Everything I Wish I Knew Before I Got Pet Insurance

It’s been nearly six years since I brought my dog Freddie home. Before he came to me, he was anxious, overweight, and scared of his own shadow. Today, he’s sassy, endlessly funny, and obsessed with cheese in all of its forms. Watching him grow into the dog he was meant to be has been one of the greatest joys of my life, and I’m so proud to be his mum!

Back in 2020, I was 22, fresh out of university, living through yet another lockdown, and had absolutely no idea what I was doing with my life. Freddie gave me purpose, routine, and a reason to get out of bed every morning. He changed my life in ways I never expected. (Although I still maintain that it takes a special kind of person to own a Shiba Inu, but that's a story for another day.)

One thing I did know was that I wanted to make sure he was insured straight away. As a first-time dog owner with a plethora of family-owned pets, I knew vet treatment could be expensive, so taking out a Waggel policy felt like the responsible thing to do. What I didn't realise at the time was just how much there was to learn about pet insurance. Like many people, I was completely new to terms like annual limit, excess and pre-existing conditions. I knew I was buying cover; I just didn't fully understand what sat behind it.

Five years later, here's everything I wish I'd known from the start.

Insurance has a reputation for being full of jargon, and I'll admit I found it a little intimidating. When you're comparing policies for the first time, it can feel like every insurer is using language you've never come across before. But once you understand a handful of key terms, everything starts to make much more sense.

If you're buying pet insurance for the first time, don't be afraid to ask questions or spend a little time reading the policy documents. It might not be the most exciting part of welcoming a pet home, but understanding your cover now can save confusion (and your bank account) later.

This was probably the biggest surprise for me. Before getting Freddie, I'd never heard the phrase "pre-existing condition". I assumed that once you had insurance, anything your pet needed would simply be covered.

In reality, a pre-existing condition is an illness, injury or symptom your pet had before your policy started. This isn't unique to Waggel (our chosen provider); it's how pet insurance works across the industry. Insurers calculate cover based on what they know at the point you take out your policy, so conditions that already exist are generally excluded - they’ll usually be discovered later when you make a claim, and they gather your pet’s medical and veterinary history.

At first, that sounded a little daunting. But the more I understood it, the more it made sense.

The important thing is not to let it put you off getting insurance (or a pet!) altogether. While a policy won't usually cover conditions that have already started prior to you purchasing insurance, it can protect your pet against countless illnesses, accidents and unexpected health problems that may happen in the future. That's why getting cover as early as possible, before any additional health issues arise, can make such a difference.

Like most people, my instinct was to look at the lowest monthly price. But pet insurance isn't something you'll hopefully use every month; it's something you'll rely on when the unexpected happens. It seems simple to say, but sometimes pet insurance is cheap for a reason: because the policy excludes a lot of illnesses and has lots of stipulations in the policy wording. So whilst technically your pet is covered, you may be left with a huge vet bill because your chosen provider is unable to accept your claim.

With insurers like Waggel, you can adjust your annual limit and excess every year, so if you’re facing financial difficulties or want to up your coverage, you can do so at renewal. Waggel also accepts a wide range of health conditions, which you can read in their policy wording before purchasing a policy. And the good news is that once your pet is covered for a health condition, they’ll be covered for life, as long as you renew your policy each year.

Looking beyond the premium and understanding things like annual limits, excesses, what's included, and what support comes with your policy is far more valuable than simply choosing the lowest monthly cost; it’ll also be the most beneficial in the long run. The good thing about Waggel is that they only provide lifetime policies, so there’s no confusion about how long you’re covered for.

This is something I didn't fully appreciate until I became a dog owner.

When Freddie came home, I wanted to do everything I could to give him the best life possible. Pet insurance became part of that. Not because I expected something to go wrong, but because I wanted to know I had a plan if it ever did.

Hopefully you'll never need to make a large claim. But if your pet is injured, becomes ill, or needs ongoing treatment, knowing you have lifetime cover in place can make an incredibly stressful situation just a little easier.

One thing I never considered was everything that comes with a policy besides paying vet bills. Many insurers like Waggel include access to free video vet appointments, behaviourists, nutrition advice and monthly rewards with UK-based businesses. Those services can be just as valuable as financial cover, especially when you need reassurance outside your vet's opening hours or want to get something back from your policy even when you’re not claiming.

If I could go back and tell first-time, young and naive dog-owner me one thing, it wouldn't be to choose a different policy; it would simply be to understand the one I'd already chosen.

I made the right decision by insuring Freddie with Waggel from day one. What I lacked wasn't good cover; it was knowledge. I didn't know what pre-existing conditions meant, I wasn't sure how annual limits worked, and I definitely couldn't have explained what an excess was. Now I can.

So if you're welcoming a new pet into your family, don't let insurance jargon overwhelm you. Ask questions, learn the basics, and get cover in place as early as you can. Hopefully you'll never need it, but if you do, you'll be glad you took the time to understand it.

Looking back, taking out pet insurance was one of the best decisions I made for Freddie. Learning how it actually works has simply made me appreciate that decision even more and gives me power over any future situations should they arise, knowing exactly what we are and aren’t covered for.