Pet Insurance: Is It Worth the Cost?

A dog with cancer will cost you £5,000-£10,000 to treat. A cat hit by a car might need £3,000 in emergency surgery. And honestly, that’s not rare. That’s the kind of thing that happens to regular pets in regular homes.

Vet bills can clearly get expensive. The question is whether pet insurance is actually the best way to cover that risk.

What Pet Insurance Covers

Standard policies cover vet fees, which is the main thing - treatment for illness and accidents. For dogs only, there’s third party liability (if your dog hurts someone or damages property). You get death cover (the insurer pays out the purchase price or market value if your pet dies). Theft and straying gets covered, as does advertising and reward costs if your pet goes missing. Some policies cover holiday cancellation if your pet is ill. And you might get overseas travel cover, though it’s usually limited.

Some policies add dental cover (though a lot don’t), behavioural treatment for things like anxiety or aggression, and complementary therapies like acupuncture or hydrotherapy.

The Four Types of Policy

This is where pet insurance gets properly confusing. There are four types and they work completely differently.

Accident only is the cheapest. It only covers accidents - things like being hit by a car or cut by glass. Illnesses aren’t covered. You’re looking at £3-£10 a month. It’s good if you mainly want emergency cover and can handle vet bills for regular illnesses yourself.

Time-limited covers illnesses and accidents, but only for 12 months per condition. After that year is up, that specific condition is excluded forever, even when you renew. So if your dog develops arthritis, the insurer pays for a year of treatment, then that’s it - arthritis is never covered again. £10-£20 a month. Good for short-term problems. Rubbish for chronic conditions.

Maximum benefit per condition covers each condition up to a fixed amount with no time limit. Once you hit the cap, that condition is excluded. Say your cat has kidney disease and the policy has a £4,000 limit per condition. You’re covered until you’ve claimed £4,000 for kidneys, which could take five years. £15-£30 a month. Better protection than time-limited, but still has limits.

Lifetime is the best cover. Each condition is covered up to an annual limit that resets every year when you renew. Your dog needs £2,000 a year for diabetes and the policy has a £7,000 annual limit? You’re covered every single year as long as you keep renewing. £25-£80+ a month (median is around £22, but it varies hugely by breed and age). Maximum protection, especially for chronic conditions. The catch is you’ve got to keep renewing - let it lapse once and you lose cover for any conditions that developed during the policy.

What’s Not Covered

Pre-existing conditions are the big one. Anything your pet had before the policy started is never covered. Ever. That’s non-negotiable. If your dog has dodgy hips when you take out the policy, hip problems are excluded for life.

Routine and preventative care isn’t covered - vaccinations, neutering, flea treatment, worming. Dental is often excluded entirely, or only accident-related dental is covered. Pregnancy and breeding costs aren’t covered (though the pet being ill from pregnancy complications might be). Behavioural problems might be excluded or you might have to pay extra. Some insurers exclude specific breed conditions - hip dysplasia in German Shepherds, heart conditions in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, that sort of thing.

What Affects Your Premium

Cats are cheaper to insure than dogs. Young animals are cheaper than old ones. Mixed breeds are cheaper than pedigrees with known health issues. Rural locations are cheaper than urban (and London is particularly pricey). Basic cover is cheaper than comprehensive. A higher excess reduces your premium. Lower annual vet fee limits are cheaper.

Some breeds cost significantly more - French Bulldogs (breathing issues), German Shepherds (hip dysplasia), Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (heart problems), Pugs (various complications). Mixed breeds are generally way cheaper to insure than pedigrees.

Age Limits

Most insurers have them. Minimum age is usually 8 weeks. Maximum age to start a new policy is often 8-10 years for dogs, 10-12 for cats. If you’ve already got a policy, you can usually renew it regardless of how old your pet gets, but premiums go up significantly as your pet ages.

If you’ve got an older pet with no insurance, good luck finding cover. Some specialist insurers will take on older animals, but you’ll pay a lot.

The Excess

There are two types. Fixed excess is a set amount per claim (usually £50-£250). Percentage excess is a percentage of the claim, often 10-20%, and it’s common for older pets. Some policies do both - you pay a £100 fixed excess plus 20%, so on a £1,000 claim you’re paying £100 plus £180, which is £280 total.

As your pet gets older, the excess often goes up. Sometimes dramatically.

Is It Worth It?

The case for: vet bills can be huge and unpredictable. With insurance, you’re not forced to make treatment decisions based purely on money. It’s peace of mind. Spreads the cost over time.

The case against: premiums go up every year, often significantly. By the time you really need it (when your pet’s old), it gets expensive. Pre-existing conditions are excluded if there’s any gap. You could save the money yourself instead.

Here’s an alternative: put the same amount you’d pay in premiums into a savings account. If you never claim, you’ve got that money. The risk is that something expensive happens before you’ve saved enough.

The maths: a lifetime policy averaging £50 a month over 12 years is £7,200 in premiums. If your pet never costs more than that in vet bills, you’d have been better saving the money. If your pet needs £15,000 of treatment, insurance wins.

If You Decide to Buy

Get it while they’re young. Premiums are lowest and there are no pre-existing conditions to exclude. Choose the right type - we’d recommend lifetime if you can afford it. Time-limited is basically false economy if your pet develops chronic conditions.

Check the vet fee limit. Four grand a year won’t cover major surgery or cancer treatment. £7,000-£10,000 is safer. Read the exclusions, especially breed-specific conditions if you’ve got a pedigree.

Keep renewing. Never let a lifetime policy lapse because you’ll lose cover for any conditions that developed while you had it. You can compare annually, but switching policies means new pre-existing condition rules, so often it’s better to stay put once your pet has any health history.

Making a Claim

Get the treatment done. Pay the vet (most don’t claim directly). Submit the claim form with an itemised invoice. Wait for processing (usually 1-2 weeks). Get your payout minus the excess.

Some vets will claim directly from the insurer, so ask when you check in. Keep all vet records and invoices. You’ll need them if anything gets queried.