The Sunday Times has reported that in the UK, the range of treatments not covered by pet insurance policies is growing, as is the cost of the policies themselves. Consequently, self-insurance is becoming an appealing alternative. Additionally, pet owners face the added burden of rising veterinary service costs in the UK, prompting some to opt for insurance. This results in the vets charging more when the costs are paid under the policy.
The BBC reports that many vet chains have strengthened their positions by also offering pet insurance. There is upwards pressure on costs here. All working against pet ownership.
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Pet ownership in the UK is becoming less attractive due to a ‘triple squeeze’ impacting cat and dog owners. It seems as though veterinarians and insurance companies are in collusion, pressuring the beleaguered pet owner. The UK is referred to as “Treasure Island” by those outside the country, implying that the British public is seen as easy to exploit, willing to pay any demanded price, and susceptible to scams, which have become rampant.
The term “Treasure Island” suggests that exploiters view the British as naive and easily deceived. Scams and theft are reportedly widespread in the UK.
A third concern arises from the complexity of insurance policies. It is argued that insurers intentionally complicate their policies and offerings to pet owners, leading to errors when filing claims, which are often denied due to policy exclusions.
Experience
Ali Hussain, is the Sunday Times journalist who wrote the article said a semi-retired accountant, Puri, had trouble with his veterinarian and his pet insurer over his dogs who were given a vaccine at the back of their head. This is less usual than injecting a vaccine into a more distal site on the dog.
Puri had said that his veterinarian recommended the vaccines: a booster against parvovirus, distemper, infectious hepatitis and leptospirosis. Both his dogs developed abscesses at the site of the jabs.
His Direct Line insurer refused to pay for the treatments. The first reason given didn’t make sense for which Direct Line apologised. They still refused to cover the treatment which cost £1,500. You wonder whether the vaccines were necessary.
He switched to Tesco insurance at £30 pounds per month. He was paying twice that with Direct Line.
However, Tesco was no different. One of his dogs ruptured a cruciate ligament in its hind leg, and the treatment amounted to £5000. Tesco stated that the coverage did not apply because claims cannot be made within the first two weeks, which is a standard policy. The purpose of this exclusion clause is to deter individuals from filing claims for pets with pre-existing conditions under a new policy during the initial two weeks.
I understand that but with a cracked cruciate ligament, it was obvious that this was not a pre-existing condition and therefore in a better world the insurer would have paid up but all they did was to quote the exclusion clause and bar the claim.
It is indicative of an unhelpful attitude but that’s nothing new for the insurance companies. Ali Hussain goes on to explain” how to protect your pet”. He summarises the range of pet policies available which I believe is likely to be baffling to your average companion animal caregiver.
I’m also sure that 90% of cat and dog owners do not read their insurance policies in detail to understand the exclusions which is why they are tripped up time and again.
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Maine Coon – boxer – some info
In the UK, the Maine Coon cat is the most expensive companion cat to insure because of the long list of inherited diseases that this hugely popular breed normally acquires sometimes quite early on in their lives such as HCM.
In the UK, the most expensive dog to insure according to Ali Hussain’s research is the boxer. Insurance premiums will be £500 annually as at 2023. For the Maine Coon cat, health insurance costs, according to him, £211 annually. A moggy will cost £105 annually; less than half.
The least expensive dog in the UK to ensure is the multipoo at £90 annually as at 2023.
The average cost of pet insurance in the UK went up 13% over the past year according to the pricing consultancy Pearson Ham Group. For companion animals over six years of age costs went up 26%.
According to the consumer site Go Compare the average policy costs £372 in England per year.
The French Bulldog can cost up to £850 a year to insure because they tend to suffer from hereditary conditions more than the other breeds.
Incidentally, the unhealthiest dog breed in the UK is the French Bulldog with a lifespan of around 7+ years, which is less than half the average lifespan of a typical domestic cat by the way.
You probably know that an investigation is being conducted into the pet insurance companies in the UK by the Competition and Markets Authority, a watchdog.
They say that is a lack of competition among veterinary surgeon because they have recently become part of large chains which is one reason why the cost has gone up and the other is because the big conglomerates owning his chains want to increase their profits because they saw an opportunity to monetise independent veterinarians who were not commercial enough.
Self-insurance
Mr Puri, who I mention in this article, decided to go the route of ‘self-insurance’ and steer clear of insurance companies because he could not see the point of paying the premiums for no compensation payments because exclusion clauses. So, he is going to save money and start his own little insurance policy. That’s the best thing to do and I hope that it works out for him.
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