Falling sick and going to see a doctor is a costly thing, so is the same as our pets falling sick and furthermore these things are out of our control. Pets are like humans, they may fall sick, get injured or meet with an accident. We have medical insurance while there is pet insurance for them.
Do you know that when the pet is stolen or lost, the costs involved in search & retrieval of our pet, having a pet insurance can help with the costs involved? You didn’t know? Neither did I prior to doing research. Like most people, I thought pet insurance would just be like ours, able to claim medical bills whenever I fall sick and is hospitalised and that’s it.
The insurance is quite limited and is covering dogs or cats only.
| AIA Paw Safe | CIMB My Paw Pal | Liberty Insurance PetCare | AON Happy Tails | |
| Breed | Dogs | Cats & Dogs | Cats & Dogs | Cats & Dogs |
| Age | 3 months to 7 years old | 3 months to 7 years old | 2 months to 9 years old | 4 months to 9 years old |
| Eligibility | 1. Must be licensed 2. Must not be any of these breeds: mastiff, bull terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, pit bull terrier, American pit bull terrier, Dogo Argentino, canary dog, American bulldog or dogs crossed with any of these breeds and/or wolves 3. Maximum of 1 policy for each dog you own, up to a maximum of 2 dogs per household | 1. Must be licensed with AVS and microchipped 2. Fully vaccinated and neutered/spayed 3. Must not be a working dog (not for the purpose of racing, breeding, law enforcement, guide dog, guarding or for other commercial use) | 1. Microchipped 2. Must be residing with you 3. Must not be a working pet or one used for breeding | 1. Microchipped 2. Fully vaccinated 3. Must not be a working pet or one used for breeding |
| What do they cover? | Accidental injury and/or death Cremation and/or burial fees due to accident Vet fees due to accidents Loss of dog due to theft 3rd party liability | Basic Cover Accidental injury and/or death Cremation and/or burial fees due to accident Vet fees due to accidents Add-ons: Option A: Lost of dog due to theft (+S$32.10/annual) Option B: Medical and cremation/burial expenses due to illness (+S$321.00/annual) | Accidental death Vet costs for accidental injury and/or illnesses Loss of dog due to theft 3rd party liability | Clinical and surgical Chemotherapy Final expenses (euthanasia, cremation, funeral service and handling charges following death of the Pet) 3rd party liability |
| Annual Price | Microchipped: SGD$79.49 Non-microchipped: S$84.58 | Basic: S$74.90 Option A: S$74.90 + S$32.10 = S$107 Option B: S$74.90 + S$321 = S$395.90 | Standard: S$350 Enhanced: S$450 Superior: S$750 **the payout amount will be different for different tier | For dogs: Fur: S$337.82 (Limit of S$3,500/year) Furry: S$410.22 (Limit of S$7,500/year) Furball: S$482.60 (Limit of S$12,500/year) For cats: Purrfect: S$299.69 (Limit of S$5,000/year) |
| Coverage Period | Until 8 years old | Until 13 years old | Until 13 years old | Lifetime |
Co-insurance and deductibles
Co-insurance refers to the portion you have to pay when making a claim. For example, if your pet goes for a surgery and the total bill comes up to S$3,000. Your pet insurance plan offers 20% co-insurance on all vet surgeries.
The 20% means you have to cover it by yourself and they will reimburse you the remaining 80%, in this case S$2,400.
Deductible is the amount paid out of pocket by the policyholder before an insurance provider will pay any expenses. For example, third party liability, if your dog has escaped and ran into someone’s house and broke an ancient vase, they are claiming $5,000 from you.
Your insurer offers a deductible of $1,000 on all third party liability claims, which in this case means that your insurer will pay you $4,000 after the claim instead of the full $5,000.
Co-insurance and deductibles help insurers lessen the financial burden on the individual policyholder and its family and also bring down premiums by making sure that only policyholders who need to make a claim pay their share. Otherwise, the costs will be passed on to everyone, making all policyholders pay higher premiums.
It is important to understand this and remember this as it will affect the cost that you have to bear even with this.
