“Fun is like life insurance; the older you get, the more it costs.”
Kin Hubbard, Journalist
Pros and Cons of Getting Pet Insurance
You have a pet and think about getting pet insurance but are not sure whether it is worth it for you or not? Great!
This article is exactly for you since I will show you all the pros and cons of pet insurance in the following chapters.
Table of Contents
Advantages of Pet Insurance
- Pet insurance can cover you in case of emergency
- You may have a better feeling since you know you are covered
- You don’t have to worry about financial issues related to your pet
- Pet insurance can protect you against old-age poverty
- You may not be able to help your pet without having pet insurance
- You may no longer be liable for damage to third parties
- Pet insurance gives you more security to plan for your future
- Pet insurance makes sense if you have a vulnerable pet species
- You can insure almost every pet
- You don’t have to use your emergency fund for your pet
- You can pick the best veterinarian
- You can choose between different pet insurance plans
Pet insurance can cover you in case of emergency
One advantage of pet insurance is that you are covered in case of emergency.
For instance, if your pet gets sick, you will usually not have to worry about seeing the vet since the costs for your visit at the vet as well as for treatment will be mostly covered by your insurance company.
In turn, you can always be sure that you will be able to pay for medical bills for your pet and don’t have to worry about serious financial consequences in this regard.
Moreover, you will also not have to decide whether it is worth it to get medical treatment for your loved pet or not since you will not have to pay it yourself and can therefore do what you think is best for your pet and not what is best for your pocket.
You may have a better feeling since you know you are covered
Since you know that you are covered in case your pet gets sick and needs medical treatment, you will also feel much better since it just takes away the potential financial burden from you.
In fact, you will wake up in the morning in a much better mood since you will not have to worry about those things anymore.
In turn, you will have more energy and also more mental capacities to tackle several other issues to make your life better as soon as possible.
Worrying is never a good thing since it takes away so much energy from us and if you can get rid of some of your worries by buying pet insurance, why not?!
You don’t have to worry about financial issues related to your pet
Some people even have to go into debt in case their pet needs proper medical treatment.
In fact, it can be quite expensive to see the vet and if you don’t have proper pet insurance, chances are that you will have to pay many hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Hence, pet insurance may especially make sense for people who currently don’t have huge savings and who would have to go into debt for seeing the vet.
Sure, by getting pet insurance, you will still have to pay the insurance premiums.
Yet, they are relatively small compared to the huge costs they can protect you from (at least from a monthly perspective).
Pet insurance can protect you against old-age poverty
Another benefit of pet insurance is that it can also protect you from suffering from old-age poverty.
Many people out there would do everything to cure their pets of diseases and to make their lives as enjoyable as possible.
However, once you get older, you may just not have those financial measures anymore and you may no longer be able to afford proper medical treatment for your pet.
In such a case, pet insurance can help you since it can protect you from spending excessive amounts of money on medical treatment of your pet and this means that you will have more money for retirement.
You may not be able to help your pet without having pet insurance
While some people are wealthy enough to cover medical bills for the vet rather easily, others are not able to afford such treatment at all.
In fact, some people out there are already in debt and will never be able to pay for necessary medical treatment for their loved pets.
In such a case, pet insurance may also help since it saves you from having to spend large amounts of money on pet care.
However, in such a case, you should also make sure that you are even able to afford pet-keeping at all or if you should rather give away your pet to friends until your financial conditions improve.
You may no longer be liable for damage to third parties
Depending on the type of pet insurance you get, you may also no longer be liable for any damage to third parties related to your pet.
For instance, if your dog bites someone, you will usually be liable for medical costs and you may also have to pay compensation for personal suffering.
This can add up to huge amounts of money and you should definitely not underestimate the risk involved in walking down the streets with your dog.
If you get the right pet insurance, you may be able to hedge against this risk and may be able to enjoy your walks with your dog much more since you will no longer have to worry about potential financial issues in this regard.
Pet insurance gives you more security to plan for your future
Since you will no longer have to pay huge amounts of money for your pet, you will be able to plan your future much better.
Without pet insurance, you will always have to set aside significant amounts of money which you can use in case of emergency.
If you have pet insurance, you can use this money for other important things since your insurance company will pay a significant amount if not all of the treatment costs for your pet.
Consequently, while many other people out there will often struggle to plan their future due to all the insecurity that comes along with pet-keeping, you will be the one who can go ahead since you will just no longer have to worry about these issues.
Pet insurance makes sense if you have a vulnerable pet species
Whether you should get pet insurance or not also greatly depends on the pet species you keep at home.
