Are you looking to get health insurance for your furry friend but worried about the long-term investment? Or maybe you currently have a pet insurance policy and are wondering why your premium increased out of nowhere.
Regardless, you’re in the right place. Getting your pet insured to cover some major expenses related to their health is not always a smooth ride. When you see your premium increase by even a few extra dollars, it’s normal to be frustrated and wonder what happened.
So why does pet insurance go up? Here is some insight.
How Does Pet Insurance Work?
In a nutshell, here is how pet insurance works. You pay a monthly premium to cover a portion of your pet’s veterinary bills. You are responsible for covering the cost of the visit upfront and submitting a claim to the insurance company. Once it’s processed, they reimburse you a percentage of the bill. There are three types of pet insurance policies:
Preventive Care
Accident and Wellness
Accident Only
To learn more about the different types of pet insurance, don’t hesitate to contact a licensed agent.
Why Does Pet Insurance Go Up?
There are three main reasons why your pet insurance premium may go up.
1. Your Pet Is Getting Older
Do pet insurance premiums go up with age? Yes. One of the main variables that would affect your monthly premium on your pet insurance policy is age. As your pet gets older, health-related problems become more frequent, and so do the costly visits to the vet.
To keep up with the cost of the extra care needed for your pet, pet insurance issuers can increase your premium when pets get to a certain age. For your puppy or kitten, you may see their premium price start to increase after about four years. It typically keeps rising as they get older until it becomes unaffordable.
For example, a monthly premium for a puppy policy could start at $40/month and reach up to $170/month by the time they turn 12. Of course, this depends on the insurance company, the breed, and other factors such as pre-existing conditions and so on.
2. Your Pet Got Sick
If your pet got sick in the last 12 months and you had to make several expensive medical claims, your insurance premium will likely increase. Now, you may be thinking, “why does pet insurance go up after my pet gets sick?”
In the same way as when your pet is aging, their sickness may indicate they will need further treatments with a high price tag. Insurance companies want to get a safety net for the extra expenses they may need to cover by increasing your monthly premium.
3. Advancement in Veterinary Treatments
The uptick in your pet insurance premium may not be linked to your pet’s age or overall health. It may be a trend, likely due to the impressive recent advancements in veterinary treatments.
Nowadays, veterinarians are able to treat your animals like they never could before. These treatments include more sophisticated diagnostic tools, cancer treatments such as immunotherapy, and preventive programs like genetic testing.
These new elaborated pet care practices come at a high price tag, and insurance companies need to increase their prices to keep up with the trend.
Pet Insurance Companies are For-Profit Businesses
No matter how much they care for animals, pet insurance companies are businesses after all and need to make a profit. The only way to make that happen is for you to pay them more in the long run than the cost of care they need to cover for your pet.
So whenever the company feels “threatened,” they may be at a loss — either because your pet’s health is or may soon start to degrade, or because of external factors that increase the overall prices of veterinary treatments — they endeavor to increase their premium.
Should You Still Get Your Pet Insured?
Have you been researching “why does pet insurance go up” or “why do pet insurance premiums go up with age” to determine whether you should or should not insure your pet or which insurance plan will be best for their needs?
Well, the whole point of getting your pet insured is to be prepared to face the unexpected costs of expensive veterinary visits and treatments. After all, paying a few extra dollars a month over a few years may be easier to deal with than a one-time bill reaching up to thousands of dollars for treatment.
If you invest in pet insurance early enough and keep up with their yearly checkups, you can easily track their health. This approach helps you make all of the necessary adjustments to their physical activity and diet to keep them as healthy as possible for longer.
If your pet is already old and having a lot of problems, it’s a different story. To find out which insurance plan will suit your pet’s needs and fit your budget, reach out to a licensed pet insurance professional today.
