Government serves up a dog’s breakfast with compulsory insurance

John Miles, head of home and pet insurance at leading comparison website Gocompare.com, comments on Government proposals for compulsory insurance for dogs: "The proposal to introduce compulsory third party insurance for dogs is likely to be unpopular with the majority of owners who already spend £677 a year on average for each animal to cover food, vet's bills and other essentials.  At present only around 40 per cent of owners have pet insurance, so this proposal will affect millions of dog owners.

"Third party liability cover features as standard on the majority of existing pet insurance policies and you can get cover today for as little as £7.37 a month.   Typically these plans provide up to £1million worth of cover should the policyholder's dog injure a third party or damage their property.

"Compulsory pet insurance is unlikely to be a panacea to the problem of so-called dangerous dogs.  Insurance has many benefits but it is rarely the most effective tool for changing behaviour.  It is there to reimburse us when the worst happens, it doesn't usually prevent the incident occurring.   For example, car insurance is compulsory yet we have very significant problems with uninsured drivers.  It is unlikely that the Government or the insurance industry will have any more success encouraging the owners of dangerous dogs to take up insurance."