Can you put a price on your pet’s wellbeing?

They are part of the family, but keeping pets can be costly. Here’s some tips on what cover could suit precious Fido...

Would you be able to pay €100,000 to compensate the postman for being bitten by your dog? Or can you afford to pay thousands to replace your cat’s hips? These are the issues confronting pet owners in an increasingly litigious world where the standards and costs – of healthcare, even for pets, are also rising rapidly.

A recent milestone case saw a cyclist suing for injuries suffered when he fell off his bike after a collie dog ran in front of him.

The case highlighted that any dog or cat could incur a legal bill by causing an accident.

A couple of decades ago, we were far less likely to get sued.

And putting a cat or dog ‘to sleep’ was the default option when they had any sort of serious health problem or injury. Now, animals can benefit from the same sophisticated scans and surgery developed for humans. The problem is: can we pay for it all?

Pet insurance appears to be the answer, providing cover for public liability and veterinary bills. But, like all forms of insurance, it’s not as simple as it appears.

For starters, you may not need pet insurance for public liability cover.

Most household insurance policies cover claims against pets, as long as they are not a dangerous breed. But check your policy to make sure.

The other compelling reason for pet insurance is ever-rising vet bills. Pet clinics can now provide x-rays, blood analysis, ultrasound scans, surgery suites, and laboratories.

This is great for animal care. But it all has to be paid for by pet owners. Is insurance the answer?

All insurance is a gamble. You make a bet on bad things happening and if it does, your premium will pay off.

The odds are set by the insurer, so, on balance, you will probably lose out financially.

However, if you’re particularly devoted to your pets and don’t have the financial resources to pay for operations, it could save the day if Fido needs a double hip replacement.

It costs from €86 a year for basic cover for a crossbreed with An Post – up to €416 for premium cover for an Alsatian with the same insurer.

An Post’s prices are relatively competitive – as are Blue insurance (see table).

But as with all insurance, the devil is in the detail – and a host of excesses and exclusions can reduce the real value of your cover.

Considering that this is a relatively minor product, pet insurance seems to involve quite a high number of complaints to the Financial Services Ombudsman

Pet insurance complaints to the FSO more than quadrupled to 45 in 2015 compared to 2014. The average in the preceding three years was 19. In 2016, the number of complaints involving pet insurance fell back to 31 but this was still higher than the total for household contents cover (30), commercial (21), farm (17), mobile phone (11) and five other minor types of cover.

In 2017, there were 28 complaints. ‘The conducts complained of related to a range of issues, including increases in premiums rates, the rejection of claims due to the alleged pre-existing condition of the animal, lapse of the policy and claim handling issues,’ a spokeswoman said.

Just like health insurance for humans, if you are purchasing a new pet policy, pre-existing conditions will not be covered.

Also like human health cover now, if you aren’t insured by a certain age, you will be penalised.

The older the pet the higher the premiums – and you may not get cover at all once past a certain age unless a policy is already in place.

It’s a really tough call. At least if you have pet insurance, you can make it without financial stress.