Pet Insurance – is it worth it?
This has been a well discussed question on pet socials this year as insurance prices have sky rocketed… and covered a lot less! My answer? Maybe. The answer is always maybe and it depends on your financial circumstances and how good you are at budgeting.
Personally: I have pet insurance. Why? I like the security and in the event something goes terribly wrong I like to know I am covered. For my first dog, I definitely got my moneys worth with pet insurance. My second dog who has been a dream and never needed anything at all. I like the peace of mind insurance provides me, should poop hit any fans.
Pet Insurance these days, even at the highest level, there is always a co-payment and also only a certain amount per year that they will cover. So you choose how much you want covered (up to $5000, up to $10,000, up to $15,000) and then you are also given either an excess amount and a co-payment amount. The higher excess and co-payment percentage you choose, the lower your premium. So you pay your $1500 a year and then if your pet has any accidents or injuries, your insurance can cover it!
Pet insurance in New Zealand is interesting. There is only one insurance company vets really trust to pay them (of course it is the most expensive company) and if you are with any other company you have to pay in full at the vets and the insurance will reimburse you when you put your claim in. So you will still need to get the money together at the time and then the amount they will reimburse you is minus your 10% co-payment or minus your excess amount.
That expensive company the vets trust? They will also cover hereditary things that come up, or breed related issues if you get your dog before the illness appears and as far as I am aware, other companies don’t do that. So if you know your dogs breed is prone to hip dysplasia or other issues, or the parents had some health issues, it might be worth spending more.
Regardless of more expensive or cost effective insurance, is pet insurance worth it? If you can afford accidents and health treatments or you can budget and put away $20 a week for your dog for the vet and never touch it, account looking flush? Don’t touch it, you will want it flush if your pup gets cancer at 7 or even 12 years old. If you have the strength in budgeting to not ever touch that account, then I wouldn’t bother with insurance. It is a lot of money to still have to pay an excess and co-payment.
It all comes down what you can afford. Many treatments and surgeries for accident are $7k - $12k. If you can’t afford that or budget for it happening in 6 months or 6 years time, then I would get insurance. I have pet insurance and whilst we haven’t used it for Petal, it definitely does provide a lot of peace of mind for if something were to happen.
