Pet Insurance vs Savings: Which is Best?

A pet care plan is a wonderful way to help protect your beloved fur baby’s health and your finances. People often ponder about the pet insurance vs savings dilemma, though. If you were to put away money every month in a bank account as a contingency for future vet bills, would you still need pet insurance?

We know that your bank balance is important, so in this article we explore whether pet insurance or savings is a better idea. After all, any pet parent who wants to properly care for and protect their furkid is a happier person in our books!

Let’s start with the stats. Pet insurance in New Zealand isn’t that common (though it is on the rise). In fact, our own research shows that as few as one in six pet owners have pet insurance. One of the main reasons? People are concerned that pet insurance is too expensive.

How much does pet insurance cost?

We’ve done a full comparison of our pet care plan fees in this post: ‘how expensive is pet insurance really‘? You can get an in-depth idea of how much pet insurance could cost by reading that.

If you just want a ballpark figure, know that PD Insurance’s pet plans could cost you less than a dollar a day. That’s after our initial period of free insurance we provide our first-time members. Plus, our month-to-month plans don’t have any lock-in contracts.

Of course, your exact premium will depend on your pet and the level of coverage you choose. But in most cases, people are surprised by how affordable cover can be. Even for comprehensive pet insurance, which covers a huge variety of illnesses and accidents, you may be pleasantly surprised at how little your premium is.

Not sure what each plan covers or which one is the best fit for your needs? Find out by comparing our dog insurance plans here and cat insurance plans here.

Are savings enough to cover the cost of pet bills? Or do you need insurance?

Vet bills can vary dramatically, so it’s often hard to get an idea of the cost of a vet visit. But if you’re weighing up the cost of pet insurance vs savings for that rainy day (or days), it’s important to know what you might pay.

According to Stuff, Kiwis spent over $1.6 billion on pets in 2016 – and that was way back then. MoneyHub lists some common procedures at the vet, saying they cost approximately:

• CT scan: $1,750
• Surgery to remove intestinal blockage: $1,950
• Repairing a broken bone: $2,800
• Emergency surgery after being hit by a car: $4,000
• Kidney condition treatment: $5,500

On our pet insurance page we will soon give examples of members’ vet bills we’ve seen recently for our top three most common claim types. These are:

• Infection: caused by a dog bite – $6,606
• Allergy: of the skin – $3,503 (with more bills expected)
• Injury: from a car accident – $23,386

If you saved, say, $50 per month and had to pay even $3,000 for a vet bill, you would have had to save for 60 months to cover it on your own. That’s five years of saving!

Pros and cons of pet insurance vs savings

Vet bills can be expensive, that much is obvious. They’re necessary to keep your pet happy and healthy, of course, but testing, treatment, medication, overnight stays and so on can quickly add up.

Insurance claims, claims and more claims

We see plenty of claims every week at PD Insurance where fees for medical care have run into many thousands of dollars.

We also have pet members who’ve seen way more than their fair share of bad luck. As a result, they’ve submitted multiple big claims in a year. Harvey the Schnauzer is one of them. Steve the Russian Blue is another. And let’s not forget about Blu the Labrador, whose accidental ingestion bills ran into the thousands after eating a pool cover.

Savings – is it the answer?

If you’ve been adding to your pet emergency savings for years, these sorts of bills might not be a problem. Some people open a separate account and transfer money every pay period to keep aside for vet bills so there’s a dedicated lump sum specially for the furkids.

If that’s within your reach, it can be possible to save enough for future vet bills. Though that does depend on your pet’s luck of the draw when it comes to injuries, allergies, illnesses, other infections, third party property damage, and more.

Plus, if you’ve only recently begun researching the big ‘pet insurance vs savings’ decision, and opted for savings, you might find your six months of stashing away doesn’t come close to covering an incident. Which can happen tomorrow. Or even today…

Essentially, you just have to cross your fingers and hope the vet visits don’t come thick and fast. Nobody wants to be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to life-saving medical care for their pet.

A worthy consideration

If these sorts of bills are simply not affordable for you, you may want to consider pet insurance. Even when the total in vet bills is pricey, for a claimable health situation you’ll likely just need to pay a small excess until you hit any claims limits.

The biggest benefit is, of course, the peace of mind. Knowing that you can approve quick, quality pet care when your cat or dog needs medical attention is priceless. No need to agonise over whether you can afford it and whether there are even more bills to come.

Get the low down on pros and cons of having (and keeping) pet insurance during the New Zealand recession.

Get a pet insurance quote

When it comes to debating pet insurance vs savings, it’s important to bear in mind that getting cover early is usually best. Why? It means you’ll avoid exclusions for pre-existing conditions your pet has already developed, so you have a wider range of coverage for your furkid.

There is a chance your pet will only ever need routine care, or minor medical attention. And that would be fantastic! There’s nothing better than a healthy, happy pet. But if you’re weighing up the pros and cons of pet insurance vs savings, know you can’t bank on your pet never getting sick or injured. Unfortunately, even the most well-behaved pets with the most conscientious owners can still have an accident or develop an illness.

If you’re thinking that pet insurance fits into your budget a little better than savings, why not get a quote for one of our plans? Plus, you’ll get one or more months free if you take your policy out online.