company.

Therefore we can recommend some companies in preference to others as we are totally independent. Our recommendations will be based on our previous experience with the particular company, and the experiences of other clients. However, because we are independent, we may withdraw our recommendations at any time, should the companies change their terms or conditions.

It is up to you to decide if the insurance policy is suitable for your needs, and it is up to you to read the whole policy document, and the small-print in particular.

We cannot give specific advice regarding a claim, nor can we say whether a claim will be successful.

Because we have no legal connection to any company we are unable to settle claims directly with your insurers, even if they say that they can do this. In exceptional circumstances, where fees exceed £500 for in-patient work, we may be able to arrange settlement directly, but this will result in administrative charges for which you will be responsible. Offering this service is discretionary.

Typical veterinary fees

Below is a list of the most common problems that we see on a daily basis, together with an idea of how much each problem could cost. Don't forget that smaller bills can soon mount up, and if they are for the same condition then they could be claimable as one condition.

Cat Abscess	£70 - £150
Skin probems	£120 per year; £500 tests
Cystitis	£70 - £700
Cut pad	£300
Ear infection	£100 - £600
Blood samples	£50 - £300
Diarrhoea and sickness	£50 - £150 but often ongoing costs
Arthritis
- Initial diagnosis, xrays	£400
- Anti-inflmmatory painkillers	£400 per year (Labrador)
- Joint surgey	£1000 - £3000 (Referral fees)
Operations
- Lump removal (skin	£400
- Internal tumour	£800
- Blocked bowel (foreign body)	£1200
Hospitalisation	£50 - £500
Radiography
- Spinal problems	£500
- Chest xrays	£200 - £500
Ultrasound and Endoscopy	£300 - £800
Anal Gland Excision	£400 - £550
Anal Gland Excision	£250 - £450 (incl bloods and drips