Pet insurance is a preventative measure to maintain your pet’s health and well-being, but our research shows that the average cost of a pet insurance premium is on the rise. The average cost of a pet insurance policy is £304, a 12% rise from the previous year, and a 35% increase over the past 5 years.
The price of your policy is generally based on the following factors:
All these factors are taken into account when pet insurance companies provide you with a premium. Happily however, there are things that you can do to save money on pet insurance.
Reducing the cost is not easy as the 3 predominant factors in determining your price (breed, age and postcode) are difficult to change. However, we would recommend:
Make sure you compare cover when your policy comes up for renewal and you contact your insurer to see if they have any renewal incentives.
Whilst the more comprehensive policies sound great, you may not need all their features. Some providers allow you to remove certain elements of cover such as overseas travel. If you have no need for these then remove them and save a little extra.
If you can afford to, think about increasing your excess payment to reduce your annual premium.
This is a payment in addition to the excess where you can choose to pay a percentage – usually 10-20% – of the value of any claim. For younger, healthier pets this could prove a useful way of reducing total premiums. However, if you need to make a claim you will have additional costs to bear. Explore more about excess and co-insurance payments.
If you think that there’s something wrong with your pet, before heading to the vets try using a vet advice line. Most insurers have them and you can use them 24/7 as part of your policy, more familiar ones are FirstVet and Joii. These advice lines provide access to qualified vet nurses who can assess your pet and let you know if a trip to the vets is necessary. This saves you money, especially if the incident happens out-of-hours.
Many pet owners do not think to do this. In some cases where emergency treatment is required then clearly you won’t have time to shop around. However, in cases where you are able, it’s worth seeking different opinions and prices for the treatment. In fact, many insurers (via their underwriter) have agreements with vet practices where they get preferential rates for treatment. If you can find out who these agreements are with, then by going to that vet practice you might save money at renewal.
By purchasing medication via other means you will avoid the markup that your vet puts on the product and therefore save money, which is great for you and your insurer. There are a number of reputable online pharmacies for pets – an accredited list is available from Defra.
The best way to avoid treatment costs is preventative care. Making sure that your pet’s vaccinations are up to date, undertaking regular health checks, keeping them on a healthy diet and giving them the correct level of exercise all go a long way to ensuring they remain happy and healthy for as long as possible. Find out more about how to reduce vet bills.
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