Pomeranian Puppies: Pet Insurance

Pet Insurance

Pet health insurance pays the veterinary costs if one's pet becomes ill or is injured in an accident. Some policies will also pay out when the pet dies, or if it's lost or stolen. The purpose of pet insurance is to mitigate the risk of incurring significant expense to treat ill or injured pets. As veterinary medicine is increasingly employing expensive medical techniques and drugs, and owners have higher expectations for their pets' health care and standard of living than previously, the market for pet insurance has increased.The first pet insurance policy was written in 1890 by Claes Virgin. Virgin was the founder of Länsförsäkrings Alliance, at that time he focused on horses and livestock.[citation needed] In 1947 the first pet insurance policy was sold in Britain.[1] As of 2009, Britain has the second-highest level of pet insurance in the world (23%),[2] behind only Sweden. In 1982, the first pet insurance policy was sold in the United States, and issued to television's Lassie by Veterinary Pet InsuranceMany pet owners believe pet insurance is a variation of human health insurance; however, pet insurance is actually a form of property insurance. As such, pet insurance reimburses the owner after the pet has received care and the owner submits a claim to the insurance company. British policies usually pay 100% of vets fees, but this is certainly not always the case. It is typically more common to find UK pet insurance companies discounting their policies by offering their customers the chance to pay an excess fee, just like with motor insurance. Excess fees can range from £40 to £100. The excess is usually fixed by the insurer dependent on the amount of discount they are giving the buyer. In the future more flexible excess levels will probably play an important part of how much one pays for a pet insurance policy.