Is Pet Insurance Worth It Financially?
When adopting a pet, many owners underestimate the potential medical costs involved down the line. At any given time, it’s stated a pet owner can only spend $1500 for treatment. As surgeries typically cost thousands, veterinarians continue to have tough talks with owners on alternative courses of action.
Pet insurance acts as a safety net to owners, helping to cover veterinarian treatment costs. Although opting for pet insurance seems like an obvious choice, many deem it as an unnecessary expense. When deciding for yourself, it’s crucial to address costs, coverage, your pet’s preexisting conditions and potential alternatives.
Should You Opt for Pet Insurance?
When keeping a pet, you need to assess whether you have emergency treatment funds. The average claim from PetFirst holders for most dog treatments is $252.75 and $266.79 for cats. However, costs will vary considerably based on your pet’s illness. For example, dog radiation therapy ranges from $2500-$7000.
One approach to save costs is to identify pet symptoms and immediately act upon them. Addressing pet symptoms early can help slow down or even halt diseases reaching an advanced stage. This saves massive costs on expensive surgical procedures later down the line. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done, as at a minimum 10% of pets don’t show negative signs during their annual checkup.
As a pet owner, you’ll need to balance monthly premium costs from your insurance plan to what you could potentially pay for treatment.
Older pets, for example, are prone to illness, so even opting for a more expensive plan may be worth-while. An alternative to insurance would be to set aside a pet treatment budget per month. However, if saving money isn’t your strong point, pet insurance is a safer way to protect your pet.
Like most things, there is no definitive answer on whether pet insurance is the answer. However, when taking everything into account, you’re minimizing the risk by making the most informed decision.
Which Pet Insurance Plan Should You Go For?
Unlike banking or the automotive industry, pet insurance has only existed for a relatively short time. First introduced in 1982, it’s certainly made great strides in its policies offered. However, when choosing a policy, you’ll still need to read the fine print as a plan could exclude your pet’s condition coverage. Due to the variety and extensiveness of plans available, it can seem overly complicated for pet owners. For pet insurance that provides clear, easy to understand policy plans, take a look at Bivvy.com. Find out more about Bivvy by visiting their website.
Below are popular insurance plans pet owners generally go for:
Accident-Only Pet Insurance
Accident-only insurance plans cover treatment related to pet injury. Coverage includes treatment for scratches, broken bones, toxicity caused by swallowed objects, sprains, ACL ruptures and bite wounds. Bite wounds frequently occur among dogs, as fighting over territory is instinctual. If your dog lives in a high-risk area inhabited by other dogs, accident-only insurance is a more affordable plan. It will also cover accident services, such as MRI, ultrasounds, X-rays, bloodwork etc
Pet Illness Plan
Illness plans provide coverage for pet-related illnesses, reimbursing owners for chronic, minor and severe conditions. Major treatments covered include cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and leukaemia. Illness plans also involve diagnosing conditions, eventually leading to more extensive treatment procedures. This insurance plan helps ease the financial burden of future treatment costs for pet parents.
Hereditary and Congenital Plan
Owners will receive coverage for inherited conditions or genetic defects showing later in a pet’s life. These include brucellosis, heart disease and eye disorders. When looking into your insurance plan, ensure it covers the hereditary conditions your pet’s susceptible too. Even though you’re eligible to change your plan by adding a new condition covered, you’ll most likely need to pay extra.
Pet Factors that Can Affect Your Insurance Plan
Your Pet’s Age
As your pet ages, many owners find it increasingly difficult to find insurance. In an animal’s later years, insurance companies are aware that illness isn’t a case of if, but instead when. Some companies only provide pet insurance if your pet is under nine years old and even younger for specific breeds. The most cost-effective way to ensure continuous protection is to take a life-time policy while your pet is still young. This gives pet owners the peace of mind that their little friends are covered, regardless of aging.
Breed Specific Diseases
When opting for any insurance plan specific to your pet, it’s beneficial to know your pet’s predispositions. A few examples include Golden Retrievers being predisposed to various cancers and tumors, and bulldogs commonly having the condition brachiocephalic syndrome.To further help determine potential conditions, try and acquire your pet’s parents and grandparents’ medical history. This record provides a strong indication of any inheritable diseases your pet could have in the future.