Pros And Cons Of Individual Condition Coverage

When you’re looking to insure your dog, there are a number of options available to you. Individual condition coverage is amongst the most popular. It’s seen as a good mid-level form of coverage, which offers a fairly comprehensive package, covering your dog against all kinds of different veterinary expenditures. If you’re thinking about going for this kind of policy, you should learn about its pros and cons.

Related: 5 Warning Signs That You Need Dog Insurance

PROS:

• It’s not the most expensive type of coverage. Although it can be fairly pricey, individual condition cover is cheaper than lifetime coverage and offers good value for money. The exact cost can vary wildly, depending on a number of factors relating to your dog and your location, but it’s generally fairly affordable.
• It offers a good level of coverage. The amount paid out per condition varies according to the specifics of your policy, but it’s usually an adequate amount for most illnesses and injuries.
• You can select your deductible. Most insurance providers will allow you to select a deductible that works well for you. Make sure the deductible amount isn’t so high that you won’t be able to afford it if your dog does have to go to the vets. A higher deductible means cheaper premiums, but you may prefer to have a low deductible and a more expensive monthly payment. It really depends on your financial situation and your personal preference.
• There’s no limit to the amount of conditions you can claim for. Let’s hope your dog is healthier than this but, in theory, you could claim the upper limit for 10 unrelated conditions just in one year. While it’s unlikely that you’ll need to do this, it’s nice to know it’s an option if your pup did happen to suffer from a freakishly large number of different ailments.

Related: What is Lifetime Cover Dog Insurance?

CONS:

• You might run out of coverage if your dog suffers from a chronic illness or gets a serious recurring problem as a result of an injury. Since this type of policy only pays out a set amount for each individual condition, once you’ve reached the upper limit, the condition is excluded from the policy and no further veterinary bills will be paid relating to this ailment. Since the limit per condition is usually fairly high, this isn’t often an issue, but in serious cases, it can leave you stuck with thousands of dollars of veterinary bills to pay.
• You have to pay the deductible each year. The deductible is the amount that you have to pay out of your own pocket before the insurance kicks in. Usually, you only have to pay this once per condition, but if you claim for the same ailment in two separate insurance periods, you’ll have to pay the deductible twice. Boo!
• It’s not the cheapest. Even though individual cover insurance isn’t the most expensive, it’s certainly not the cheapest, either. Those on a low budget might be better off with a less comprehensive plan with lower premiums.
• The premiums aren’t fixed year to year, which means that the price of your policy is likely to go up each year. This will start off as a couple of dollars a year… no big deal, right? However, as your dog gets older and if you make any claims on the insurance, your premiums are likely to rise by a significant amount, which may price some people out of their own insurance policy.

Did we miss any pros or cons? Let us know in the comment section below.

Lauren Corona is a freelance writer from merry old England. She specializes in writing about dogs and other critters. Lauren lives near Oxford, with her gorgeous Doberman, Nola. When she’s not tapping away at the keyboard, you’ll find her walking in the woods with Nola-dog, raising money for the Oxfordshire Animal Sanctuary, cooking vegan food, making zines and writing about herself in the third person.