Pet Insurance Month: 14 Questions Answered

Pet Insurance Month is typically celebrated in Canada and the US. That said, we’re a nation widely known for our pet parenting numbers – we certainly don’t want to be left out! While pet cover has existed in NZ for some time now, it’s still newish.

Pet Insurance Month is all about answering those pesky insurance questions, helping to dispel myths and jargon and empowering pet parents with all the basic knowledge they need to make pet insurance decisions.

Find out when it happens and get all your questions answered in one place right below.

When is Pet Insurance Month?

Pet Insurance Month is a month-long observance in September. The first time it happened was in 2007, and although it’s still new in New Zealand, it’s certainly growing every year. That’s not unlike pet cover which also was only recently introduced in New Zealand.

By that we mean that although pet insurance has been around for years, not every person and their pet has first hand experience of how it works. Many people get their first pet insurance plan after a bad experience, which is just one reason it’s good for pet owners to know about it before that happens.

Who started Pet Insurance Month?

National Pet Insurance Month was launched by a coalition of veterinarians, animal shelters, rescue organisations, and pet insurance companies to raise awareness of the benefits of pet cover – and now we’re bringing it to NZ.

Top pet insurance questions

One of the main reasons for Pet Insurance Month is to spread awareness of what pet insurance is, what it does, how it works and why it exists. For that reason, we’re rounding up several popular questions around pet cover in NZ, with answers here:

1. What do pet owners think about pet cover in NZ?

That’s a great question, especially around a topic that’s still new to so many owners. In fact, we’re so curious, we asked 2000 pet owners to share their insights in our recent survey:

• Nearly all (96%) pet parents surveyed say they see value in pet insurance.
• 39% say they find it ‘extremely valuable’
• 30.8% describe it as being ‘very valuable’

Find out more from pet parents on why New Zealand pet insurance is a growing purchase.

2. How does pet insurance reimburse me?

Pet insurance typically reimburses you for vet treatments listed on your pet’s policy. You’ll have an annual defined limit that’s the total amount you can claim any year and often sub-limits and claim limits. PD is dedicated to paperless claims with the aim of reimbursing you lightning fast.

We’re all about digital innovation for the following reasons (to name a few):

• Online claims are greener since there’s no paper involved
• They’re simpler since you’re able to submit your claim wherever and whenever you need to online, 24/7
• They’re fast with PD – we aim to reimburse within two business days
• And! They reduce vet admin (what’s good for vets is good for pets)

Read this article for more insights into pet insurance reimbursement and this one on how PD makes claims easy.

3. When is the best time to get cover (Pet Insurance Month)?

Like human health insurance, generally speaking, pre-existing conditions that exist before your plan starts and your waiting periods are complete won’t be covered. However, provided a condition falls into your selected plan, if it starts after your policy is in place and waiting periods are done, then it’s covered.

For this simple reason, the best time to get pet cover in NZ is when your pet is at their healthiest. Usually this is when they’re at their youngest. To sum it up, it’s ideal to get a dog or puppy insurance quote sooner rather than later.

4. What are the top claims?

Great question! Knowing what you could encounter can help you choose a plan. One thing is learning about the top claim types in general – and another is finding out what common health issues affect your cat or dog by breed.

PD’s claims data shows that if you add up all the different types of ingestion, whether plants, poison, chocolate, foreign objects and more, ingestion ranks as the #1 claim type for dogs.

At a more granular level, we’ve also rounded up the top 10 claims for cats and dogs.

5. Is pet cover the right way to go in an NZ recession?

Balancing your books in the crunch of a recession means having as much knowledge at your disposal as possible. For this reason – and for Pet Insurance Month – we’ve looked in detail at recession pet insurance. The choice is ultimately going to be individual and based on your needs, your pet and your budget.

6. Do you need dog insurance this Pet Insurance Month?

With so many dog lovers in NZ, this is a top pet insurance question that needs answering. Not just for Pet Insurance Month, but for every month, week and day of the year!

There are a number of reasons for considering dog insurance as well as understanding how to select a matching plan. These range from accidents to a broad range of common dog breed health problems.

This article rounds them up for your canine companion.

7. What is third party liability in pet insurance?

Generally speaking, pet cover in NZ is designed to pay the bills for vet treatments your pet needs. However, every so often, a dog or cat does the unexpected and causes injuries to someone else – or their pet. Or, they may damage something else that falls into the league of ‘property.’ Note, we don’t mean your property, but someone else’s.

