Is Pet Insurance Worth It?
23.August, 2009
You cherish your pet and you want him to be healthy and happy for a long time to come. If he gets injured or sick, you expect to be able to take him to the vet for whatever he needs. Enter the insurance company telling you that you need to buy pet insurance. Let’s set aside the emotional considerations for a moment and look at the financial aspects of this decision.
Will you save money buy getting pet insurance? On average, the answer is no. Think about it. Insurance companies have to take in more in premiums than they pay out in claims in order to have enough to cover their overhead. They must charge each customer more than the average expense. This is so for all types of insurance. So why do people buy insurance at all?
The first key is about the average vet bill. You won’t have the average veterinary bill. You will either have an above average or below average bill. How much risk can you handle? Would you rather spend a predictable premium each month, or risk an unexpected expense? If you went to the vet and discovered that your cat or dog needed a $4,000 procedure, could you afford it? As more expensive rocedures become available for pets as well as humans, the potential vet bill goes up.
The second key is about unexpected vet bills. If you knew right now how much your pet’s veterinary expenses over his lifetime would be, you could set aside money each month to cover the expenses. There are two problems with this scenario. 1) You don’t know what your pet’s future medical bills will be. Two, would you really have the discipline to put the money aside?
The average price for low cost pet insurance is around $25 per month for a dog and $17 a month for a cat. Or if you want a policy with higher coverage and lower deductibles, you could opt for VIP pet insurance. It all goes back to how much you dislike risk.
So if you can handle any vet bill that comes your way, you should probably skip pet insurance. But if you’re not prepared for a nasty surprise and you’re not willing to lose your pet, it’s time to start that pet insurance comparison.
Respond