When your best friend falls ill, you???d do anything for them to get better. However, the cost of treatment can rise quickly. This is the reason hundreds of thousands of Australians have insurance for their pets; for the unforeseen, unexpected and usually unaffordable.
As of 2013, it was estimated that there was more than 25 million pets in Australia, with around 63% of households owning at least one pet. With so many households owning pets, there has been a huge demand for pet insurance and many options in the market. With this type of competition, it means that there is a huge range of insurance policies available with varying costs and benefits (dependant on the breed, age, and size of the animal).
As the year???s progress and technology forever advances, greater techniques and treatments will become available in all aspects of healthcare, including animals. These advancements will lead to a range of specialty hospitals which will play an important role to the survival of your pet. The cost of delivering this top quality healthcare to pets at these special veterinary hospitals will be far beyond your routine vet bills. With these improvements, referrals to these hospitals will become more and more common, although the costs may outpace the ability of pet owners to pay for it.
Pet Insurance Tips:
- People buy insurance of any kind to help them pay for large, unexpected or unplanned expenses for which they would have trouble paying for out of their own pocket.
- You???re 38.1% more likely to claim on pet insurance (dogs) than you would for car insurance
- Cruciate ligament surgery can cost up to $8,500 and is very common in dogs
- From the period of 1st Jan 2015 ??? 31st May 2016, Petplan paid out over 51,000 claims
The biggest argument against pet insurance is ???why can???t I just open up a savings account to pay the vet bills rather than waste money on insurance.??? Sure, a savings account will be able to pay off routine check-ups or small accidents or illnesses, however insurance of any kind is there to help you pay for a large, unexpected or unplanned expense that you would normally struggle paying for out of your own pocket. If you were asked the question of ???how much money would you spend to save your pet if they were sick or injured???, I???m sure many of you would say ???whatever it takes.??? However, when it comes down to it and the bill for a treatment is presented to you and is well in the thousands of dollars, there would be many people who would be second guessing themselves.
Many pet owners who have a healthy pet and no pet insurance believe that the idea of insurance is a ridiculous waste of money. Even though your pet is healthy now, you can???t tell the future and there are so many surprise circumstances that could lead to an illness or injury for your pet, which is why a savings fund instead of pet insurance could be a poor option. If your pet becomes sick or injured within the first couple of months of savings and the bill was thousands of dollars, you???d be a little short in coming up with that sort of money. This is where pet insurance comes in and lends a helping hand, if the illness or injury is covered in your plan.
If you are still not sure about pet insurance, ask yourself whether you would be willing to pay more than $5,000 to save your sick or injured pet. If you answered yes, but you???re worried where the money would come from or how you could afford it, then maybe pet insurance is a very practical option for you and especially your pet, who will ultimately benefit from it.
