Pet insurance deemed too expensive

Consumers are being put off buying insurance cover for their pets because of perceived poor value for money and high premiums.

According to a YouGov survey, 30% of pet owners without insurance said policies were not good value for money and cited it as the main reason for not taking out a policy.

This compares to 31% when a similar survey was carried out in 2012.

More than a quarter of those surveyed said they could not afford cover, and 57% of policyholders said they thought the premiums were expensive.

For more affluent pet owners there is also an increasing propensity for self-funding veterinary treatments.

Almost one in five (19%) say they can afford to pay for treatments themselves, up four percentage points from 2012.

YouGov Reports research director James McCoy said: “Although social grade is important to being able to afford to take out pet insurance, our research suggests that those at different ends of the financial spectrum share the opinion that cover is not necessarily always a sound financial option.

“More affluent pet owners find insurance poor value because they can afford to pay for treatment up front; for less affluent pet owners, while pet insurance is perceived as offering good value for money, the cost of premiums is prohibitive, leading some to save money instead.”