We all know that we are obliged to care for, protect and offer our little four-legged friends the best quality of life. One of the best ways to protect and care for him is by hiring good dog insurance.
With this, we manage to take care of your health and solve unforeseen situations. Prevention is the cure! But if it does happen, the insurance can help you with the expenses that may arise: veterinary expenses due to illness, accident, or simply damage caused to a third party.
The first thing you have to know is that the offer is so wide (and every day more companies offer this insurance), that we are going to focus on the most important, the most consolidated and stable and that have the best results when processing an incident.
Coverage can be very diverse, so you must be clear about what you must or want to cover in your dog insurance.
If you already know what each one covers, you can go directly to the Price Ranking of the best pet insurance in Spain.
QUICK ACCESS TO DOG INSURANCE PRICES:
- Civil Liability Prices
- Veterinary Assistance Prices
For those of you who have a pet for the first time, you are probably going crazy. What is civil liability insurance? And what does a veterinary assistance service cover? Do they go together or separately?
Quiet! We will try to summarize everything in less than 5 minutes.
You must understand what each insurance consists of, its advantages, and the most common mistakes you may have when selecting your pet insurance.
Many think that hiring the most expensive insurance is the best. I pay more, I get more. But sometimes this theory does not hold.
Why hire things that I am not going to use?
There is also the old myth that “if it is very cheap, nothing is covered”. Other error! If you take out civil liability insurance, for example, and have an accident in which you cause damage to a third party, both insurances (expensive and cheap) will cover you in the same way. They are insurance that, on occasions, are mandatory, with standardized coverage. That is, you are going to pay more for a service that they are going to offer you in the same way.
It is also often thought that if it is very cheap, they will not serve me well. Well, this depends. If you are looking for a good insurance broker, they will take care of everything for you. They will manage your insurance and your claims without having to worry about the paperwork. And this for the same price.
How to choose the best dog insurance?
The first thing you have to take into account is that you must analyze your situation, what you need.
There are different types of pet insurance policies that you should know beforehand. Every day there are more variants, more companies that offer special or additional coverage. But don’t stress! If in doubt, it is best to ask an insurance advisor.
Insurance companies every day have more experience and know more about the needs of their clients. For this reason, we can increasingly find insurance that covers an infinity of different things. And that’s where your list of needs comes in.
Do not stay with the first insurance you find, nor with the most expensive. Analyze your needs and compare.
Insurance companies are including this type of coverage in their product portfolio. You can even find them in home insurance. Eye! If they offer it to you, they check that they cover you outside the home.
Civil Liability Insurance for Dogs
It is the most basic pet insurance. For some dogs, even mandatory. This is the case of the PPP dogs or all the dogs of Madrid or the Basque Country.
This type of insurance covers damage to third parties that the pet may cause. Imagine: he crosses the road and causes a traffic accident, breaks the neighbor’s pets, bites another dog, throws someone to the ground while greeting him and breaks his hip, etc.
Of course, remember that it is to third parties. Your pet and its owners are not covered. That is, own damages do not cover them. If your home TV remote control breaks, forget it! It would not be covered by the liability policy.
For you to understand it better, it is like a third-party car policy. Damage to your car is not covered.
Extras can be added to this basic insurance. It is something very common in all insurance companies, from what we have commented before because the casuistry is so diverse that the companies have tried to solve all of them and charge an extra for that additional service.
And, in addition, they are services that you will use more than civil liability for dogs:
- Veterinary assistance for illnesses or accidents.
- Vaccines and deworming.
- Veterinary video consultation.
- Stole.
- Loss.
- Sacrifice and disposal of the carcass.
These are some of the most common coverages in insurance companies.
But let’s stop at the coverage of veterinary assistance.
veterinary assistance for dogs
This service can become essential for your pet. You can keep her up to date with her check-ups and deworming, you can resolve food or veterinary doubts through video consultations, you can obtain special prices in concerted clinics and you can even choose to include veterinary expenses due to illness or accident (they usually cover between €1,000 and €2,000 a year, but the price of insurance goes up a lot).
In case you require surgery or hospitalization, it will be great for you. The cost of this type of service is extremely high and insurance can help you, a lot!
In addition, in concerted clinics associated with insurance, they usually offer you discounts on other services such as hairdressing or dog training. Yet another plus, if you’re going to use it!
And, if you like both options, they can be combined. It is the most usual. Clients usually contract both because, in addition, when contracting them in combination, they tend to be cheaper.
Do not stay alone with the price. Look at your needs
You already know that not all insurance is the same, nor does it cover the same thing (unless you take out basic civil liability). Therefore, you should study each of them in detail. Pros and cons. That way you won’t be surprised in the future.
You have to know that coverage has a limit. You should pay attention to the amounts you are insuring. If you do not know what amount of civil liability to ensure, for example, let yourself be advised by insurance specialists. It is better than not being discovered when you have an incident.
In the case of civil liability for dogs, you should know that some breeds must be insured. This happens in the case of potentially dangerous dogs or the case of any dog from Madrid or the Basque Country.
Not only that, but some localities also require minimum amounts of liability coverage.
If in doubt, check with your Town Hall. They will tell you exactly how much liability you must insure.
On the subject of veterinary assistance for dogs, we have several different versions. We can contract a service that only gives us discounts in the concerted clinics, we can also include some additional services such as vaccines and deworming. And, finally, we have insurance for illness or accident that usually covers between €1,000 and €2,000 per year of veterinary expenses. Eye! This last option is more expensive, logically. The risk to be covered is higher and, therefore, you pay more.
