Pet insurance is a growing market in the UK recently due to the arrival and mass uptake of price comparison websites and high visibility television and other media advertising. other factors causing the market to develop and expand is the advances in veterinary care for pets recently. Owners are far more reticent to put animals, especially pets, to sleep and increasingly costly and sophisticated treatments are being used to increase the quality of life for our pets. The market is largely focused on dogs and cats and dogs hold the biggest share albeit there are a larger portion of cat owners in the UK. The Pet insurance traditionally pays out when your pet becomes ill, requires injections or other treatment. more often than not this includes ongoing treatment such as worms and fleas in the case of dogs and cats. Some policies pay out for when your pet dies and others may provide for when a pet goes missing or otherwise disappears. In addition, passport and quarantine fees, accident cover and even assistance recovering a lost or stolen animal are also often included. There also exist specialist plans for the growing number of exotic pets being brought into the UK in greater numbers each year, the majority of which are highly sought after.

Contrary to what many people think, pet insurance is more similar to property insurance than life insurance humans. The plans usually pay out the entire cost of vet bills or a significant proportion on payment of an excess. The insurer will set the excess dependant on the state of the market and it is a useful barometer for the health of the sector and can often drive down policy costs due to competition. Lately, policies have started taking into account preventative care or ‘routine care’ coverage. This could be anything from dental treatment, worming, prescription drugs and vaccinations.

In addition, elective procedures such as neutering have recently been included in some comprehensive plans. Obviously the depth of the plan will be reflected in the pricing and excess. In addition, as with every insurance cover, the value of the plan will be highly linked to the age, condition and breed of the animal and other specific risk factors that any insurer must be privy to before entering into an agreement. An example of this is pre-existing conditions. This is a measure to deter fraudsters by which customers are well aware that the animal is already ill and agree a policy and excess knowing full well that they will be making significant claims on the policy. This encourages good owners to get their animals insured straight away while the premium is low and the animal is fit and well. Another interesting product to come out of the pet insurance industry has been the introduction of third party pet liability. This is where an insurer will agree to pay for damage caused by a pet to another’s property as in when a dog or cat might stray onto the road causing a car accident.