When this happens, you could be saddled with the bill. If your cat scratches someone, for example, and they get an infection and need medical care, you might be responsible. Or your dog causes a car crash and you end up liable to pay the repairs. In cases where you’re liable, your third party liability can help protect your pocket from the costs your pet has caused.

8. Will pet insurance cover all my pets on one policy in NZ?

Not only can you insure all your pets on a single policy but you’re also going to enjoy added PD benefits when you do. Whether you have two pets or a big pet family there’s a financial perk to putting them on a single policy.

It’s known in the PD world as a multi-pet policy and it means you enjoy 5% off.

9. Should you choose dental cover this Pet Insurance Month?

PD provides three plans, from accident insurance to comprehensive insurance with illness and dental cover. Whether or not to choose pet insurance with dental cover (via the Deluxe Plan) is a personal choice. What can help make your decision is learning whether your cat or dog is prone to dental health issues and weighing up your budget.

After the age of three, most pets experience some dental issues.

Also, understanding what’s covered will help. For all this and more, we’ve rounded up the following pet dental resources:

• How to choose pet dental insurance
• What’s covered by pet dental insurance?
• Gingivitis in cats and dogs
• What to do if your dog has a tooth abscess

10. When did insurance start?

This one’s tricky to pin down with an exact date, though we know one of the first to be insured in the world was the actor that played Lassie! Earlier on it started with insurance for farm animals and it’s only more recently that it’s become more commonplace for pets.

Since it’s Pet Insurance Month, we covered some of the major milestones around the world and here in NZ in our article that looks at when pet insurance first started.

11. What do vets say about pet cover in NZ?

Many vets choose the profession to help pets get better when things go wrong. They study for years to gain the necessary skills. However, in day-to-day practice, if the cost of treatment is too high for an owner, vets often don’t get to provide the best treatment. Sadly, 12% of pet owners surveyed by PD say they’ve had to put pets to sleep before having pet insurance for subsequent pets.

For vets, the practice comes with trials and tribulations. They witness and support amazing recoveries but also have to help many owners say goodbye to pets. Vet mental health can take a toll, leading to high rates of burnout – they’re often blamed for treatment costs and are currently well outnumbered by pets.

Read more about why you should get pet insurance from Dr Cath, a practising vet and Healthy Pets NZ trustee.

12. Pet insurance vs savings?

The question sounds like an either/or, but really, it can help having both. Unexpected vet bills with rolling expenses can get costly quickly with overnight stays, treatment costs and prescription medication. What’s more is that this can happen more than once in any given year. For example, Harvey the mini Schnauzer had three mishaps back-to-back.

While savings can be great, it’s times like these they may get depleted and once that happens, you’ll need to start saving from scratch. In contrast, pet insurance has an annual defined limit, and you can keep claiming that’s reached. Then it tops up completely once the new annual cycle starts. While savings can be great for paying your excess or your routine vet visits, pet insurance can give you a soft landing year-on-year.

Here’s more of a deep dive into pet insurance vs savings.

13. Is pet insurance expensive?

Pet insurance plans come in a range of options, from entry level plans that are the lowest cost option to plans with broader cover for things like illnesses and dental treatments that cost more.

Although the only way to learn what your pet’s plan would cost is getting a quote, you can get an overview of factors that help establish the premium. These include, for instance, your pet’s age and their health since these help determine what type of claims they’re more likely to have.

Read this article to find out how expensive pet insurance really is (or isn’t!). Or this Canstar article on the cost of pet insurance.

14. Do I really need pet insurance?

Often, it’s after a really big vet bill and pet health emergency that pet parents decide to get pet insurance. This is after they experience what it’s like not to have pet cover. Choosing to get pet insurance is about cushioning your pet and yourself from the unexpected and unknown pet health situations that can arise.

Like people, every pet has to see the vet outside of routine checks every so often. If you’re still wondering if you really need pet insurance and whether dog insurance and cat insurance is worth it and are feeling a bit unclear on what’s truth versus myth, we’ve got just the article for you…

We’ve busted the top five pet insurance myths so you don’t have to.

More from PD for Pet Insurance Month

Since it’s Pet Insurance Month, we’ve also answered this: Is PD good for pet insurance?

If you’re here, you might be looking to choose your fur baby their very own pet cover from your range of options. Hopefully this article has answered any questions you have. If not, you can contact our team or if you’re after a pet insurance quote for your dog or cat, just click below to get started. You could also get 1 MONTH FREE when you sign up.