A Guide to Pet Insurance (for cats)
Before I left to work in the public sector I spent four years working for a large insurance company and part of that time was spent in the Pet Claims department. The money wasn’t great, the hours were awful but the things I picked up have been very useful. There’s only one question you need to ask to know if I think pet insurance is a good product: do I insure my cats? Absolutely! However, I know it’s a product that is often overlooked or that people think has few benefits so here’s my guide to help make it a bit clearer.
A Guide to Pet Insurance (for cats): Part 1 - Policies
Types of policies
Most insurers offer at least two types of policies: a standard one and an enhanced one. Like home insurance policies or travel insurance policies, the standard one covers the basics, the things you really need. The enhanced one offers extra benefits which you (hopefully) may never need but which can save you a huge amount of money if you do need them. Like any insurance, you weigh up the risks of having it against not having it and what you could afford to pay if the worst happens, versus the accumulative cost of your monthly premium if you never claim.
Let me put something straight on the table here: I’ve seen numerous claims that went to £1000 or more. If your premium is £100 a year, it would take 10 years of putting that money aside to save the amount you would need. Try not to think of insurance premiums as ‘wasted’ if you don’t have to claim. Instead, think of it as a rainy day fund that you (hopefully) will never need. If your pet gets ill it will be the best money you ever invested in something.
Prices vary from policy to policy but as a rough guide, estimate from £5-8 for a standard policy per pet, per month and from £9-12 for an enhanced policy.
Standard vs enhanced
- Veterinary costs cover: if you do have to claim, it’s more than like it will fall under this heading. Amounts covered vary from policy to policy. As an example, my policy for kitten Buggles covers me for £7500 per condition. This is a good amount and will ensure most conditions would be adequately covered by the insurance for a prolonged period before I may have to start paying out myself. If a long term condition requires £1000 for initial tests and diagnosis and then £100 a month for medication after that, it would be 5 years before I would need to start putting my hand in my pocket.
The standard policy, however, offers £3000 per condition with a twelve month limit. For many claims, this will be perfectly sufficient. However, for some it will be the 12 months that will be the problem. As with the above example, the £3000 would easily cover the £1000 for testing and diagnosis and the subsequent £100 a month for medication. But after 12 months, the claim limit would be reached, even though only £2200 would have been paid out. You would then pay for the rest of treatment for yourself.
You can’t switch to another insurer to restart the process either: no insurer with cover for what is known as a ‘pre-existing’ condition (anything that started prior to the policy start date). A standard policy is always better than no policy but for the extra £1-2 a month, consider an enhanced one.
- Advertising costs: the amount offered for advertising costs is usually quite generous and normally quite similar across both policies. This covers you for newspaper advertisements, poster printing etc if your pet goes missing and you want to advertise. In some cases it will also cover a small reward.
- Minding or emergency boarding: I saw relatively few claims for this during my time in Pet Insurance but it can be useful. Many standard policies won’t cover this but enhanced policies usually will. If you have to go into hospital unexpectedly, this is money paid to you to cover cattery costs or daily boarding if you can arrange for someone to look after the cat for you. Again, cover is usually quite generous and adequately covers the cost of a several week stay (unless you’re putting them in a cat ‘Hilton’ of course).
- Other extras: depending on the policy, you may find that an enhanced policy will offer some additional extras that a standard won’t. Again, you may never need to use them but they can be helpful if you do. They include things such as complementary treatments, behavioural therapy or a clinical diet. My policy even covers for things like accidental damage, damage to basket or personal accident to owner!
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