That is why you should assess whether or not you usually go to the vet.
If you go a little, it may be better for you to hire the best veterinary service for dogs where they only give you great discounts or offer you some additional service included for little more, such as vaccines or deworming. It is an extremely cheap and accessible service for everyone and, if you have an incident, you will know that everything will be cheaper.
If you are one of those who take your pet to the vet every few days, then the best option would be insurance that covers all veterinary expenses due to illness or accident (remember that they have limits of around €1,000 or €2,000 per year). They are much more expensive, but perhaps in the long run it will be profitable for you.
Some insurances include the possibility of going to concerted centers. These centers usually have special prices agreed with the companies and they are usually the same prices for all of them. Thus, you will always know what you are going to be charged. wherever you go!
It may also be the case that the company covers some clinics that are not arranged. In that case, the most common is that they cover a certain percentage of the bill. Usually, it is 80%. And with the annual limit that the policy has.
If you value all these options and take them to your case, you will be able to know which is the best dog insurance for your pet. It is a matter of taking numbers and thinking about our needs.
Is dog insurance mandatory?
Well, the answer to this question is simple. It depends!
If your dog is one of those considered potentially dangerous breeds, yes. If your dog lives in Madrid or the Basque Country, too. In the rest of the cases, it is not mandatory, but it is advisable to take into account everything that we have commented on previously.
In addition, each municipality can legislate based on its casuistry. That is, it may not be mandatory today but tomorrow, yes. Therefore, it is recommended that you keep up to date with the legislation of your locality.
Madrid is a clear example of this situation. All dogs of all sizes, breeds, or different types of aggressiveness, are required to have dog liability insurance.
This is reflected in the Regulating Ordinance of the Possession and Protection of Animals, in its article 6.2: “ All dog owners are obliged to take out civil liability insurance for the amount determined by regulation, within one month. since its identification.
The breed of your dog will be decisive when insuring your pet.
If your dog is one of these breeds, you will have to carry out insurance, regardless of where you live:
- Rottweiler, Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Argentine Dogo, Fila Brasileiro, Akita Inu, or Tosa Inu.
Keep in mind that mixes with any of these breeds are also considered potentially dangerous. For this reason, you should hire the best insurance for dogs adapted to the demands of your locality.
And, if you have doubts, it is best to always have insurance. Sometimes, pets not only bite but also break things, escape, cause damage that you as their owner have to assume. Insurance will also help you on those occasions.
Can I take out comprehensive insurance for my pet?
If we think of the “all-risk” of a car, no. Keep in mind that pet insurance does not cover all veterinary cases. Some cover prevention, others cover damage due to accident, others due to illness, etc.
But we can indeed combine many of these coverages to get the best veterinary insurance for your pet.
You choose the coverage you want, the ones that benefit you the most. That is why you are going to get the best policy because it meets all or most of your needs.
Can all dogs be insured?
Well, it depends on the company you select. Many of them have restrictions due to age or previous pathologies. They will indicate this to you when you go to request a price or indicate that you want to register the insurance.
But, fortunately, you have a company that does not set limits in terms of age or previous illnesses. This is the case with Pet and Health.
Copay and deficiency
These two insurance concepts are complex and few people know them. They are essential when hiring insurance for dogs or any other type.
- COPAYMENT. In this case, each time you use one of the contracted services, you will have to pay an amount. That is, you will not have 100% coverage for that service. The most common thing is that the company gives you a list of copayments or indicates the fixed amount that you are going to pay so that you always know what you are going to pay for each act. This occurs a lot in other insurances as well, such as dental.
- LACK. The grace period is the time that must elapse from when insurance comes into force until you can use a certain policy service. In veterinary assistance policies for dogs that include reimbursement of veterinary expenses are very common. It is usually 15 days. It will always be detailed in the policy if you have it.
Now to Compare and find the Best Insurance for Dogs
The ideal is that you carry out specific insurance for pets, with the casuistry that it may have. Some companies are specialized in this sector and, therefore, are more efficient in resolving claims and, in addition, they usually have the best prices and coverage than more general companies.
Your home insurance may suggest incorporating the pet into your policy. First of all, you should check if your home insurance is going to cover the damage caused by your pet outside your home. Some companies only cover damages to third parties if they have happened inside your home and it can become a serious problem if you have a mishap on the street.
In addition, home insurance usually only includes dogs weighing less than 20 kilos or that are not potentially dangerous. Check that information too.
In addition, some animals are required to have specific civil liability insurance that covers third parties, with no place restrictions. Therefore, if you include it in your home insurance and it does not cover you away from home, this insurance will not help you at all.
We are going to start comparing a large number of animal insurance offers that we have. The easiest and fastest way is to use an Insurance Comparator for Dogs.
The first thing they will ask you to compare will be the following data:
- The breed of your dog or if it is a crossbreed.
- The date of birth.
- Your postal code of residence.
- And in some cases the acquisition value of the pet, if it has won prizes or contests if it has a pedigree, etc. if it has one.
Study and compare. This is how we will find the Best Insurance for Dogs
Well, it’s time to study the offers. What each one covers and which one best suits your needs.
We leave you a Comparison where we summarize the coverage of the 10 Best Insurance for Dogs, according to our criteria and experience.