Pet Insurance

An excess is the part of a claim that you have to pay from your own pocket. One of the main purposes of an excess is to prevent people claiming for minor ailments that only cost a small amount but cost pet insurance companies a lot in time and money to process.

Therefore, without an excess everyone could claim for everything and this would ultimately mean that the cost of pet insurance would have to rise dramatically.

By charging an excess, it means that pet insurance companies can keep the insurance premiums lower making them more affordable. Different companies will apply differing amounts of excess.

- Fixed excesses. Companies deduct a fixed amount, say £45, regardless of how much your claim is for. So, if your claim is say, £3,500, you will still only have to pay £45.

- Percentage excesses.This is where the excess is based on a percentage of your claim (usually after a fixed minimum has been applied), so the more you claim the higher the excess you will have to pay.

- Annual excesses. If a single condition spans two policy years the excess will be taken twice.

- Variable excesses.The excess can vary according to the area in which the pet lives and/or the pet’s age.

Most companies will charge you an excess for each condition you claim for, so if you have to claim for two different problems in one year, you will have to pay two excesses.