When I got my second springer spaniel – Kofi- nearly 9 years ago – I searched for pet insurance policies which offered discounts for multiple pet households. It seemed perfectly logical to me that these companies would offer me the best value policies. Don’t make the same mistake as I did!
Where did I go wrong? At the time I did not appreciate how much pet insurance quotes would differ for the same dogs. I guess I believed that policies which provided roughly the same amount of cover would cost a similar amount! I certainly did not appreciate that the fact that the risk ratings attached to each breed by an insurer would be so very different – or that whilst some insurers do not adjust the premiums for where you live, others charge almost twice as much in some areas as others.
All of this means that just looking for companies which offer multi-pet discounts may prove to be an expensive mistake.
Let me illustrate by way of example.
Company A does not have any multiple pet discounts but quotes you £300 for one pet and £275 for the other. Thus you have a total premium of £575 for both pets.
Company B on the other hand quotes you £350 for your first pet and £330 for the other making a total premium of £680. But then offers a 10% discount for the second pet which would work out at £33 discount. The total premium would then be £647.
Company A which offers no multiple pet discounts is the better deal!
Tips for Buying Pet Insurance for Two Pets
1.Research the pet insurance market thoroughly and make a shortlist of policies which meet your requirements (regardless of whether they offer a multi-pet discount).
2. Then get quotes from each of them but make sure you get quotes for each pet separately and both pets together. (If the company offers a multiple pet discount the combined quote should be lower than the sum of the individual quotes).
3. If the cheapest option turns out to be having each of your pets insured with a different company you will need to decide whether the saving you make by doing this is worth the extra hassle of dealing with two pet insurance companies!
Pet Insurance for More Than Two Pets
If you have more than two pets it can get complicated because you may find the cheapest option is to have two or more pets on one policy, and one or more on another policy. There are substantial savings can be made by investigating all the options but you will have decide how much time to invest in researching them all!