Working regular vet visits into your budget isn’t particularly daunting. But what happens if your pet becomes ill, has an accident or needs chronic medication? Now you have to fork out a lot more than you thought. After all, like any quality medical service, vets don’t come cheap.
Should I start a savings account or get pet insurance?
It’s a frequently asked question, which requires you to consider some different scenarios.
Let’s say you begin a savings account for your pet, placing a few hundred Rand in it each month, just in case. Now, imagine there’s a medical emergency after only a few months and you need to pay a large sum of money to the vet for an operation. Will this savings account cover it? Probably not.
Now, let’s assume you took that same amount each month and purchased pet insurance cover. And, after only a few months, you needed to pay for that operation. Here, your pet insurance could likely cover the majority, if not all, of those costs.
Simple, right?
Even if you already have a healthy savings account, are you prepared to risk it all on vet bills?
How to choose the right pet insurance
This is also a frequently asked question, and there are some very important things to consider, so let’s break it down into a comprehensive list:
1. Pick a plan that’s right for you, your pet and your budget.
Many pet insurance providers will have different options to choose from, with the cheapest ones usually offering basic cover for accidents only. As you move up to the more expensive plans, you enjoy further cover. For example, cover for illness, vet visits, routine care and more.
OUTsurance Pet has three main plans to choose from, plus some interesting add-ons that you can choose. Compare them all now to see which is right for you.
2. Shop around, but always consider the annual limits (and sub-limits)!
If you see a great price for pet insurance, make sure you understand what you’re actually covered for. For starters, check the annual limit – that is, the amount you’re allowed to claim for, in total, during a year’s cover. Also, are there any sub-limits - the amount you’re allowed to claim for specifics, such as actual procedures?
When creating the OUTsurance Pet insurance plans, we made sure we did our research to ensure that our benefit structures were simple and easy to understand, and that our limits were guided by real client experiences. In short, you get what you pay for.
3. Is your premium based on your profile?
Some providers might offer blanket premiums. In other words, you pay the same amount as other pet parents for the same plan.
OUTsurance takes a different approach, where premiums are unique to your pet, thanks to an advanced underwriting model, which doesn’t make you subsidise other pets. That means you could pay less by switching your pet insurance to OUTsurance.
4. Discounts, discounts, discounts!
Check if you are eligible for discounts.
With OUTsurance, there are many ways to bring your monthly premium down. These include discounts when covering multiple pets, having your pet sterilised, having your pet microchipped and even for ensuring your pet is in great physical shape.
5. Is there an excessive excess?
Like most types of insurance, you will need to pay an amount when you claim, called an excess. But excesses are NOT all created equal! Some are a percentage of your claim amount, which means that you can be in for a shock if you’re claiming for a big operation.
With OUTsurance, however, you have a flat excess. In other words, you’ll always know in advance what you may need to pay and there are no nasty surprises when claiming with us. Best of all, with us, an excess only applies to Accident and Illness claims, while other insurers may charge excesses for all types of claims.
6. Consider the extras.
Ask yourself… Is there perhaps something unique on offer that isn’t available elsewhere?
For instance, with OUTsurance, you get a cash OUTbonus if you don’t claim for three consecutive years.
There are also some exciting benefits with our Executive Plan, such as cover for puppy socialisation classes and correctional behavioural treatments.
And, lastly, there are some interesting optional benefits that you can choose. Cover for everything from prescription food and supplements to emergency kennelling, advertising for a lost pet and more.
Why not start an obligation-free pet insurance quote to see how little you could pay for paw-some, quality pet insurance from OUTsurance.