Ensure before you insure

IT IS easy to say that I agree, in principle, with the idea of insuring pets.

Doing so provides a certain peace of mind that, if the worst should happen, it will not be a financial disaster.

Or at least that’s the theory. Nowadays, one cannot always be sure. Historically, pet insurance policies were fairly simple. In return for you paying a monthly premium, the insurance firm promised to pay for treatment up to a certain value, with the exception of a modest excess. Not any more.

As our propensity has been to spend thousands and then tens of thousands of pounds on our pets’ veterinary treatment, so insurance companies have invented ways to offset the ever increasing cost. And there have been casualties. Most have been those that failed to read the small print.

And who can blame them? You would need to be a cross between an actuary and lawyer to understand it all.

Common problems are nearly too numerous to mention. Some policies involve a huge excess and an additional percentage of the total. Many will only cover you for a year from when a condition first occurs (which is not always the point at which you start spending money).

These are not ideal, therefore, for chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis and heart disease.

Lesser policies may sound great (and cost little), only for you to be surprised to find that they only cover you for £500 of emergency treatment.

And then there are the ones that year on year add more and more exclusions until you wonder if there is any part of your pet that is actually insured.

Sometimes, however, certain individuals play the insurance game quite well. Take Mrs X, who diligently appeared each month to collect her dog’s heart and joint medication. Being a model client, she paid her bill by credit card and left a signed insurance claim form, quipping happily that we completed these so quickly that the money was paid directly from the insurance company into her account before she could blink. Then her husband appeared with said dog with a cut foot.

During the consultation he grumbled constantly about the financial drain that his aged pet had become and he moaned on and on about vet fees. Suddenly, the penny dropped. His wife paid the bills with his credit card and gleefully received the insurance pay-outs into her personal account.

What was I to say?