Selection Criteria

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:58:50 GMT

Current Revision posted to The Practice Survival Guide by Arlo Guthrie on 1/8/2009 9:58:50 AM

You may help clients by explaining what things they should be looking for when choosing a pet insurance policy:

Policy cost / Level of cover.
In comparing costs, make sure that you compare like with like. What level of cover does the policy offer? Does the policy offer lifelong cover? Boarding cover? Third party cover? Does it cover the cost of advertising or a reward if a pet goes missing?
The excess.
Most policies carry an excess, or amount the client must pay in the event of a claim. This must be assessed as part of the overal cost of the policy. Check if the excess is fixed.
Payment options.
For instance, can the premium be paid monthly by direct debit?
A clear explanation of the policy benefits / exclusions.
Check there aren't any nasty surprises buried in the small print.
The insurance company's reputation.
Few companies are completely infallible, but an insurance company won't have built a good reputation and a well-established name without offering good policies.
Additional benefits
Does the insurer offer any additional benefits, such as discounts for multi-pet households?
Criteria for taking out a new policy
Check which pets an insurer will cover. Do they have restrictions on age and previous medical history?
Claims department / Customer Helpdesk
This is perhaps one of the most important factors in selecting an insurance company. Unfortunately, there is often no way of telling how fast a claim will be processed until the unfortunate happens. However, you can ring the claims department before you buy. How fast do they answer the telephone? When you get through, do they have any information about how fast they aim to settle claims?

And for veterinary practices:

Incentive Schemes
Does the insurer offer an incentive scheme to those practices that recommend their policies? NB. This should never be the deciding factor! Make up your own mind about how good the policy is, before you ask this question. If the policy is the best AND it comes with an incentive scheme, then that's a bonus. Nothing more.

Ultimately it is the client's choice, and you should be especially careful to make that clear if you are not authorised to recommend products by the Financial Services Authority.

But remember, if you present a client with information about an insurer, it may nevertheless be seen as an endorsement of sorts. Make sure that doesn't reflect badly on the practice.

Slection Criteria

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:58:37 GMT

Revision 1 posted to The Practice Survival Guide by Arlo Guthrie on 1/8/2009 9:58:37 AM

You may help clients by explaining what things they should be looking for when choosing a pet insurance policy:

Policy cost / Level of cover.
In comparing costs, make sure that you compare like with like. What level of cover does the policy offer? Does the policy offer lifelong cover? Boarding cover? Third party cover? Does it cover the cost of advertising or a reward if a pet goes missing?
The excess.
Most policies carry an excess, or amount the client must pay in the event of a claim. This must be assessed as part of the overal cost of the policy. Check if the excess is fixed.
Payment options.
For instance, can the premium be paid monthly by direct debit?
A clear explanation of the policy benefits / exclusions.
Check there aren't any nasty surprises buried in the small print.
The insurance company's reputation.
Few companies are completely infallible, but an insurance company won't have built a good reputation and a well-established name without offering good policies.
Additional benefits
Does the insurer offer any additional benefits, such as discounts for multi-pet households?
Criteria for taking out a new policy
Check which pets an insurer will cover. Do they have restrictions on age and previous medical history?
Claims department / Customer Helpdesk
This is perhaps one of the most important factors in selecting an insurance company. Unfortunately, there is often no way of telling how fast a claim will be processed until the unfortunate happens. However, you can ring the claims department before you buy. How fast do they answer the telephone? When you get through, do they have any information about how fast they aim to settle claims?

And for veterinary practices:

Incentive Schemes
Does the insurer offer an incentive scheme to those practices that recommend their policies? NB. This should never be the deciding factor! Make up your own mind about how good the policy is, before you ask this question. If the policy is the best AND it comes with an incentive scheme, then that's a bonus. Nothing more.

Ultimately it is the client's choice, and you should be especially careful to make that clear if you are not authorised to recommend products by the Financial Services Authority.

But remember, if you present a client with information about an insurer, it may nevertheless be seen as an endorsement of sorts. Make sure that doesn't reflect badly on the practice.