Is pet insurance worth your money?

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Pets can be expensive, and in the event of accident or illness these costs can rise sharply.

If you have a cat or dog which has suddenly fallen ill or is in need of emergency treatment, vet bills can quickly add up to thousands of dollars.

Pet insurance, while often overlooked by owners, can reduce the cost of vet bills by up to 100%.

Pet insurance

However, as with health insurance there are a multitude of insurers on the market offering a plethora of choices. Savvy pet owners will need to shop around to find the best product, as premiums can vary significantly between providers for what is essentially similar products.

When assessing different products, it's important to first identify the right coverage for your situation.

Broadly speaking, there are three main options for pet insurance: accident cover only; accident and illness cover; and accident, illness and routine care. Accident cover provides coverage for any unexpected event that causes injury to your animal, excluding any event that may have been prevented.

Accident and illness cover provides coverage for unexpected injury events and for any sickness, chronic disease and hereditary conditions. And accident, illness and routine care provides coverage for unexpected injury events, illness and routine care such as vaccinations, dental, behavioural training and others.

It's also important to consider the amount of annual cover your pet needs (whether it's $6000 or $12,000 will greatly affect the premium) plus the percentage of vet bills that your insurance will reimburse you for (75%-100% - most insurers provide up to 80%).

To help you with these decisions Comparison.com.au has compiled a pet insurance comparison guide across 21 major pet insurers and partnered with Money magazine to compare premiums for six common dog breeds. We selected a mix of small and medium breeds: jack russell, cavalier king charles, pug, staffordshire bull terrier, labrador and a standard poodle, each aged three years and living in postcode 2000 (central Sydney).

Our research revealed potential savings ranged from $18.21 to a $49.49 a month for the same breed between providers. Over the lifetime of your pet, that could translate to savings of $2185 to $5938 or more. If you have more than one pet, this can make an even bigger difference in savings.

Our research shows that on average jack russells were the cheapest to insure at $41.39 a month, cavalier king charles spaniels and pugs were the same at $52.55, staffordshire bull terriers came in at $52.82 and labradors at $63.50. The most expensive dog on average from the breeds we looked at was the standard poodle at $75.83 a month.

A full view of all the quotes that we generated can be viewed below. Comparison.com.au generated 19 quotes from six breeds for a total of 114 quotes.

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Comments
Eric
March 30, 2016 1.06pm

I had a quote for 2 dogs Maltese cross and for the 2 it would be $91.26 monthly or $17521.92 over 16 years with the RSPCA. I have 2 Maltese cross dogs since the where 8 weeks old and are now16 years old. They have been taken to the vet twice a year and both have had 3 operations, vaccination every year and monthly heart worm flea and tick control tablets all there lives. This came at a total cost of just under $8000.00 so I think I will continue to self insure as I am approximately $9500.00 in front.

wayne
April 14, 2016 10.27pm

self insuring might come out better??