Some pets are much more vulnerable to diseases than others and getting pet insurance especially makes sense if you have one of those sensitive pets at home.
You may also want to get pet insurance in case your pet previously had many conditions since the risk of health issues in the future will be much higher than average.
Hence, getting insurance for your pet can also be beneficial for you in case you expect serious health issues of your pet pretty soon.
In such a case, it can definitely make sense to pay insurance premiums to hedge against potential enormous treatment costs in the near future.
You can insure almost every pet
Another upside to having pet insurance is that you will also be able to insurance almost every pet species out there.
While it had been difficult to insure rather exotic pets just one decade ago, it is now not a problem at all and you will find many insurance companies who are willing to insure even the most exotic pets.
However, always make sure that you also read the insurance contract and the terms properly to avoid any issues in this regard.
You don’t have to use your emergency fund for your pet
Since you will be covered in case your pet gets sick, you will also not have to touch your emergency fund for medical treatment for your pet.
Your emergency fund is a really important instrument that should only be used in case every other measure fails.
Hence, not using your emergency fund is always a good thing and if your insurance pays for the treatment costs of your pet, you can protect and use your emergency fund for other issues that might arise in the future.
You can pick the best veterinarian
Depending on the pet insurance company you choose, you may even be able to choose the best veterinarian when you need treatment for your pet.
This can be pretty neat since not all vets have equal skills and some of them have a much higher reputation than others.
When it comes to serious medical treatment, you want to get the best person for the job to maximize the chances that your loved pet recovers.
However, experts in this field are pretty expensive and you may just not be able to afford medical treatment for your pet from one of those knowledgeable people without having pet insurance to back you.
Thus, getting pet insurance can also make quite a lot of sense if you want quality treatment for your pet instead of just average or even poor medical treatment that may do more harm than good.
You can choose between different pet insurance plans
Insurance companies usually also offer many different pet insurance plans.
Depending on your requirements, you can choose a fancy one that covers every sort of treatment or you may also want to go for a policy that only covers major issues but where you have to pay a minimum fee yourself for minor treatments.
In fact, there is no such thing as one certain pet insurance.
Every policy has its strengths and weaknesses and it is therefore crucial that you compare the policies of major pet insurance companies to get the best plan for your individual circumstances.
As you can see, getting pet insurance can definitely make a lot of sense.
However, we still haven’t talked about the downsides that may come along with getting pet insurance.
Thus, stick with me since I will also show you all the problems with pet insurance in the following chapter so that you get a more comprehensive picture of the topic and can better decide whether you still want to get pet insurance or if it will just not be worth it for you.
Disadvantages of Pet Insurance
- Pet insurance premiums can be costly
- It may not be worth it on average
- Significant differences in prices for pet insurance
- You need to inform yourself about different plans
- You need to inform yourself about changes in policies over time
- Pet insurance doesn’t make sense for certain pets
- Your insurance company may refuse to pay
- Your insurance premium may rise over time
- It can be hard to check policies for the average person
- Reviews are often flawed
- Usefulness of pet insurance also depends on your own behavior
- Insurance companies often exclude many things from their policies
- You may be better off by saving for a pet emergency fund
Pet insurance premiums can be costly
One disadvantage of pet insurance is that you will have to pay high insurance premiums.
Depending on the type of pet and also on the preconditions it might have had, you may have to pay significant amounts of money each month to be covered in case of emergency.
In the long run, this can add up to large amounts of money and you should make sure that you are able to afford those costs and that you are also willing to make this financial commitment.
You should also inform yourself about the cancellation periods so that you don’t get trapped in one of those policies for an extended period of time.
It may not be worth it on average
Insurance companies also don’t offer you insurance since they are just nice.
Of course, they want to make profit with what they are doing and this means that you will have to pay higher insurance premiums than it might be justified to break even on average.
Sure, it can still make sense to you to get pet insurance if you are a risk-averse person who wants to be protected against huge financial swings.
However, please keep in mind that insurances of all sorts are always good for the insurance company instead of the insured person on average and that you will lose money by getting any kind of insurance in the long run.
Once again, I am not against getting insurance!
You should definitely get the most important insurance products out there to be covered against fatal financial swings.
However, if you have some money in your bank account and are confident that it would be enough to cover medical bills for your pet, it may just not be worth it for you to pay pet insurance premiums every month since those premiums will likely add up to more money than you would have to spend on treatment in the long run on average.
Significant differences in prices for pet insurance
You should also make sure to compare prices before getting pet insurance.
Quite often, pet insurance companies try to sell you expensive policies you actually don’t need at all.
