And that vets’ fees for congenital diseases and hereditary conditions frequently run into thousands of pounds, over a dogs lifetime? And of course, these things almost always come out of the blue.

Pet insurance gives reassures you that, should something happen to your dog, you would have back-up towards the costs of their veterinary treatment. But with so many products on the market, choosing the best pet insurance to help with vet fees can be overwhelming. So, we have put together this guide to help you decide.

This is the most comprehensive type of cover you can get.

Lifetime pet insurance provides cover for the lifetime of your pet, up to your policy’s vet’s fees limit. This limit refreshes back up every year the premium is paid – like topping up a jar.

So, each year of your policy, you can claim up to the vet fees limit, ideal for one-off claims but also invaluable for ongoing veterinary expenses for long-term or lifetime conditions like diabetes or arthritis. Lifetime policies are also more likely to cover your dog for treatments like acupuncture or hydrotherapy. 

• Lifetime policies insure your pet for new medical illnesses and injuries, so any illness or injury before the policy is taken out will generally not be covered
• Your pet will be insured up to a set amount each year. If this limit is reached during the policy year, your pet will not be covered for any further treatment required until the policy is renewed, when the full amount will be available again
• The policy needs to be renewed to ensure your pet remains covered for any long-term or recurring illness or injury that required treatment in the previous policy period.

Some pet insurance companies provide time-limited cover for conditions that typically only last twelve months after the first claim. With others, a maximum amount per condition means that cover for that condition is excluded for the rest of your pet’s life. 

These types of policies usually provide a fixed sum to cover your pet for the treatment of each illness or injury and a set time period for each treatment – usually 12 months. After this time/ cover limit is reached, all cover for it will end, and it will become a pre-existing condition.

Time-limited polices can be a good option for owners on a budget or with older pets, providing they are comfortable with the limits and prepared for costs related to long-term or expensive conditions.

• When either the set period has ended, or the fixed sum of money is reached for a particular illness or injury, your pet will not be covered for that issue for the rest of the policy duration – even if the policy is renewed for subsequent years
• Recurring conditions related to any previous illness or injury will be treated as the same condition for the duration of the policy, and are therefore generally not covered 

With this type of policy, your dog would be covered for a maximum amount per condition. So, claims towards each specific illness or condition would be covered while the policy is in place, no matter how long the time period is. However, once the cap on cover for that condition is reached, all cover for it will end, and it will become a pre-existing condition.

These policies can be a preferred option for owners with older pets or looking for a cheaper policy, providing they are comfortable with the limits and prepared for costs related to long-term or expensive conditions.

• Your pet is only covered for each illness and injury until the maximum fixed amount is reached
• This is injury or illness-specific, and there is usually no time limit on reaching the fixed amount
• The illness or injury will not be covered again, including related recurring conditions

This is the least comprehensive type of cover you can get. These kinds of policies tend to be the cheapest as they simply provide a fixed amount of cover for each new injury, with no cover for illness. As claims for illness usually account for around 9 in 10 received by pet insurers, these policies provide only very limited cover.