Insurance Against An Act Of Dog
Sun Herald
Sunday June 11, 2000
WITH almost four million households owning a cat or a dog, pet insurance is booming.
Little wonder when a visit to the vet can cost more than going to the doctor. A leg fracture, for example, can set you back $1,000 at the vet and a snake bite or cancer treatment $2,000.
New pet insurers include GIO (Pet Cover) and FAI/HIH (Petsecure), while AFS is set to introduce a policy door-to-door through Amway.
The stalwart is Pet Protection Plan, which has been operating for six years.
Premiums range from $50 a year for GIO's Pet Cover run as an adjunct to its home and contents policy to $248 a year for Petsecure.
Of course, as with most things, you get what you pay for.
GIO will cover you for one claim a year paying up to $500 less any excess for the cost of veterinary treatment as a result of an accident or illness to your pet. You can insure up to six animals, with second and subsequent pets costing $25 each a year.
Because the policy is taken out with GIO's home and contents policy, you can also claim for temporary accommodation for your pets through fire or other damage.
At the top end of the scale, Petsecure, which is backed by the RSPCA, will cover your pet for up to $5,000 a year, with $2,000 per claim. You can choose between a $75 excess or an excess-free policy. But whichever one you select, the insurer will pay only 80 per cent of the bill in effect still an excess.
Ace Pet Protection Plan will pay a lump sum if your pet dies as a result of sickness or an injury up to $800 for a dog and $600 for a cat.
Most policies specify that your animal must be between six weeks and 12 years old.
So just when you might start to need some financial help for your vet bills, the policy cuts out.
Most policies don't cover general care items such as worming, inoculation, desexing, pregnancy or flea or tick bites, although it is understood the new AFS plan may include these.
Denise Humphries of petnet.com.au warns that some policies say ``they won't treat anything congenital which can rule out many [claims]".
© 2000 Sun Herald