How to Compare Pet Insurance to Paying Out of Pocket

It is important to compare pet insurance to paying out of pocket to avoid paying much more to safeguard your pet than what might actually be beneficial. There are some things everyone should consider before running out to buy insurance for pets. Follow these easy steps to figure out whether purchasing pet insurance will really protect your pet or simply cost you money.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Calculator

1. Think about the age of your pet and how long your pet will probably live. An animal's normal vet bills usually add up to between $100-300 a year for items like vaccinations and checkups. Take $200 and multiply this number by how long you expect your pet to live. This is about how much preventative vet care will cost over time.

2. Expect one or two illnesses or accidents to happen over the course of your pet's life, with costs that can sometimes exceed $1000 to treat properly. With or without pet insurance, a chronic illness is always a risk can cost thousands a year for medication to give your pet a good quality of life.

3. Add the number you get in step one for your pet's preventative care plus another $2000 to estimate a few illnesses or injuries over the lifetime of your cat or dog. This number is an estimate of how much your pet will cost in veterinary care over over their lifetime.

4. Save enough money to handle an illness or emergency for your pet, because if you do get pet insurance, it only reimburses after the fact. You still need to be able to pay for your pet's veterinary bill up front, and the costs of veterinary surgery and medications can be quite expensive.

5. Consider whether or not you can afford to loose the money an accident or injury will cost all at once. If so, there is no reason, financial or otherwise, for you to purchase pet insurance.

6. Search for insurance quotes for your cat or dog online and pay attention to the monthly premium. By multiplying this amount by 12 and then by the expected remaining lifespan of your cat or dog, you will be able to compare pet insurance cost over the lifetime of your pet to your traditional out of pocket cost.

7. Compare the potential cost of vet care over your pet's lifetime to the cost of pet insurance. Chances are, the insurance will be slightly more expensive overall, but if you need the money you are saving for pet emergencies for other emergencies as well, it might make sense to pay for the insurance to keep your fund intact.

Tips & Warnings

• Insurance for accidents only is a good deal for young pets because it is relatively inexpensive and more likely to be used.
• Insuring older pets is generally a bad idea-- because you need to pay upfront, you are still absorbing the cost of care, and premiums reflect the many health problems older pets have. Chances are, the kinds of chronic conditions your pet may have that will make insurance worth the money aren't covered anymore.
• Read the fine print of every pet insurance policy you consider. It may not cover what you really need.

Resources

• Pet insurance on wikipedia

[walker7]

on 12/21/2009 Great information...thank you!