Hence, you should compare the best pet insurance policies online since you will get a much better picture of the market instead of just getting it from your local insurance company.
Otherwise, chances are that you would just have to pay too much for pet insurance.
You need to inform yourself about different plans
Another downside to getting pet insurance is that you will also have to inform yourself about the different plans insurance companies will offer to you.
In fact, every insurance plan will be different and you should not expect to get the same service and coverage from every insurance company out there.
This also means that the market is relatively untransparent and that you will have to check your insurance contract in great detail so that you can be sure that you are really covered in case of emergency.
You need to inform yourself about changes in policies over time
You should also not expect that insurance companies don’t change their policies.
Quite often, they adjust their terms and conditions over time and if you are not careful, you may miss some of these important changes and may no longer be covered against certain issues that might arise.
Pet insurance doesn’t make sense for certain pets
While it can make sense to get pet insurance for pets that are quite vulnerable to diseases, it may not make sense to get pet insurance for pets that are rather robust and will not suffer from those diseases that much on average.
Hence, you should inform yourself about the probability that your pet gets sick before you decide whether you should get pet insurance or not.
The less likely it is that your pet gets sick on average, the more sense it makes not to get pet insurance.
Your insurance company may refuse to pay
There had also been many cases in the past where pet insurance companies simply refused to pay for medical treatment.
Quite often, those insurance companies are pretty smart and find ways to reduce the amounts of money they have to pay to their clients.
Hence, even if you are insured, you should not automatically assume that you are fully covered and there will be a certain residual risk in this regard.
This is especially true if you get pet insurance from a rather shady insurance company and you should therefore make sure that you get it from a reputable one to avoid any issues.
Your insurance premium may rise over time
Another problem with having pet insurance is that your insurance premium may rise over time.
Especially in case you need medical treatment for your pet, your insurance company may raise premiums since they expect the risk that your pet needs treatment to be higher than expected in the future and this can be really annoying since you will have to pay more for pet insurance which makes it less attractive to have one.
It can be hard to check policies for the average person
You may also just not understand all the things that are mentioned in your insurance contract.
In fact, the average person has no idea about insurance policies and it will be hard for you to figure out what’s actually covered and what’s not.
Reviews are often flawed
You should also not trust reviews related to pet insurance that much.
In fact, those reviews are often biased or flawed and they are just no honest at all most of the time.
Instead, make sure that you get some advice from family or friends or to read all the terms yourself to get a better impression of what you get for your money.
Usefulness of pet insurance also depends on your own behavior
Whether you should get pet insurance or not also depends on your own behavior.
If you care for your pet well, the risk for it of suffering from serious health issues will be lowered compared to a state where you didn’t care about your pet much.
Hence, if you care for your pet well, you may not want to get pet insurance since it might just not be worth it to you.
Insurance companies often exclude many things from their policies
Insurance companies are also pretty smart and often exclude certain services from their policies.
Hence, make sure to study those policies in detail to avoid any issues in this regard.
You may be better off by saving for a pet emergency fund
Last but not least, you may just be better off saving for a pet emergency fund that you can use in case your pet needs medical treatment instead of paying costly insurance premiums.
Chances are that you will be better off by doing so in the long run on average.
Top 10 Pet Insurance Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Pet Insurance Pros | Pet Insurance Cons |
|---|---|
| Pet insurance protects you financially | Pet insurance premiums can be costly |
| Can protect your emergency fund | It may not be worth it on average |
| You can avoid old-age poverty | May not make sense for some pets |
| Can take away some financial pressure | Insurance companies often exclude services |
| You will be better able to plan your future | Insurance policies are hard to understand |
| Good feeling that comes along with it | Differences in pricing for pet insurance |
| Assures proper treatment of your pet | Insurance companies may increase prices |
| You may be able to consult an expert | Changes in terms and conditions |
| You can go to the best people in this field | You have to inform yourself |
| Many different insurance plans available | There may be better alternatives |
Should You Get Pet Insurance?
Now that you know all the advantages and disadvantages of pet insurance, it is on you to decide whether you still want to get insurance for your pet or if you rather want to save money and pay for medical treatment yourself once the time has come.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_insurance
https://www.britannica.com/animal/pet
About the Author
My name is Andreas and I’m really passionate about our environment and also about growing plants. In fact, I have grown several different plants over many years. I love to see my plants grow and also always try new things to improve my overall conditions at home.
In my blog posts, I want to share my experiences with you so that you can become successful in growing various different plants and improving your home as well, even though you might still be a beginner right now.
