Pet insurance – what to look for in your cover

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Pet insurance is quite possibly one of the best value insurance policies you can buy. Even if you only have a couple of ordinary domestic pets, vet bills can get very expensive very quickly, particularly if overnight stays or operations are required.

Sometimes it only takes one veterinary visit to make pet owners realise that their small monthly payment is worth its weight in gold.

But it’s not all about vet fees. Pet insurance can provide cover for you too. For example a problem with your pet could mean cancelling a holiday, or you might need to pay emergency boarding fees if you are ill. Some policies will cover situations like these as well as veterinary bills.

Get the right cover

It is essential to make sure that the cover is right for the pets you have and how you live. For example it would be no good having a dog that loved competing in agility competitions and thinking your dog was fully covered, only to find out too late that this exempted your dog from being covered.

However tedious it sounds, this means reading the small print, preferably before you take out the cover. But to make this easier, Telegraph pet insurance arranged by CETA Ltd, in line with many other insurers, have produced “keyfacts” documents which lay out the policy details in clear, easy-to-read English.

Here are some tips from the experts at Telegraph Pet Insurance to help you make the right decisions:

• For dog owners it’s important to have adequate third party liability as standard, this covers you if your dog damages someone else’s property or injures someone.

• Note that many household pet insurance policies will only offer third party liability for dogs. If you have a different type of pet that needs liability insurance you may have to look for exotic pet cover.

• Check the time limits – there may be a time limit of say 12 months cover on long term conditions that need treatment such as arthritis, and when this time of cover ends you may be liable for the costs of treatment

• Age limits – some policies don’t provide cover for older pets, which is when you are most likely to claim! Check that the policy will cover your pet for the whole of its lifetime.

• Flexibility – are you likely to take your pet on holiday with you? If so then the look for a policy that has an option of adding overseas travel to your cover.

• Theft or straying – it’s not all about vet bills. If you have a rare breed that’s vulnerable to theft look for a policy that covers that and make sure any limit is high enough to cover the cost of a replacement.

• Holiday cancellation – if your pet is old or prone to illness it might be worth looking for a policy that will compensate you (under certain conditions) if you have to cancel a holiday because your pet needs medical attention.

• Emergency boarding fees – some policies will pay for fees incurred if you are ill and have to have your pet looked after at short notice.

As you can see it’s not all about your pets. A good pet insurance policy will be just as much about making sure that owners are catered for too.

Buy excellent pet insurance at a great price with the Telegraph. Cats, dogs and horses covered. Call 0844 375 9638 for a quote or buy online.