Have You Read the Small Print on Your Pet Insurance Policy?

Insurance for pets has become increasingly popular as owners try to insure against the rising cost of veterinarian treatments.

In fact, pet insurance is the fastest growing sector of the industry. Unfortunately, along with this demand has come an increase in complaints to the insurance ombudsman, with submissions up 18% in 2007-08.

If you've got pet insurance, it's important to check the fine print on your policy, for all the same reasons you would check the terms and conditions on cover for your own health. As veterinary treatments get more sophisticated and more expensive, this becomes even more important.

Know What You're Buying

As with any other type of insurance, it's important to fully understand what you're getting before you buy. Make sure you know exactly what your policy covers and what the terms, conditions and exclusions are. There are three common types of insurance for pets, and each offers very different cover for vet's fees.

1. Lifetime cover is just that-it covers your pet for the lifetime of any illness or injury that requires treatment, up to a maximum amount each year. This does of course make it the most expensive.
2. Maximum benefit policies allow you to claim at any time until you reach a pre-determined limit for a particular condition. For example, if your pet has arthritis, you can make unlimited claims until you reach the limit for that illness. However, if you reach the limit for one illness, that doesn't affect your ability to claim for others.
3. Twelve-month policies limit the amount of time in which you can claim for any one condition to twelve months following diagnosis. These are the cheapest, but they're not suitable for animals prone to chronic conditions that require long term treatment.

In addition to vet's fees, pet insurance may also cover various different events, such as the theft of a pet, the cost of a reward for your pet if it's stolen, or having to cancel a holiday due to a pet's illness. These are not common to all policies, so it's important to check your policy and find out exactly what's included.

Common Pet Insurance Problems

The most common areas of complaint seen by the insurance ombudsman include the following:

• Policy limits: Some policies place annual limits on both individual and cumulative claims. However, if those limits are not clearly detailed in the insurance policy, the ombudsman is more likely to find in favour of the pet's owner.
• Removal of cover upon policy renewal: Recently, certain areas of cover have been removed from pet insurance policies, including homeopathic and dental treatments. The ombudsman may find in favour of the owner if they were not notified of the change. This is particularly true if the pet is undergoing treatment when the claim is made.
• Disputes over whether a particular treatment is suitable for the situation.
• Disputes over whether alternative treatments are covered by an individual policy.

Making a Complaint to the Ombudsman

If you do want to make a complaint about how your pet insurance claim has been handled, you must first make a complaint to your insurer and follow the company's complaints process to the end. If that has not produced the desired result you can contact the insurance ombudsman by calling 0845 0801800 or writing to the Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR.

For a comprehensive list of UK pet insurers visit UK Insurance Index which also has reviews of providers by real policy holders. If you need advice on choosing the best cover for you and your pet, you can find a database of brokers at this website.