Lifetime cost

Lifetime cost

What insuring a pet costs across a whole life.

What insuring a pet costs across a whole life.

Every insurer quotes a monthly premium and a percentage. Neither is what the policy costs you. This runs both lifetimes side by side: escalating premiums, excess and co-insurance against paying each claim in full.

Every insurer quotes a monthly premium and a percentage. Neither is what the policy costs you. This runs both lifetimes side by side: escalating premiums, excess and co-insurance against paying each claim in full.

Your pet
Over the lifetime
$1,584
insured runs more than uninsured, over 10 years
Insured total
$10,084
Uninsured total
$8,500
Overtake year
Year 6
What the premium-times-twelve pitch leaves outA claim under $100 pays nothing at all, the excess swallows it whole. After excess and co-insurance the policy covers 75% of a typical $600 claim, not all of it.
Typical pitch: premium x 12 vs a claim$420 / $600
First year premium vs final year premium$420 / $840
Routine care is counted on both sides and never moves the comparison above. An estimate from the figures entered, not insurance advice: it prices a steady average claim, not the one large claim cover exists for.

The assumptions, in the open

The assumptions, in the open

Four things the naive comparison leaves out

Four things the naive comparison leaves out

01

Premiums rise every year

Premiums rise every year

Insurers band by age. The premium quoted for a three year old dog is not the premium you pay at eleven, and the increase compounds across the years in between.

Insurers band by age. The premium quoted for a three year old dog is not the premium you pay at eleven, and the increase compounds across the years in between.

02

The excess is per condition, per year

The excess is per condition, per year

It is not paid once. A pet with two conditions running across two policy years pays it four times, and a claim smaller than the excess is paid at nothing at all.

It is not paid once. A pet with two conditions running across two policy years pays it four times, and a claim smaller than the excess is paid at nothing at all.

03

Co-insurance starts at a senior age

Co-insurance starts at a senior age

Most policies add a percentage share once the animal passes a threshold, usually eight. That share applies to the part of the claim left after the excess.

Most policies add a percentage share once the animal passes a threshold, usually eight. That share applies to the part of the claim left after the excess.

04

Routine care sits on both sides

Routine care sits on both sides

Vaccination, parasite cover and dental work are not claims. They are counted identically on both sides here, so they never move the comparison.

Vaccination, parasite cover and dental work are not claims. They are counted identically on both sides here, so they never move the comparison.

What this cannot see

What this cannot see

It prices a steady average claim, not the one that ruins a year.

It prices a steady average claim, not the one that ruins a year.

The model treats claims as a deterministic annual average. It cannot see variance, and variance is the single catastrophic claim insurance exists for. Read the output as a picture of the ordinary years. It is an estimate from the figures you typed, and it is not insurance advice.

The model treats claims as a deterministic annual average. It cannot see variance, and variance is the single catastrophic claim insurance exists for. Read the output as a picture of the ordinary years. It is an estimate from the figures you typed, and it is not insurance advice.

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