Insurance
More than half of UK households have a pet in residence. Cats seem to be the most popular pets at 8 million with dogs not far behind in number at 6 million.
Veterinary practices are improving their services all the time and as human medicine progresses some of the diagnostic techniques and treatments find their way into veterinary practice. Most practices now have wide ranging facilities such as hospitalisation with general anaesthetic facilities and ultrasound scanning.
Treatment costs do not come cheap and repairing broken bones following an accident and can soon rise.
When to take out a policy
The same rules apply to buying a pet policy as your own health insurance policy - buy it when young and healthy and there are no existing conditions to report. Read the small print carefully and take particular notice of the terms and conditions that will explain what is and what is not covered together with any excess payments that may be required.
We always recommend a lifetime policy. This covers your pet if they are diagnosed with a condition that will stick around for life e.g. diabetes or thyroid issues.
What do you get for your money?
In general, diagnosis and treatment for any accident, injury, or illness, will be covered by the policy. However, pre-existing and chronic conditions will almost certainly be excluded or subject to an excess.
As in human medicine a very large number of sophisticated diagnostic tests are available. Some will require the services of a laboratory, for example blood and urine samples to test for the presence of infection, diabetes or metabolic disturbances. X-rays and ultrasound scanning are other commonly used diagnostic procedures. Rapid diagnosis is vitally important in the treatment of any illness and diagnostic tests may have to be carried out at intervals to monitor the success of the treatment or antibiotics being prescribed for an infection.
Rare and unusual conditions may have to be referred to specialists for treatment.
Third party liability
This is an important benefit to protect pet owners against being sued if their pet causes damage or injury. This can be either a dog injuring a child or a cat causing an accident.
Premium levels
As with most types of insurance premiums will vary according to risk. A valuable pedigree will command a much higher premium than farmyard breeds! Post Codes will also be taken into account and proximity to built up areas of towns and cities.
Exclusions
Routine and preventive care will be excluded together with anything classed as "cosmetic" for example surgery to correct a bite abnormality in a dog. All pre-existing conditions.
The ongoing progress of veterinary medicine means that costs will continue to rise. An insurance policy is a sensible way in which to begin planning for unforeseen bills that could be very significant.
Our direct claim policy
In situations where a bill has come to £500 and under we ask owners to fund this themselves and we will claim it back for you within 2 weeks of a claim form being submitted or handed in to us.
If your pets medical treatment exceeds £500 and you wish to do a direct claim here is how we process this:
- As the owner, you need to get a pre authorization form from your insurance company and then bring that in to us.
- Once the pre authorization form has been authorized, we will take your excess and a £20 admin fee.
- Then the process will begin and we will deal with your claim from there on out.