How to Insure Your Exotic Pet

Although none of us really likes to dwell on the possibility, if you keep exotics, from time to time things do go wrong and, with everything from the initial cost of the animals to their veterinary bills ever rising, an increasing number of keepers are choosing to insure their pets.

Insurance policies once had an often well-deserved reputation for containing hideous amounts of small print, exclusion clauses and mind-numbing legalese; fortunately things have become much simpler these days as insurers have made the paperwork much clearer and easier to understand.

Despite this “transparency,” policies still contains terms and conditions, of course, but at least picking the right insurance for your pet has, for the most part, become a great deal easier.

Health Insurance

There are several insurance schemes to help you deal with unexpected veterinary bills. While most pet insurance has been set up around more traditional animals, the growing numbers of exotics being kept means that today it’s as easy to insure your corn snake as it is your collie!

When it comes to selecting the right policy for you, there are a few things to take into account:

• How Much Is Insured? – it’s essential to pick a policy that offers realistic benefits; make sure that you take out one with sufficient medical benefit to cover the likely bills from your vet. There are always limits to the maximum a policy will pay out – so you need to be clear on how much and whether they apply per illness, or per year.
• What Is Insured? – some policies will not cover pre-existing health problems, so if you insure your arthritic iguana, you can only claim for treatments for other ailments it suffers. Other insurance policies take the animal “as is” and will pay out accordingly – although they may tend to have more expensive premiums as a result.

Depending on the species of animal and what you intend to do, you might also want to check that the policy will insure things such as complications arising from breeding or whether your animal is covered in transit – particularly if you intend exhibiting it in shows.

• Life Long Cover – does your policy insure your pet throughout its life, or only until a certain age? An eight or ten year cut off may not bother you if you’re keeping something with a five year lifespan, but if you’re a tortoise keeper you’ll be horribly under-insured!
• Lost or Stolen? – many policies will pay a specified amount to help you advertise the fact your pet has gone missing and may even cover the offer of a small reward. Check the small print to make sure just what is covered.
• Discounts – does the pet insurance policy offer any discounts? Some companies provide generous discounts if you insure more than one animal with them, which is good news for anyone with a sizeable collection of pets – and they don’t necessarily all have to be exotics. Most insurers are very keen to keep your business, so if you have a policy to cover the family cat or dog, it’s worth asking if they’ll cover your other animals too.
• Liability Insurance – does the policy cover you if your pet does damage to anyone else’s property – or worse – to anyone else themselves? You might think it’s difficult to see how this could happen – and it might be irrelevant if you only keep a couple of small and inoffensive geckoes – but we do live in an increasingly litigious world and some people are quite prepared to claim for anything. For the small extra cost on your annual premium, it’s definitely one to think about if there’s a chance your pets could do any harm.

It’s might also be worth checking to see if your house insurance covers any damage your pet does to your own home – including a flooded living room if the tank breaks!

Getting Advice

Your vet and other pet-keepers can often offer useful advice from their own experience and there’s a lot to be said for personal recommendation. However, don’t forget that the people who really know their policies inside-out are the insurance companies themselves, so never be afraid to pick up the phone or write if there’s anything you’re unsure about before you sign up.

It can also be a good way of gauging how easy they would be in the event you ever do have to make a claim. If your enquiries are met with anything other than a helpful, pleasant and knowledgeable reception from whoever you speak to at this stage, you really should ask yourself whether you want to be doing business with them!

Like any other insurance, you hope you’ll never have to use it – but it’s reassuring to know that it’s there just in case you do, so make sure that your policy covers everything you need.