Dog health insurance

The dog is one of the most popular pets in Germany: with more than 10 million, it is the second most popular pet after the cat. However, dogs not only bring joy, but also costs. Regular check-ups and vaccinations are predictable expenses, but if your faithful friend becomes seriously ill, the costs can quickly mount up. If you have taken out dog health insurance, the expenses will be manageable. Depending on the tariff you choose, the insurance will cover up to 100% of the costs, but the premium will be correspondingly high. What is the difference between a surgery insurance and a comprehensive insurance? What can you insure with a dog health insurance?

If your dog needs surgery as a result of an accident, illness or injury, the veterinary costs are particularly high: cruciate ligament rupture approx. 1600 €, gastric torsion approx. 1200 €, joints approx. 1000 €, bone fractures approx. 1400 €. In addition, there are the costs for a preliminary examination and follow-up treatment. With an OP insurance, you only pay the co-payment specified in your tariff.

Surgery insurance covers the costs of necessary surgical procedures under anaesthesia in case of illness or accident. This also includes the initial consultation and diagnostics, the follow-up treatment and the stay in the veterinary clinic, which is usually limited to 12 to 15 days. As a rule, castration and sterilisation are excluded, exceptions apply only in cases of medical necessity. Breed-specific hereditary diseases as well as elbow and hip dysplasia are often only insured with restrictions or not at all. Most insurances cover veterinary costs up to three or even four times the GOT rate. This is the amount specified in the veterinary fee schedule for each treatment. In the case of complicated treatments or treatments outside office hours, the veterinarian may charge double or triple the rate, and even four times the rate in the case of emergency services.

Dog surgery insurance policies generally include a waiting period, which indicates how much time must elapse between the start of the policy and the first operation for the insurer to cover the costs. It is often one to three months, sometimes with further restrictions. Only in the case of a necessary operation after an accident do most tariffs offer immediate cover.

Dogs can be insured from the age of 8 weeks, with most insurers limiting the entry age upwards to between 5 and 9 years, depending on the insurer. Some insurers do not set a maximum age for entry.

The table gives you an overview of a variety of insurances on the German market, each with their best tariff for a surgery insurance without excess. Since the premium often rises with the age of the dog, it is given for a dog age of less than one year, 5 and 10 years. In addition to the age of the dog, the breed of dog also influences the premium; the premiums given here are for a Labrador.

The values are guidelines; you can use them to estimate where the insurance you have chosen lies in comparison to others and how the premium adjustment behaves with the age of the dog. To choose the right insurance for you, you should get an overview of the respective benefits.

Balunos is the only provider to offer pure accident insurance. All measures related to an accident are insured: Diagnostics, treatment, surgical procedures under general or partial anaesthesia, medication and accommodation. The Bronze, Silver and Gold tariffs differ in the maximum benefit per insured event; for a young Labrador, the premium is between 11 and 18 euros per month. It decreases from the age of 2 and then remains stable.

When you get a dog, you never know how it will develop. Of course you want your dog to be healthy and strong, but things can turn out differently: Your dog gets sick and you have to pay a lot of money for frequent vet visits and medication. If you have taken out dog health insurance for your dog that goes beyond surgery cover, you are well equipped for such cases.

A full insurance includes all benefits of the OP insurance and, depending on the tariff, additional benefits: outpatient treatment at the vet, diagnostics, permanent medication and vaccinations, preventive check-ups, dental prophylaxis, physiotherapy, homeopathy and acupuncture, hyposensitisation of allergic dogs and laser therapy. Often, the insurer also covers, at least proportionally, the costs of a dog's identification.

Similar to OP insurances, most insurances have a waiting period of one to three months. There is one exception: Deutsche Familienversicherung DFV offers immediate cover with dog health insurance without a waiting period. However, there is a limitation of benefits for the first two years of insurance.

The number of providers for dog insurance is manageable: the insurance companies Agila, Allianz, DFV, Gothaer, Helvetia, Petplan and Uelzener each offer several tariffs. The table gives you an overview of some tariffs with the best dog health insurance of the respective provider. The monthly premium is given for different dog ages. The breed of dog also affects the premium; the premiums shown here are for a Labrador. The benefits are comparable to a limited extent, the premiums vary greatly.

Dog health insurance protects you against unforeseeable expenses in the event of an accident or illness of your dog and includes various other benefits. The surgery insurance covers the costs associated with an operation performed under anaesthesia, regardless of whether the operation was performed due to an illness or an accident. In contrast, accident insurance only covers surgery and treatment costs resulting from an accident. If you have chosen full cover for your dog health insurance, many other benefits are included in addition to surgery cover, depending on the tariff you have chosen. No matter what you choose: the older your dog, the higher the premium.