Pet owners to insure their pups to save pennies
Pet owners have been advised that in order to save their pennies they should be insuring their puppies rather than waiting until they are fully grown dogs.
Pet owners have been advised that in order to save their pennies they should be insuring their puppies rather than waiting until they are fully grown dogs.
At first this may not seem like the most prudent of advice, seen as it is when pets get older that they are more likely to start falling ill and require insurance cover.
This benefit could be of particular interest to pet owners given that People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) reports that pets are now living longer due to improvements in animal healthcare.
According to the body, one in ten cats and dogs treated by PDSA vets are now aged between 11 and 14-years-old.
Potentially this means that owners will be paying pet insurance for a far longer period of time, so any action that helps to negotiate a lower premium may be well worth it.
Chris Price, head of pet insurance for Churchill, said: "The sooner you purchase your pet insurance, the better.
"Most insurers will only value on new business up to the age of eight for dogs and ten for cats."
He added that at this point owners must also consider the health implications for their animals if they cannot get cover for them. In the event of the pet falling ill and requiring costly treatment, pet owners could be put in an ugly predicament.
Another advantage of insuring early is that it provides a way around the fact that most brokers will not insure an animal for a pre-existing condition.
"Like people, as pets get older, long-term illnesses such as heart and kidney problems arise," explained Mr Price.
"This is the reason many insurers will not start to insure pets of an older age. However, once a pet is insured with a company they are likely to insure the pet for its lifetime," he added.
Statistics show that pet insurance is something which animal owners do tend to rely on.
According to Animal Friends Insurance, one in three pet owners need to claim from their insurer each year.
Furthermore, the broker states that vet fees are rising at an annual rate of around 12 per cent, making getting treatment for pets increasingly expensive.
Despite these figures, research carried out into the pet insurance market by Defaqto in December 2007 found that of the UK's estimated ten million cats and seven million dogs, only 17 per cent of the former and 32 per cent of the latter are insured.
A spokesperson for Defacto said: "The British are a nation of cat and dog lovers and treat them as a part of the family.
"However, not all pet owners have adequate insurance cover for their loved ones."
