Car insurance can be very expensive (especially for those under twenty five) but cat and dog owners are often surprised that pet insurance can be even more costly.
Many will find that confusing considering that cars are larger and usually more expensive than most dogs and cats.
Bought By Many have put together a list of reasons why pet insurance can be more.
1. Car breakdown isn’t covered by a standard car insurance policy, you will either need to add that on to your existing policy for an additional fee or you will need to take out a separate policy with a breakdown provider.
On the other hand, pet breakdown, for example getting sick and going to visit the vets – is covered by a standard pet insurance policy.
Emergency treatment for your pet is incredibly expensive. This is because the vet has to drop all of their pre-booked appointments to attend to your pet. Generally garages would fit you in around their existing appointments.
2. Garages are usually cheaper than vets. Although being a mechanic can be difficult and needs specialist knowledge, it takes a lot longer (usually at least five years) to train to become a vet. Vet bills cover the cost of skilled labour to treat each individual animal.
3. Pets get chronic conditions, cars don’t. Some pets need long-term treatment. Many pet insurance policies cover the cost of medication and ongoing treatment for these long term conditions – and as you can imagine, this doesn’t come cheap.
4. If a car is written off, insurers can sell the car for scrap to cover some of the costs of a claim. This is not something you can do with pets.
5. Car insurance is compulsory and therefore companies that offer it have huge buying power. They are able to negotiate better rates from garages to keep costs low. This has only just begun with Pet insurers.
6. There are so many things that can happen to a pet in the course of its life. Only so much can happen to a car and often the problem is not difficult for a mechanic to identify. Like humans, pets can take a long time to diagnose and frequent visits to a vet must be a consideration in the price of pet insurance.
7. Finally, the cost of pet treatment is increasing thanks to cutting edge tech that is now being used. Pets can now have CAT scans and gene therapy which would have previously only been used on humans.While the same can be said for car repair technology, it has not moved as quickly or at the same level.
Anything used at the vets has the ability to push up the cost of cover.
However, pets are living creatures and are not something that can be replaced. The same can not be said for a car and therefore it is only natural that we spend more money making sure they are happy and healthy.
You can see our guides to the 10 best pet insurers and top 10 car insurance policies to compare providers.
