Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Is Pet Insurance Really Worth the Money?
Reading Time: 3 minutesPet Insurance Disclaimer: I have been paid by Petsure for my review in this post, but these views are my own.
I think it’s fair to say that I love my little dog more than I love most people, so is pet insurance a necessity?. I got him at a time my health was bad, and his company and relentless positive little face became my absolute saviour.
This feeling isn’t unusual either. Speak to any pet owner and a huge percentage see them more as a family member. In fact, according to a 2017 survey of 2000 dog and cat owners conducted by Lily’s Kitchen Pet Food: 96% said they regard pets as part of the family, and a whopping 60% admitted to being closer to their pet than to some members of their family. Therefore it is fair to say we would do anything to protect them.
A Little Bit About My Dog
Rupert is a 4 year old Jack Russell Terrier. He was supposed to work as a ratter, but due to a large overbite and a far too gentle nature for such work, he came to me as a puppy. He is now very much a pet. A bed-sharing, sofa-hogging, agility-doing pet with a capital P. He has everything he wants and I cater to his every whim.
An Emergency Occurred
One fine day – or not so fine as you’re about to discover – we had a friend over for a garden picnic. The sun was shining and we had some nice treats on the table, including a bunch of grapes. What we didn’t see was one of the grapes rolling off the table, so when Rupert appeared scoffing something down, we discovered in horror that he’d eaten one of the grapes. Too late to stop him, and aware that grapes and dogs don’t mix, we Googled what to do. All the advice said SEE A VET IMMEDIATELY, so we phoned our trusted local vets and they said yep, we should bring him in for tests. For those who don’t know, grapes and grape derivatives like juice and raisins can poison dogs. In fact the vet said if we didn’t flush out his system (he’d already digested it), there was a 50% chance of imminent liver failure: yes, it’s that serious.
We had no choice but to leave Rupert at the vet overnight – in fact for two nights – while he endured a very painful-sounding procedure where his system was flushed out with charcoal, just to make sure all traces of the grape were gone. Thankfully, despite us having to leave him for 48 hours, the most we’d ever left him alone for, he was fine despite the ordeal. Then of course we were faced with a lovely vet bill for £700. Now, since this horror we went and did some homework and realised that if we had had Petsure insurance, then that wouldn’t have taken a hefty bite out of our accounts. Had we opted for the £5000 of cover, with £100 excess, which would have cost us just £17.40 monthly (£208.75 annually), this whole ordeal would have been covered in a much more manageable way.
So while of course we would have paid anything to get Rupert the best care, immediately we saw a huge need for insurance and why everyone had warned us. Had we signed up for Petsure insurance, the financial stress could have been saved.
HOW DOES PETSURE MEET MY OWN NEEDS?
Petsure is designed to meet the demands and needs of those who wish to insure against unexpected veterinary costs. The levels of cover may vary depending on which cover option you choose.
You can navigate the site easily as you search for the best policy for your pet, with easy to use sliders that show how much cover you’ll get and then how much it will cost. This is all easily changeable if you alter your cover level options. You can then click forward to a quote that lets you pay monthly or annually.
OPTIONAL EXTRAS
That’s for the standard cover most pet owners will need. Petsure also offer optional Dental Illness cover, Farewell cover, Missing Pet cover and Travel and Holiday cover that will of course alter the cost, but again, the option to chop and change until you’ve adjusted the insurance to your liking is very easy to navigate.
Was Rupert OK?
Rupert is currently running round the garden absolutely fine. We managed to deal with it quickly and no long-term damage occurred. We are however, never buying grapes again.
Good points