Should you invest in pet insurance?

This question is widely asked by pet owners. There are a lot of people who wish to know if it is worthwhile to purchase pet insurance or not. Pet insurance coverage is a good option that cushions a pet owner from emergency medical bills of a pet during times when they are not on stable financial grounds. However, the fact that you can take very long before making a claim on your insurance coverage of your pet makes it hard for people to easily decide on purchasing pet insurance. 

The fact remains that medical bills on pets are not easily affordable more so in cases where severe medical conditions are reported. Associated Press made a survey on pet owners and found that 41% of the respondents reported having doubts about their ability to afford emergency medical costs of their pets. Watching your pet anguish in pain and diseases over your inability to afford their medical care is stressful and emotionally draining.

Nonetheless, pet insurance is also not a cheap service. This places most pet owners at crossroads between whether they should commit to pet insurance against all odds or wait and make the ends meet in affording the medical bills on emergency health conditions of their pets.

Therefore, pet insurance is a choice that mainly depends on the financial ability of the pet owner. If you are capable and with a stable financial ground, you can purchase a pet insurance cover. This gives you the peace of mind knowing that your pet will get the most qualified health care during emergencies.

Affording cost on desired aftercare for your pet in case of death is also a determinant of whether you need to acquire pet insurance that covers aftercare costs. Nonetheless, most of the surveys done on consumers on the need for pet insurance reported it not worth the cost. Consumers argue that most affordable pet insurance covers do not offer maximum coverage terms and that a pet owner may have to still chip in to meet the quality medical care costs for their pets. Failure of most of the pet insurance in covering pre-existing conditions and routine checkups is also a put off in many of the pet owners.

Consumer Reports compared the premium rates of nine pet insurance companies against the payout to most of the pets with these covers. It was reported that the total premiums that would have been paid by the time a pet dies highly exceed the medical costs that the pet could have incurred during major medical bills in its lifetime. This is the reason that most pet owners avoid pet insurance covers. 

Moreover, for you to determine if the pet insurance will help to save on some money in the end, you should check on the medical history of your pet and ascertain how often your pet incurs a huge medical bill. You should however not be enrolling in pet insurance with the purpose to cover routine bills.  This bill should be afforded in your financial capacity without relying on insurance. Mind you most insurance covers do not even cover routine checkups.

If your pet is sickly and frequently falls into a bad medical condition, choosing an insurance cover for this type of a pet may then make sense and results in saving in the long run. However, healthy pets with good maintenance may not frequently fall into bad medical conditions. Avoiding pet insurance in such a scenario may save you a few dollars.

Some consumer reports also argue that rather than spending a lot on premium insurance covers, you should add these funds to the family medical emergency fund kit and use it to cater for the pet bills when the need arises.

With the discussed facts here, you should, therefore, assess whether you really need a pet insurance cover or not. However, if you decide to choose on, you are advised to shop around and settle for the cover that offers maximum insurance on the pet without costing you an arm and a leg.

Pets In Peace is an organisation that helps you prepare for the aftercare of your pet. For more information contact Pets In Peace.