# hi insurance or vet health plan????



## loohan (Nov 7, 2011)

hi all hope you can help me we are getting our first family pup soon and im not sure if we should pay a vet health plan or get our own insurance.Anyone who can help or advise please xxx


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

loohan said:


> hi all hope you can help me we are getting our first family pup soon and im not sure if we should pay a vet health plan or get our own insurance.Anyone who can help or advise please xxx


Personally I would go for the best insurance cover you can afford. That way you are not tied into the one vet/group.

Insurance doesnt cover routine things like spaying and neutering, worming, flea treatments etc. If you get a good insurance at the start though with life time or life long cover you will be insured for the animals life if you stay with the same company and have the choice of any vet.

Be wary of ones that may seem cheaper some have very limited cover, and only insure you for 12mths from the date of illness or injury, so that if you get a re-occurance of that type of illness or injury, or complications later from an accident, or your dog gets something that needs ongoing tests and medication for life like diabetes you wont be covered after the 12mths is up.
Other types of insurance give you an amount per illness or injury with no time limit but once you have used the maximum up for that type then again you can find you cant claim anymore as you are not covered.

You can get various amounts of cover per year, obviously higher the amount covered for the higher the premium, but with life time or life long cover each and every year as long as you stay with the company you will get the whole amount re-instated each and every year no matter what claims you had the year before. Dont forget too that you cannot claim for anything your dog gets within the first 14 days although some will offer accident cover from day one.
Also if you change companies further down the line, anything your dog has had will not be covered with the new company so its important to get it right from the start.

Check with your vet if they accept direct payment from insurance, and also ask which companies they accept direct payment from. You can then get quotes. Usually if the vets will accept direct payment from them its often a good indication they pay out a vets not going to wait around or spend hours on admin chasing payments. That way too, you will only ever have to pay the excess and they will claim the rest. Every insurance policy has an excess although they do vary some are more then others.

With insurance cover too, you often get extras like third party insurance so that if god forbid your dog caused an accident or bit someone you would be covered. You can also get things like kennelling covered if you have to go into hospital or cost of a holiday refunded if you had to cancel because your pet is sick. Advertising and reward costs if he got lost. All sorts of extras that a vet plan I dont think would have.

Best thing though is to get your quotes and then compare what you are getting for your money. although as said life long or life time every time.


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