Most people know that Pet Insurance primarily exists to cover the cost of your vet's bill in the event that your pet falls ill, or has an accident, and needs treatment. Nowadays policies can also cover the costs of complimentary treatment (such as physiotherapy, animal behaviorist etc.) if prescribed by your vet. Policies will also 'pay out' an amount in the unfortunate event that your pet is lost due to theft or straying or dies due to an illness. Finally, most Pet Insurance policies will provide "Public Liability Cover" for your dog. Each of these aspects of cover (vet fees, public liability etc.) are often refereed to as benefits of the policy or the cover / cover level provided by the policy. The amount a policy will 'pay out' for any given element of cover is not unlimited, and so for each aspect there is a cover limit. For example our Gold policies have a cover limit of £3,500 for vet fees, whereas our Silver policies have a cover limit of £2,500 for vet fees. A full description of the benefits is included lower down this guide, and the cover limits are detailed in Our Pet Insurance Policies.
Vet Fees
Covers the cost of vet treatment for illness or injury. This includes consultations, tests, surgery, and medication. This applies to your vet fee limit. It also includes things like scans and specialist referrals.
Cruciate
Support for treatment for cruciate ligament injuries. This includes surgery if needed. This is up to your chosen vet fee limit.
CT/MRI
Covers advanced diagnostic scans such as CT and MRI. This must be recommended by your vet. These help diagnose complex conditions. These are included within your vet fee limit.
Dental Accident
Helps pay for dental treatment needed because of an accident. Such as broken or damaged teeth. Treatment must be carried out by a vet. This is included within your vet fee limit.
Dental Illness
Includes treatment for dental disease, such as infections or gum disease. To keep this cover valid, your pet must have a dental examination by a vet every 12 months, and you must follow any recommendations for dental treatment within 3 months of the recommendation being made. You must also be able to provide evidence of the dental examinations and completed treatment if requested. If these requirements are not met, we may not pay the claim or may reduce the amount we pay.
Complimentary Treatment
Support for complementary treatments like physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, and acupuncture. These must be recommended by your vet and carried out by qualified professionals.
Theft or Straying
Provides a payment if your pet is lost or stolen and not found within 30 days. You must report the loss and take reasonable steps to recover your pet.
Accidental death
Provides a payment if your pet passes away due to an accident or injury. The amount paid is based on your pet’s value, up to your policy limit.
Cremation/Burial
Helps cover the cost of cremation or burial following your pet’s death. This is included within your overall policy limits.
Euthanasia
Help to pay for the cost of putting your pet to sleep when recommended by a vet. This must be due to an illness or injury covered under your policy.
Advertising/Reward
Includes the cost of advertising and offering a reward. This is to help find your pet if they go missing. Rewards must be agreed in advance. You’ll need to provide receipts and proof of payment when making a claim.
Overseas Cover
Provides cover for your pet when travelling in approved countries. Includes vet treatment abroad.
Holiday Cancelled/Cut Short
Contribution towards the cost of your trip if it is cancelled or cut short. This is due to your pet being seriously ill, injured, or going missing. Includes travel and accommodation you can’t recover.
Delayed Return
Helps cover additional travel and accommodation costs. This is if your return home is delayed due to your pet’s condition. A vet must confirm your pet is unfit to travel.
Loss of Docs
Helps pay for the cost of replacing lost or stolen pet travel documents while abroad. Also helps with additional travel and accommodation costs if your return is delayed.
Video Vet Consult Service
Includes 24/7 access to UK-based vets via video consultation. This gives you expert advice anytime without needing to visit a vet surgery.
Public Liability
This benefit applies to dogs only (the law with regard to cats and ownership is complex and well beyond this guide!). It provides cover for circumstances such as your dog damaging some else's property or causing injury to someone else for which you are legally responsible. The benefit has an excess of £250 which is different to the vet fee excess.
The cost of your policy is likely to increase at renewal. This is because as your pet gets older, or if they develop ongoing conditions, the cost of providing cover can rise.
Premiums are reviewed each year based on factors such as your pet’s age, claims history and the cost of veterinary treatment. You will receive a renewal quote before your policy expires so you can decide whether to continue cover.
Lifetime
Lifetime pet insurance is designed to help cover ongoing or recurring conditions, as long as you continue to renew your policy each year.
You can claim for vet fees up to your chosen annual limit, and this limit resets each time your policy renews. This means conditions can continue to be covered across multiple years, provided your policy remains active.
Cover is provided on a 12-month basis and is subject to renewal. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply.
Maximum Benefit
Maximum Benefit pet insurance pays vet fees up to a set limit for each condition.
Once the limit has been reached for a specific condition, no further claims can be made for it. This applies both during the current policy year and after renewal.
The level of cover depends on the option you choose. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply.
The Vet Fees and Personal Liability have an excess. This is the initial portion that you have to pay before the policy benefit starts to pay out. For example, imagine a policy with a vet fees cover limit of £1,250 and a vet fees excess of £110.... here are a few scenarios of different vet fees and how the cover limit and excess would be applied:
Vet fee of £50... as you have to pay the first £110, you would pay the total bill and the policy would not cover any portion of the cost.
Vet fee of £900... you would pay the first £110, and the policy would pay the remaining £790.
Vet fee of £1400.. you would pay the first £110, the policy would pay up to the limit (in this example) £1250, and you would have to pay the reminder (£1400 - £110 - £1250 = £40).
Older pets typically require more treatment which naturally drives the cost of insurance up (as the risk to the insurance company is greater). As pets get older this can start to make insurance prohibitively expensive and so some insurers (including those used by Puffin) adopt the practice of co-insurance whereby the cost of any vet fees is shared with the customer that holds the insurance policy once the pet reaches a certain age. This is most easily described with an example: consider an 8 year old dog that has fallen ill and incurred vet's fees of £500. The policy has an excess of £99 and 20% co-insurance for the pet of this age....
| Vet fees | £500 |
| Excess | £110 |
| Vet fees after excess | £390 |
| 20% co-insurance | £78 |
| Policy 'pays out' | £390 - £78 = £312 |