Types of Cover
The way in which veterinary fees are covered by a pet insurance policy will differ between policies and insurers. Generally, all types of pet insurance will fall into one of three categories:
- Life-Time Cover
- Per Condition Cover
- Annual Cover
Some insurers offer all three types of cover and allow you to choose which one you prefer, whilst others will only offer one type of pet insurance.
Which type of cover you choose will affect the cost of your insurance as the potential amount for which you can claim varies between the different levels of cover. The more that the insurer is liable to pay out, the higher your 'premium' (the price you pay for the insurance).
Lifetime Cover
This type of cover allows you to insure your pet for the full duration of its life. There is a fixed, and maximum, amount of cover you receive each year, but in general this type of cover is considered the most comprehensive. In return for the cover, you pay a premium monthly or annually, depending on the insurer and policy you choose. Although the premiums for lifetime cover are the most expensive, this option is the most flexible and long-term.
Usually, pet insurance policies will not pay out multiple times for the same condition. This means that if your pet suffers from an illness which resulted in a claim in the past, you may not be entitled to claim for that condition in the future. This is not the case for most lifetime cover policies; here you can usually claim for conditions that you claimed for in the past. This means that it is suitable for long-term conditions, such as arthritis, which often results in recurring claims.
The amount of cover you receive varies between insurers, but could be up to seven thousand pounds per condition, per year. The excess (the first part of any claim that you must pay yourself) on lifetime cover policies tends to be high, because the protection you receive tends to be greater than that provided by Per Condition Cover or Annual Cover.
Per Condition Cover
This type of cover lets you claim a certain amount for each new condition. A new condition is any condition that you have not claimed for in the past. Most insurers will not place a time limit on this cover, which means that you can make as many claims for treatment of the condition as you need, so long as you do not exceed the maximum amount stated in the policy contract and continue paying your premiums. Once you have reached the maximum amount, you may no longer claim for that condition and cover of this condition effectively ceases.
The premium for this type of insurance tends to be less than for lifetime cover, because once you have claimed the maximum amount for a particular condition you can make no further claims for it.
Annual Cover
Annual cover is regarded as the least comprehensive type of pet insurance, because it only covers your pet for an agreed period of time and offers a maximum amount of cover per condition. Usually, your insurance will be valid for twelve months. If you make a claim within this period, whether it be for illness or injury, the insurance will pay out for treatment, medication, rehabilitation and so on for a maximum of twelve months after the date on which you made the claim, or until you have claimed up to the maximum amount for that condition, whichever is earliest.
The amount of cover you receive is usually small, and could be as little as one thousand pounds. However, the premium for this type of insurance will reflect this: it is the cheapest way of insuring your pet.
