Yesterday I decided to take out pet insurance for our Burmese cat, Jackson.
A work colleague was completely shocked to find out this week that her cat had torn it’s cruciate ligament from jumping off a fence incorrectly and as a result needed an x-ray, day of observation at the vet followed by an operation which is going to cost $1 700.
If like me, you don’t have a few thousand dollars saved away for a rainy day or potential pet emergency, it’s definately worth considering pet insurance, especially since most are only around $20 a month.
Our cat is an indoor cat but I figured that even he could jump off a couch or side table incorrectly and damage a paw and I really don’t want to have the financial stress associated with a mega vet bill from an illness or injury nor do you want to have to even consider whether it’s easier just to get your pet put down!
As with everything when you’re reasearching pet insurance, read the policy details carefully. None of them that I could find insure for pre existing injuries and most have a waiting period for illness (3 weeks to a month) but many will insure your pet for accidents as soon as you take out the policy. Some pure dog breeds have special conditions applicable to them such as large dog breeds as apparently they age faster and some dangerous breeds are uninsurable. Extra’s that I found include services like refunds on the purchase price on your pet if they die, advertising money if they get lost etc. Pet insurance really gives you peace of mind - pets like children seem to be prone to accidents and insuring them is all part of being a responsible pet owner.
So is it worth getting pet insurance? Well there’s some that argue that you’re better off putting the money you’d spend on pet insurance away in a seperate high interest earning account but if like me you’re not the best at saving then perhaps it’s better to pay a small monthly amount knowing that you’re covered if anything happens. Also I figure if you put the money you’d spend on insurance ($20) in an account, it would take 5 years to save $1 200 - what if something happens much earlier? $20 a month is not going to break the bank but what are your thoughts? do any readers have pet insurance or have had any pet insurance experiences?
I found an informative article on the NineMSN Money website.
A pet insurance comparison website is Oz Pet Insurance.
Some Australian pet insurers are:
RSPCA
Petsecure
PetPlan
Vets Own
AFS PetMed
Insurance Line
PetCover
Manchester Unity
Technorati Tags: pet insurance, pet insurer, cat insurance, dog insurance, pet insurance australia, rspca pet insurance, petsecure, petplan, vets own, afs petmed, insurance line, petcover, manchester unity, pet health, pet injury, pet accidents, vet bills, vet refunds
July 11th, 2008 at 2:38 am
As an insurance broker I have always been undecided as to whether this product is worth the money. The reason being is that you are not likely to be financially devastated by a vet bill (like you would be by a fire, death or serious car accident).
At the same time .. I am a pet lover and would hate to see someone choose to put their pet down because they couldn’t afford treatment.
If pet insurance helps someone to budget better for big, unexpected vet bills, then I guess it is worth it.
Thanks for pushing me in that direction!
Rob
July 10th, 2009 at 10:34 am
“The reason being is that you are not likely to be financially devastated by a vet bill”
You would be surprised how much money people will pay and what they will do to finance a vet fee.
In the UK there is a high level or pet insurance and the level of care is a lot higher.
If you work out how much it costs in vet fees over the lifetime of the animal, and annualise it, the premiums + excess would come out pretty close I would think.
Maybe it is a good way to simply manage the cost of the pet over its lifetime - you can budget for it, whereas an unexpected bill for a few thousand can be ‘devastating’ in the wrong circumstances.