AIA Paw Safe (Dogs only):
| Accidental Death | S$1,000 or purchase price (whichever is lower) |
| Vet fees due to accident *deductible of S$150 | Up to S$1,000 |
| Cremation or Burial Expenses due to Death by Accident | Up to S$250 |
| Loss of Dog Due to Theft *deductible of S$250 | S$1,000 or purchase price (whichever is lower) |
| Third Party Liability *deductible of S$1,000 | Up to S$1 million dollars |
CIMB My Paw Pal (Cats and Dogs):
| Basic ($74.90) | |
| Accidental Death | S$1,500 |
| Medical Expenses Due To An Accident *minimum claims of S$100 | Up to S$3,000/year |
| Cremation Or Burial Expenses Due To An Accident | Up to S$300 |
| Third Party Liability | Up to S$250,000 |
| Option A (+S$32.10) | |
| Loss of Dog Due To Theft | Up to S$1,500 |
| Option B (+S$321) | |
| Medical and Cremation/ Burial Expenses Due To Illness | Up to S$3,000/year (inclusive of basic plan) |
Liberty Insurance PetCare (Cats, Dogs):
| Standard (S$350) | Enhanced (S$450) | Superior (S$750) | |
| Accidental Death | S$1,000 | S$2,000 | S$3,000 |
| Accidental Injury *deductible of S$50 | S$500 | S$750 | S$3,000 |
| Loss of Dog Due To Theft *not applicable for cats | S$300 | S$500 | S$1,250 |
| Vet fees for non-surgical treatment *co-insurance of 50% | S$500 | S$750 | S$3,000 |
| Vet fees for surgical treatment *co-insurance of 30% | S$1,500 | S$2,000 | S$10,000 |
| Third Party Liability *deductible of S$500 | S$100,000 | S$250,000 | S$500,000 |
AON Happy Tails (Cats, Dogs):
| Fur (S$337.82) | Furry (S$410.22) | Furball (S$482.60) | Purrfect (S$299.69) | |
| Maximum annual coverage | S$3,500 | S$7,500 | S$12,500 | S$5,000 |
| Clinical and surgical benefit Limit for room and board expenses Limit for post-surgical treatment benefit | S$2,500 S$250 S$150 | S$6,000 S$600 S$300 | S$10,000 S$1,000 S$500 | S$3,800 S$380 S$200 |
| Chemotherapy | S$1,000 | S$1,500 | S$2,500 | S$1,200 |
| Final expenses | NA | S$250 | S$250 | S$250 |
| Third party liability | S$100,000 | S$250,000 | S$500,000 | S$250,000 |
| Co-insurance (Cats and Dogs) | |
| Before Age 4 | 20% |
| Before Age 7 | 30% |
| Before Age 9 | 40% |
| Deductible | |
| Cats & Dogs; Any age | $250 |
With all the pet insurances and what you can claim from them covered, let’s talk about deciding which policy is best for your pet.
Some factors you have to think about:
- Age: it is better to get your pet insured the earlier the better as the pet insurance won’t allow you to purchase a policy for your pet if there’s pre-existing health conditions.
- Pet Breed: It is good to look into whether your pet breed is known to develop any health issues at their later stage of health, if yes, it’s best to get one that covers the health issue.
- Medical History: If your pet is prone to falling sick, you should look for one that has higher medical bills coverage
- Accidents: If your pet is accident-prone or like to escape from the house, it is best to look for one that covers this and third party liability
- Cost: This is an important factor as you have to calculate if the policy is something that you can afford and at the same time keep some money aside for emergency.
- Lifetime: It would be great if all the policies are covering pets their lifetime as who would know what’s going to happen towards the last stage of their life. If you would like to have lifetime coverage for your pet, you can look into getting AON Happy Tails
This is considered an important decision so you should take some time to think about the policies before making decisions.
Take care paw parents and pets!
Stay safe everyone!
Tian En is a pet lover, who enjoys reading and writing on pets and animals stories. She also enjoys doing illustrations during her free time, and have a passion in designing since young.