No matter which insurance company you choose to use for pet insurance, you can nearly always expect a yearly increase in your payments. Most pet insurance policies will increase by a small amount each year… However, the value by which this increases by can vary from policy to policy and also from year to year. Each individual case will be assessed depending on the current health of your animal, previous claims and the amount you currently pay. Your insurance company should inform you of any changes they make prior to taking the first payment.  But why is this?

Table of contents

As your pet gets older, many diseases become much more common. 

This correlation is the same in humans. But because pets live for a shorter period of time on average, compared to humans, it may appear that pets are suffering from more illnesses, sooner. Neoplasia, (cancer), amongst many other diseases, becomes much more common and can be very expensive to treat. These much more sinister diseases may take a long time to diagnose, treat and manage. This will mean multiple trips to the vets which will all cost money. Every new diagnostic test, every medication check and every medication prescribed, the prices will accumulate. Many complex cases will be referred to a more specialised veterinary practice; where the consultation fee will be much more expensive. 

Progressive diseases will usually become gradually more severe as your pet becomes older

This means we may need to initiate treatment or begin treating the disease more vigorously with multi-modal treatment. Dental disease often presents clinical signs only later on in life, even though it has been gradually developing for some time. Most of the cases will require a dental which involves a general anaesthetic. 

Other diseases, such as arthritis will commonly present in pets of an older age and gradually deteriorate without treatment. Whilst musculoskeletal disorders can be eased by manipulating the environment and exercising conditions, long term medication is often needed to increase comfort levels and improve pets’ quality of life. Likewise, heart and kidney problems are more common in older age, meaning more medication, specialised diets. And more expense to the insurance company.

And as disease becomes more severe, we can add more and more medication to aid your pets life. But this will cost more, hence why insurance companies will increase their premiums.

Get a quick quote from one of the UK’s leading pet insurers…

Learn more about them on our Pet Insurance page

As pets get older, they recover much less efficiently compared to younger pets

This may be due to multiple organs not working as efficiently. Older pets have had more opportunity to obtain diseases which lie dormant and only express themselves and display clinical signs when the body’s immune system is already compromised – perhaps by fighting another disease. Examples include conditions like feline herpesvirus.

In addition, the liver and kidneys often play a key role in breaking down and excreting drugs from the body. As pets become older, their organs may not be working as effectively. So we have to select our drugs much more carefully in order to avoid making any current organ damage worse. Medications may be needed for longer and check ups to see how the organs are coping with the drugs may be needed. 

How do the insurers decide whose prices to hike?

Even if your pet is completely healthy now and you have never made a claim, your pet insurance may still increase. This is because your insurance company is pre-empting large insurance claims based on medical research and history of other pets of a similar breed and age. Insurance companies do not want to lose money, they are a business after all. Insurance companies allow clients to pay a smaller amount of money monthly which is much easier to budget compared to paying large sums of money, all of a sudden, with no pre-warning.

Some insurance companies will offer a fixed fee for a specific, stated period of time. So shopping around and comparing different pet insurances is important. If you are hoping to have a fixed payment fee for your insurance, you are better off obtaining one of these insurance plans whilst your pet is young and before they have any life long illnesses in order to get the best deal.

Compare pet insurance with VetHelpDirect

To conclude, the average cost of keeping a pet increases. As they become older they are more likely to become ill, more likely to be on medication for longer and more likely to have multiple disorders. To cover the extra costs associated with these gradual, progressive changes, the price of insurance will rise accordingly. Unfortunately, as we all age, things tend to go wrong! But insurance is still invaluable for helping us to keep our golden oldies hale and hearty well into old age.

You might also be interested in: