Pet Insurance. Theres No National Health Service For Dogs.

Author: Dot Piper

Can you afford to insure your pet against accidents and ailments? Can you afford not to?

In the UK there are 5.2 million dog-owning homes without pet insurance cover.
If your dog is injured in a road accident, the average veterinary surgeons bill will be 379.
Unless you're in receipt of Housing or Council Tax benefit, and therefore receive vets services free of charge under the PDSA PetAid scheme (more about this later) the costs of veterinary care are all down to you. There is no NHS for pets.

Picture yourself in this position: Your dog has been injured and is suffering badly. Your first thought is to get him to the vets as soon as possible. Once there, he requires a scan. At around 1000, the nightmare has started. There could be further detailed tests before diagnosis. He may need an operation and lengthy follow up treatment. The bill could be enormous. The family are at home, waiting by the 'phone for news of Fido. Are you going to say, no, sorry can't afford this? Hardly. Your immediate reaction is to ask the vet to do all they can to save your pet.

There are many different types of pet insurance available. Half an hour or so surfing the net will bring up loads of information. Cost of cover varies from the fairly reasonable to the expensive and the range of cover from basic up to plans that cover unlimited lifetime care for your pet, pet search schemes for lost pets and cover for care if the owner is hospitalized. It's well worth doing your homework to make sure that you'll be getting the cover you need, within your budget.

Pet Plan, for example, offer a budget policy offering cover for lifetime conditions to cover fees of up to 4000 per annum. This costs 180 per year. They also have Standard and Supreme plans. Standard would pay up to 6000 per annum and the Supreme gives unlimited cover. One of Pet Plans customers told us how grateful they were that they had the Budget policy. They'd take out the plan when their dog was a puppy. Later the dog developed allergy problems and had to have extensive tests to sort the problem, then a special diet and monthly injections. When a hip problem developed, the bills soon mounted up, but were covered by the insurance, giving the family peace of mind and the knowledge that they'd done their best for their pet.

As mentioned above, the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals is able to help out families who would otherwise be unable to afford the care their pet may need. If you are on the benefits mentioned, the PDSA PetAid scheme will help with free treatment at one of their surgeries, hospitals or centres. They help 4650 pets per day and at present there are around 5.8 million households that could be helped in this way.

We are a dog loving nation, with an excellent choice of some of the best
Veterinary practices you could wish for. Doesn't your dog deserve the best?