Looking After Your Pooch

Looking After Your Pooch

Have the right pet insurance in place to pay the bills if your pet needs medical treatment is essential. With so many different companies to choose from and different types of insurance too, knowing which one to choose can be a difficult choice. No one likes to think about their pet getting hurt, but it''s important to insure your pet against injury and illness if you want to secure their long term health.

You can keep the price down by opting to have an excess to make an already cheap quote even cheaper, and the bigger the excess the smaller the premium. Because pet insurance doesn''t work in the same way as health insurance for people you normally have to pay the vet bills yourself before claiming back from your policy.

Some providers will cover everything whilst others will cover the bare minimum, and the price of the premium is a good indication of how comprehensive the policy is. More and more insurance companies are offering totally comprehensive cover which will pay for vaccinations, operations and therapy such as physiotherapy which could be needed following an accident.

There are two sorts of insurance for your pet; non-lifetime and lifetime. Non-lifetime insurance will include clauses meaning if you''ve claimed on something one year, you''ll not be able to claim for it again. This is obviously not advisable for pets who are frequently ill. Lifetime insurance is much wider ranging and will protect your pet against problems it suffers during its life. However some companies include exhaustive clauses, so be careful of these. An exhaustive clause will put a limit on how many times something can be claimed for, so once a certain claim has been made the prescribed number of times you cannot claim for it again. Alternatively some exhaustive clauses will state you cannot claim more than a certain number of times in one year at all, so if you have a very poorly pet these policies are clearly not for you.

It might be out of love for your animal but try to approach buying pet insurance with a sense of rationally and don''t spend extra money where you don''t need to. Balance out what your pet needs and what you want to spend. For example older animals will need more comprehensive cover than younger ones.

Unusual breeds and species inevitably cost more to insure, so if you''re planning to buy an unusual pet then you should bear this in mind and perhaps do a little research into how much they''ll cost to insure. Species which are more likely to get ill will have a higher premium, such as Labradors who frequently have joint problems in their older years.

Because you''re going to be paying your pet insurance for quite a long time you should try your best to find a competitive quote. Try using price comparison sites and also going direct to individual insurance provider websites to track down the best deal and best policy conditions for you and your pet. Try making a list before you search so you can check off the things which you want to insure your pet against.

Be sure also to keep an eye out for special offers, as many companies will offer discounts throughout the year. You might also be able to save money by insuring all your pets with one company, and some companies will insure your pet for free if other insurance (such as car and home insurance) is taken out with them too.