Pet insurance could save you a fortune, so know your options to care for your furry friend

People don’t usually get pets because they hate animals. Unless they are a working animal to serve a purpose, we get them to cuddle, pat, walk and spoil. Their only job is to love and be loved. As well as acting as the occasional scapegoat to blame bad smells on, deflecting judgment away from ourselves. For many they become part of the family and in some cases are even preferred.

In Ireland, we seem to have particular grá for minding furry, fluffy or fishy friends. According to 2021 CSO research, 52 per cent of respondents said they lived with a pet with one in five acquiring their animal during the pandemic.

Of those who had pets 87 per cent of those said their companion had “a positive impact on their mental health and wellbeing.”

This is nothing new to anyone who’s ever had a wagging tail greet them at the end of a long and frustrating work day.

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We know pets can improve our health but what about when it comes to taking care of theirs?

According to a 2023 Petmania survey of 1600 owners, one-third of us love our animals enough to let them share our beds and another third let them sleep inside. But only thirty per cent of respondents had some form of pet insurance.

The same research said owners can spend upwards of €2,000 a year maintaining their animals but an illness or an injury could push that figure up in worst-case scenarios.

According to provider Petinsurance.ie, their claim values for last year averaged €431 for illness and €623 for injury but said medical treatment costs could rise depending on the circumstances of each case.

“For example, surgery to treat cruciate disease, a common complaint which affects dogs as they age, for the uninsured pet, could end up costing as much as €2,700 per leg, “ a spokesperson said.

“With Premier Plus premiums from €13.89 per month (online price based on a 2-year-old IrishTerrier), pet insurance is something that owners simply cannot afford to be without.”

But with the ongoing cost of living crisis where people find themselves having to go without a lot of things, that €13.89 a month, every month for a dog who could live 11 to 13 more years on average is unaffordable.

Adding another monthly outgoing at a time when things are being cut from stretched household budgets instead of being added on is a big ask. If we’re feeding the kids unbranded cereals and cutting out takeaways for ourselves, forking over cash on a creature who chases its tail might seem a step too far for some.

After all, just over half of us don’t have private health insurance for ourselves, never mind the cat.

According to Petinsurance.ie, Ireland’s pet insurance rate is “relatively low compared to other countries.”

A 2017 study from the Irish Vet Journal found less than 10 per cent of pets in Ireland were insured at that time.

While it’s thought those rates have risen, compared to Sweden which Petinsurance.ie says has close to 70 per cent of pets insured, Ireland’s take-up rates remain low.

A spokesperson for Petinsurance.ie said this could be down to pet insurance being “not as well-known or widely advertised in Ireland” as it is elsewhere.

“The insurance market for pets is also smaller in Ireland, with fewer pet insurance brands available to choose from,” they said.

Most people want to know if pet insurance is worth it. But given the multitude of factors including breed, the chance of getting hurt and the financial circumstances of individuals there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Are you willing to pay whatever it costs to treat your animal if it has an accident? Can you spare a few hundred out of the agency fund if you need to instead of relying on credit cards? Do you have a particular breed prone to medical conditions?

Pete Wedderburn, veterinary surgeon and broadcaster says often the first thing a vet will ask when a sick or injured pet is brought is “do you have pet insurance?”

Wedderburn says people can get the wrong idea that the vet’s main concern is “making more money for the vet.”

But actually, this question is the vet seeking to understand what to do next.

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“The vet needs to know whether to have a conversation about costs and options or can they just get on with doing everything they can do,” he said.

Wedderburn says gold standard pet care is “when everything is done regardless of the cost to make sure every base is covered” when treating an animal.

“It’s no doubt it’s the ideal but no doubt it’s also expensive,” he said.

While “vets prefer” to do everything they can, says Wedderburn, it’s ultimately up to the owner’s willingness and/or ability to pay for it. Sometimes the best care option isn’t feasible for the client.

Which is when vets turn to talking to owners about ‘pragmatic’ or ‘what can be done’ types of care options.

