Your pet dog is your best pal and you would want to give your pet all the comforts of life. Pets are often prone to illness that is beyond your control. You may have to visit the vet for the regular checks or at time of emergencies. Dog insurance gives you peace of mind as it will mitigate your pet’s medical expenses.
Insurance policies come with inherent cost in the form of premiums. You must do a little homework to analyse the concepts involved in pet insurance. Before you take up a policy it is worth to understand factors that can add up to the cost of Dog insurance.
Type of Policy
The first factor is the policy type that you wish to choose for your pet dog. They are categorised into four namely:
Accident only: This is the cheapest available policy for your pet dog. As the name implies, it covers only accidents. Other illness does not come under its purview.
Time limited policy: The term for this policy usually ranges for a year. Comparatively, this policy is also an affordable type. Short term illness is covered by the policy. You get the required finances at the apt time for treatment at the vet.
Per Condition: Under this type the significance is on the amount and not on the time. Though it is priced a little higher than the time limited policy, the benefit of this policy is more. It can be claimed at any time when your dog requires a medical treatment. There is a specified amount up to which you are allowed to claim. The premium of the policy tends to be higher as your claim amount increases.
Lifetime: Most useful yet most expensive type of policy. Be it a short term illness or chronic diseases, your vet’s complete expenses will be covered by this policy up to a certain amount. It has lifetime validity.
Where you reside
The next factor that can have an impact on the cost of insurance is the place of stay. The reason being the differences in the medical bills at different places. In some places the vet’s bill tends to be exorbitant while in some places they are quite reasonable. So, your place of stay is also taken into consideration by the insurance company for premium calculation.
Age of Dog
Just like the insurance for human, the dog insurance is based on the age of the dog. Younger dogs will have lesser premium while the older ones will be charged higher premium. This is for the simple reason that as the dogs get old their chances of getting sick tends to increase. Usually, dogs over the age of 8 years is charged high premium.
Breed of dog
Mixed breed can be cheaper than the pedigree. Similarly, smaller sized dogs will be charged lower premium than the bigger dogs. Male dogs are charged higher than female. Breed of dogs can have a major impact on the cost of insurance.