Different policies for every need

Cat Insurance

The latest statistics show that one out of four house cats become ill or injured every year. With the cost of veterinary treatment rising, insuring your cat is more a matter of necessity rather than choice. There is no free veterinary service available for animals in the UK and many vets’ bills can easily become very expensive. Few people are able to properly fund for such eventualities, but an insurance policy can ensure this money is available for only a minimal fee every month.

Dog and cat insurance is the most claimed insurance product in the personal insurance market. Most policies provide cover against most eventualities, although vaccinations and routine health checks are often not covered.

Dog Insurance

For almost every type of dog, there is a different type of insurance policy. As with all types of pet insurance, prices can vary depending you and your pet's circumstances. The cost of veterinary treatment is a lot higher in some areas of the country than others, so you may find that although you and your friend have the same breed of dog, one of you pays more than the other on the same policy. This is simply to ensure that the higher veterinary bills are budgeted for.
With most policies, a breed supplement is added to the premium. This additional charge varies depending on the breed of your dog, since many pedigree breeds cost a lot more for veterinary care. Some of the most common breeds requiring a higher supplement are:

• Alaskan Malamute
• Bernese Mountain Dog
• Boxer
• Bull Terriers
• Bulldogs (all breeds)
• Chow Chow
• Great Dane
• Golden Retriever
• Irish Wolfhouse
• Mastiff (all breeds)
• Newfoundland
• Old English Sheepdog
• Pit Bull Terrier
• Pyrennean Mountain Dog
• Shar-pei
• St. Bernard

Puppy & Kitten Insurance

Very young animals often run into health problems, so it is always a good idea to organise insurance as soon as possible. For breeders, it is possible to purchase short term insurance policies to protect your animals in the early stages. Specialist pet insurers generally only offer these policies, but there are plenty of these around, check the insurance company websites for more info.

If you are purchasing a pet from a breeder, check to see if the animal is already insured. Most breeders can also provide very useful information on the past and current health status of the baby animal, which can become important in choosing a policy for your new pet.

Horse Insurance

A horse is often one of the most expensive purchases people make, often more expensive than buying a car, so it is important that you protect this valuable asset as soon as possible. The cost of veterinary treatment for horses rises at over three times the rate of inflation and with the many mishaps that can happen along a horse’s life, most horse insurance policies end up paying for themselves.

Most insurance policies will cover your horse against the following eventualities:

• Death by accident or illness
• Public Liability
• Theft or Straying
• Veterinary Fees

There are also many specialist policies available that cover anything from saddle damage to dental cover, so look around to find the best possible policy match for you and your horse.

Pet Travel Insurance

Following the review of UK quarantine laws in early 2000, it is now possible to freely bring your pets on holiday to certain EU countries providing they can fulfil certain requirements. Provided that the pet is micro chipped, blood tested, treated for ticks and tapeworm and vaccinated against rabies, cats and dogs are now allowed to possess their own "passports". Before the review of these laws, pets coming into the UK needed to be quarantined for six months before being allowed entry into the country.

With the pet travel market now freely open, most pet insurance companies now provide a travel insurance policy to ensure that any untoward incidents to your pet while on holiday can be covered. In fact, many travel insurance companies now offer pet travel insurance as an additional feature of their standard travel insurance policies

Most pet travel insurance policies provide cover against:

• Overseas veterinary costs
• Liability of the pet owner
• Cancellation of the trip due to the pet having to undergo veterinary treatment
• Replacement of lost pet travel certificates