Is pet insurance worth it?

If your pet becomes unwell or has an accident, they may need veterinary treatment. And vet bills can be expensive, sometimes even running into the thousands.

Plus ongoing costs can be crushing, such as if your pet has multiple conditions or a chronic illness.

Pet insurance is there to protect you financially for exactly this. Unplanned or ongoing vet expenses can be covered – giving you peace of mind, and freeing up mental load to help you focus on getting them well and happy.

What about self-insuring my pet?

Self-insuring is where pet owners set aside money each week or month, rather than paying for insurance. This approach makes sense to a lot of pet parents, but it has its risks:

• The big problem is that it’s impossible to predict when your pet will have an accident, say, and likewise how much it’ll cost. If you don’t have enough saved to cover everything, how do you make up the shortfall?
• It’s not just one-offs either. If your pet develops a lifelong condition, will self-insuring be enough to cover ongoing costs?
• Pet insurance isn’t just there for vet costs. It can also provide benefits like video calls with vets, or emergency boarding costs.
• For dogs in particular, pet insurance can cover legal costs if your dog injures another person or animal, or if they cause damage to somebody else’s property.

A pet insurance policy will cover a number of things, including vet treatment up to an agreed limit. If you take out a Petgevity policy, you’re able to choose a limit between £1,000 and £15,000. Think about your needs and those of your pet before you decide.

Treatment covered includes things like:

• Dental accidents or injuries
• Prescribed diet food to a certain limit
• Behavioural treatment and complementary therapy
• Cruciate ligament
• MRI/CT scans

It can also cover:

• Emergency pet care, if you have to go to hospital for example
• Third-party liability for dogs

To find out more about exactly what Petgevity pet insurance covers, see our policy wording.

The average cost of UK pet insurance in 2023 was £389 for a year, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Of course, the actual price you’ll pay varies, and takes a number of factors into account. These include:

• Where you live
• The age, breed and sex of your pet, and whether they’re neutered
• How much you paid for them
• Whether there are any pre-existing medical conditions which need to be covered†
• The level of cover you choose, such as the vet fee limit and any optional extras
• The amount of bill share and excess you’ve agreed to pay

Average cost of vet bills for cats/dogs

According to the ABI, the average cost of a claim in 2023 was £668.

Again, what you can expect to pay at the vet is variable, depending on where in the UK you live, and what treatment your pet needs. You can find out more about understanding vet fees here.

According to personal finance website Nimblefins, these are the average costs of certain illness and injury claims in the UK:

• Cruciate ligament damage – £3,142
• Patella luxation – £2,960
• Hip dysplasia – £1,669
• Entropion – £1,686
• Cherry eye – £1,660
• Diabetes – £1,553
• Swelling – £1,435
• Lameness – £1,365
• Foreign body – £1,321
• Tumour – £1,181

It’s worth noting that these claim costs will not include ongoing costs. For example, if your pet develops a new condition, it may require regular trips to the vet, including further treatment down the line.

There are several different types of pet insurance, so it’s worth thinking about which best suits your four-legged chum, and also your own budget.

Read about how to choose the best insurance for your pet, including more detail on cover types such as lifetime, maximum benefit, time-limited and accident-only.

Petgevity offers Lifetime Plus and Lifetime policies, both of which are different levels of lifetime pet cover. This is because we believe it’s important to cover your pet comprehensively. Find out more about how our lifetime pet insurance works.

When considering how much cover you need, there are numerous factors to take into account. It’s never a good idea just to opt for the lowest possible vet fee limit because it’s the cheapest.

Here are some things to bear in mind when deciding the level of pet cover to take out:

• Your pet’s breed, and whether they’re more likely to inherit certain conditions
• The cost of common treatments at your local vet surgery
• What the policy you’re considering covers as standard
• Any optional extras you and your pet are likely to need

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all pet insurance policy. It’s always worth thinking about how you can tailor your pet’s cover so it works for their individual needs.

As such, these are the optional extras Petgevity offers:

• Dental Illness cover
• Missing Pet cover
• Farewell cover
• Travel and Holiday cover

Nobody likes to think about something unpleasant happening to their pet, but it’s always a good idea to be prepared. Because you never know when they’ll fall ill or get into a scrape, we think it’s important to consider getting pet insurance at the first opportunity.

You can cover your puppy and kitten from just four weeks old with a Petgevity policy. And it’s worth thinking about while they’re young, because they may be more susceptible to illness or injury at a younger age. Plus this means they’ll be covered for any conditions they might develop through their lifetime, as long as the cover remains active.

On the other end of the scale, we have no upper age limits for insuring older dogs and senior cats.

When it comes to protecting your pet, it’s important to get the right level of cover. But we also understand that it needs to work in terms of your budget.

If you’re looking to save money on your pet insurance, here are some handy pointers:

• If you’re looking to insure more than one pet, keep an eye out for multi-pet discounts and deals.
• When getting a quote, try different excesses and bill shares to see how it affects the price. Generally, choosing higher amounts is likely to reduce the premium you pay. Don’t set it at a level you can’t afford to pay if you need to claim, though.
• Go to the vet for regular check-ups. Your vet may spot signs or symptoms in your pet that you can’t. And catching issues early is likely to save you in the long-run.
• When you get a new pet, think seriously about whether to neuter them (spaying for females, castration for males), and the right time to do so. This can help reduce certain risks, such as complications with pregnancy and other conditions.
• Insuring your pet sooner rather than later tends to be more cost-effective. When your dog or cat ages, the chances are greater of developing age-related conditions and illnesses. Whereas insuring them when they’re young and healthy is likely to be cheaper, and you can be insured for potential conditions before they develop.
• If your policy has access to vet video calls included, make the most of this. If you suspect your pet could be poorly, you can get advice and potentially avoid a costly trip to your local vet.

Protect your best pal today with comprehensive pet insurance from Petgevity.