There is an evident lapse in terms of depth of knowledge regarding pet insurance. Ironically, though, there exist people from both sides of the spectrum.

While on one hand, it is pretty common to find folks who believe that pet insurance has a lot of loopholes, and is just a tool to feed into one’s psyche; just like the idea of pets. On the other hand, there are people who refrain from getting valid insurances on various pretexts, mostly related to costs and coverage.

In the case of the latter group, some questions are valid, though. Is pet insurance expensive? Does pet health insurance consider cases of emergency? The questions are limitless, and so is the horizon for misconceptions.

Here are a few myths about pet health, insurance, demystified.

You Can Get Insurances for Cheap—With Caveats

The first and foremost misconception that people brood over is the fact that pet health insurance is exorbitantly priced. On the contrary though, the options that are available at people’s disposal are indescribable. Thanks to the free market, the idea of customised insurance plans has come into being.

With increasing competition, insurance providers are trying to gather the greatest value-for-money propositions. A by-product of such an idea is the fact that insurance providers have given its customers the freedom to choose what plans they want covered and what programmes they want to be opted out of.

Are you not very fond of the idea of including emergency plans in your insurance fund, but instead want to opt for a senescent plan? With some insurance providers, you can pick and choose as you please. Gone are the days when you had to be included in all programmes to meet the needs of your pet health insurance.

There is one small caveat, though. Despite competition and what it brings, there are only a handful of insurance providers who actually provide such luxurious choices to customers. This is where you need to be marginally vigilant before getting along with the terms and conditions.

Specific Vets, Specific Diagnoses

Does pet health insurance restrict you to certain vets? Does pet health insurance cover diagnostics? If so, is there a limit to what pet health insurance covers?

Questions regarding coverage are as important as ones pertaining to cost. The state of the news here, though, is both good and bad. The bad news is related to the fact that your pet health insurance can cover small diagnostic procedures like X-rays, depending on the subscription. It is important to exercise vigilance when it comes to such T&Cs.

The good news though, is remarkable. You are not restricted to a particular vet or a group of vets, or a said hospital in your insurance plan. In fact, any vet who is licensed to practice can treat your pet under coverage plans as long as you are insured.

This comes in handy in cases of travelling. Say, for instance, your dog is used to having grain-free products but you fail to carry some while travelling. Even if your dog isn’t allergic to other food, it is always wise to get your pet tested for sensitivity. How would you do this when you’re on the go? Don’t worry, your insurance plan has you covered.

As long as you have visited someone who has a license, your insurance provider should not have any qualms about it.

Tedious Claims

The final misconception that pet owners have about insurance is that the claims made post-unforeseen situations are plagued with loopholes, and that such claims take place over aeons to actually process.

The idea is quite the opposite actually. While there might be a lot of paperwork loopholes surrounding insurance claims in case of humans, it is quite the opposite in case of pets. After making your payment, all you need to do is collect your bill and fill out the required forms.

With more and more insurance providers shifting to online mediums and native apps to make operations easier, it has only become more intuitive now. Making claims is not as tedious as it was decades ago.

The other misconception people have regarding claims is that they tend to increase premiums. Pet owners believe that the more claims you make, the higher the cost of premiums become. On the contrary, cost of premiums is bereft of conditions pertaining to claims made.

Sure, they increase with other factors like age and policy modulations, but not with the number of claims you make.

The Bottomline

It is common to find such misconceptions in the general populace. Be it due to the cryptic nature of such policy language, or just the general fear that people have when it comes to bureaucratic jargon, pet health insurance is much simpler than what meets the uninitiated eye.