One in three pets need veterinary treatment each year, so pet insurance is an important consideration. When illness strikes, we will be there to help provide the very best treatment. Your pet could get ill from something it has eaten or injured in an attack by another pet.

Statistics show that in most cases pets need treatment at least once a year; unfortunately vets fees aren't free and can cost a lot of money - they are rising all the time.

Pet insurance covers all sorts of weird and wonderful eventualities; for instance, if your pet is stolen, some providers stump up the cost of advertising and a reward, or even cover the cost of your holiday if you can’t go because your pet’s crook. Yet often these are added as hype to sell a policy and rarely claimed.

Pet insurance reduces the financial bumps along the road of pet care. It provides the security of knowing that you'll be better able to meet your pet's health needs. You can benefit from having pet insurance if you start the policy when your pet is between certain ages.

Normally the age range for starting a policy is from 8 weeks until 8 years of age, again some companies insure pets from 5 weeks and some until the pet is 10 or 12 years old. Obviously if you insure your pet within these age ranges the policy will continue past these ages to old age with no upper age limit.

However the policy may change after a certain age so that death from illness is no longer covered, also you may have to pay your excess plus a percentage of the total claim. In some situations, it could make the difference in whether or not you can keep your pet alive. If your pet doesn't need expensive veterinary care, though, it'll cost you more money than paying the veterinary bills yourself.