“Gold standard has got to the stage where it is so expensive” says Wedderburn, that vets have to ask about insurance early on to determine care.

Wedderburn says it is “incredibly upsetting” to put any animal down and while some offer payment plans, many don’t as a result of being burned.

“People think vets seem uncaring because they talk about money at the early stage but the reason for that is most if not all vets have had a client who has promised the earth and then just bailed on the vet and left them carrying the costs,” he said.

Costs which, like almost everything else lately, have risen.

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Wedderburn says his clinic’s fees “stayed static for over a decade until last year” when they found “everything went up” including the costs of drugs, utilities and staff wages.

Prices increased by “max ten per cent” to keep the business viable but Wedderburn says the main issue for vet bills increasing is the increased technology available and people’s attitudes changing.

“A lot more can be done for pets now than in the past because in general people are more emotionally involved with their pets,” he said.

“They’re seen as part of the family and they often want to go that extra mile and they’ll often go for almost a human standard of vet care.”

In some cases that can look like opting to take a dog to the UK to receive radiation treatment for brain tumours or getting injections of a special protein-seeking vaccine that reduces joint inflammation to keep an elderly pet pain-free at a cost of over €100 a month.

Don’t be fooled into thinking it will be an accident or one-off injury that could leave you most out of pocket as a pet owner says Wedderburn.

“People often think about the big things about broken legs but it’s chronic diseases like itchy skin and arthritis that are often more expensive because repeated treatments are needed.”

If you do decide that coughing up a monthly fee for something you hope you won’t use is preferable to the chance you’ll have to make emotional financial decisions at the vet it’s important to remember the two rules about buying any kind of insurance. Always shop around and the devil is in the detail.

There are three main types of coverage to choose from, said Emma Archer of Switcher.ie. The first is ‘accident only’ which “often the cheapest policy available, covers any treatment a pet may need after an accident” but not any other illness. “Time-limited” cover “protects your pet for 12 months” but no conditions after that. Then there’s lifetime cover where the “ insurer does not limit either the amount you can claim or the length of time you can claim for a specific condition.”

However, even if they opt for lifetime cover, owners of older dogs or dogs with pre-existing conditions need to be aware that they may be excluded from policies. For example, Allianz pet insurance states on their website that pets must be younger than eight years old and illness and/or injuries sustained before the policy was taken out won’t be covered.

Unlike human health insurance, the price of pet insurance premiums can also rise year to year based on the claims made.

“In the event of illness or injury, if your vet bill is relatively small, consider whether it is worth claiming because there will be an ‘excess’ to pay, and some insurers also charge an admin fee,” said Archer.

Another big factor determining premium prices is the breed of dog. According to Wedderburn, purebred dogs are usually the most expensive to insure over mongrels because of health problems associated with close breeding. For example, labradors often suffer from hip dysplasia and flat-faced breeds like french bulldogs often have breathing problems.

According to Archer, most insurers will not cover the cost of “routine and preventive treatments (eg vaccines), pre-existing illness or injury, like diabetes or arthritis, pregnancy and birth, dogs registered under the Dangerous Dogs Act or pets under eight weeks old including puppies and kittens.”

It’s also more difficult to switch and save because unlike car and home insurance, pet insurance “year on year is more complex.”

“Pet insurance quotes are largely based on the age and health of your pet, so beating your renewal quote is less likely, especially with Lifetime cover,” said Archer.

But the good news premiums from the get-go can be reduced by taking simple steps. Insurers will offer discounts for pets that are microchipped and multiple pets under the same policy. It also pays to check whether your existing insurance offers incentives to ‘bundle’ pet insurance with your other policies.

Some policies will incur an excess for bare-bones accident coverage while others include up to seven nights of boarding if you get too sick to look after your animal so it’s always important to read the fine print if you do purchase insurance for your fur baby. Or keep an emergency fund for pet bills if you opt against it, because no one wants to make a tough money decision on the spot at the vet.