Do you belong to a medical scheme? If you do, you either have a medical aid plan that covers out-of-hospital expenses like a GP or Dentist visit, or you belong to a plan that only covers in-hospital expenses (in which case you need to pick up the GP or Dentist visit cost yourself).

Getting your pet onto a pet insurance plan requires the same type of risk analysis you applied when joining your own medical aid.

It doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Here are a couple of questions you need to ask yourself:

• Do I have enough money lying around to pay for an unexpected Vet visit?
• Do I have enough money lying round to pay for a lengthy hospital stay?

If “No” is your answer to both questions, carry on reading while we run you through our Pet Classic Plan.

The policy has two separate benefits, both covering two specific risks you face as a pet owner.

• Health cover
• Hospital risk cover

The health cover benefit is designed to cover the cost of a Vet visit. You get up to R1,050 per Vet visit (capped at 4 visits per year). That means you have R4,200 per year you can spend any time you pop into your local Vet.

This includes:

• Consultations
• Radiology (X-rays)
• Pathology (blood tests)
• Dental procedures

Just a note that Vet visits that take place in the space of 14 days, for the same issue, will be covered as 1 claim.

What are you not covered for?

• Special diet food
• Cosmetic procedures
• If your pet is obese
• If your pet is having issues with their behaviour
• Breeding and birth problems
• Stem cell therapy
• Fancy treatments such as acupuncture, rehabilitation therapy, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy

Also included under the Health cover benefit is a sub benefit called “Routine Care”. This is in place to cover the costs of general well-being. There is a limit of R650 per year that you can spend on the following:

• Sterilisation
• Consultations for and/or vaccinations, deworming and flea control
• Anal gland expression
• Teeth scaling and polishing

Now onto the more serious stuff.

Most of us belong to a medical scheme because the risk of landing up in hospital, and having to fork out a couple of hundred thousand Rand, is too much financial risk for us to take on. Instead we part with a few thousand Rand a month to cover this risk via our medical aid contributions.

It’s much the same when it comes to owning a pet. You might be able to cover the cost of a Vet visit which could put you out by R1,000, but what if your pet lands up in hospital for a lengthy period of time?

Our hospital risk cover benefit includes the following:

• Accident Cover up to R29,000
• Illness Cover up to R29,000

What are you covered for under Accident Cover?

• These are things you can’t predict – like burns or electrocution, car accidents, falls from a height, actions of another animal, poisoning, near drowning or embedded foreign bodies (when your dog decides a rock looks like a tasty meal)
• Trauma that results in fractured bones, lacerations, abrasions, punctures or wounds, and gastric torsion (twisting of the stomach)
• Burial / cremation and euthanasia cover is included up to R1,500

What is covered under the Illness Cover?

An illness is an issue (disease or sickness) that started after your cover began. If your pet’s illness comes back in a 6-month period, then it will be covered as part of the initial illness claim.

What are you covered for under Illness Cover?

• Treatment that needs an overnight stay or surgery
• Burial/cremation/euthanasia cover included for up to R1,500

And lastly, one more benefit is included under our Hospital risk cover:

We will cover any Kennel fees (up to R125 per day) and limited to R1,240 a year, when you are unable to take care of your pet due to your unexpected hospitalisation that wasn’t your fault. The only thing we will exclude here, is any hospitalisation that was your fault due to:

• Alcoholism
• Drug abuse or addiction
• Attempted suicide or self-inflicted injuries

Ok, so there you have it. For R262 per month you can get your cat or dog insured on our Pet Classic Plan. For more information, leave your details below and we will get back to you.

Until next time.

The Pet Insurance Team