1.8M pet insurance claims a year

Sainsbury’s Finance estimates that around 1.8 million pet insurance claims for veterinary treatment for dogs and cats are made every year.

A further 18,000 claims are also made for other reasons including when the animal is lost or stolen. However, Sainsbury’s warns that as many as 75% of cats and dogs are not insured, and it estimates that owners have to pay for some 5.5 million veterinary treatments a year because of this.

According to Sainsbury Finance, the most common pet insurance claim is for skin tumours, followed by general poor health where the cat or dog is said to be "just not his/herself" .

Claire Moyles, Pet Insurance Manager, Sainsbury’s said: “The pet insurance industry not only deals with a huge volume of cat and dog claims every year, it deals with a staggering breadth of ailments and problems. Quality pet insurance will cover a wide range of treatments and services from dental accidents and behavioural treatments to advertising for lost pets. In 2007 alone we had claims covering well over 200 different categories.

"Our analysis demonstrates that pet insurance isn't just a nice to have product. Events in which you may find yourself needing to claim are more common than you may wish to consider."

Sainsbury’s Finance estimates that the lifetime cost of owning a cat and dog today is around £7,200 and £9,000 respectively. Furthermore, it estimates that some 19% of the annual spend on dogs is attributable to vet fees and the corresponding figure for cats is 21%.

Good quality pet insurance does not need to be expensive, good cover at a competitive price can be found by shopping around. Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance is designed to offer some of the widest range of benefits available at a competitive price. For further information, log on to sainsburys.co.uk or pick up a leaflet in a Sainsbury’s supermarket.