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Pet insurance, is it purr-fect for your situation? · She's On The Money

0:00
Speaker 1: She's on the Money. She's on the Money.
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Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
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Speaker 2: for millennials who want financial freedom. You hear a lot
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Speaker 2: of mixed reviews about pet insurance, so today we'll be
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Speaker 2: getting to the bottom of whether it's worth it or
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Speaker 2: whether it's a waste of money. Plus we'll be spelling
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Speaker 2: out exactly what you need to look out for to
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Speaker 2: make sure you don't end up paying for cover that
0:43
Speaker 2: actually doesn't cover you at all. My name is Georgia King,
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Speaker 2: and joining me today is financial advisor and loving mother
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Speaker 2: to two cats and one dog, and probably plenty more
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Speaker 2: that's in the future yet not.
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Speaker 3: Yet, I'm working on it.
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Speaker 2: It's Victoria divine of course, the pet insurance. As I
1:03
Speaker 2: mentioned just before, it's a bit of a controversial topic.
1:07
Speaker 2: People are quite divided on something that seems quite like
1:10
Speaker 2: frivolous and not that important. But obviously we love our pets.
1:14
Speaker 2: They are very important. Why do you think this is
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Speaker 2: such a divisive topic, If that's not too explosive the
1:20
Speaker 2: language to be using.
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Speaker 3: George, we live in Australia and I feel like pets
1:24
Speaker 3: are incredibly divisive. At the end of the day. Some
1:28
Speaker 3: people will swear that a pet is a child, like me,
1:31
Speaker 3: let them sleep on the bed, get on the bed,
1:33
Speaker 3: get on all of the surfaces in your house. They'll
1:36
Speaker 3: take them everywhere. And other people are like, no, a dog.
1:40
Speaker 3: A dog never comes inside the house, they go outside.
1:42
Speaker 3: And then we've got other people who are solemnly swearing
1:45
Speaker 3: that they will never have a pet in their entire
1:47
Speaker 3: life because they're like, why would I want another being
1:49
Speaker 3: reliant on me. So I just feel like everybody's got
1:53
Speaker 3: different opinions, which they are absolutely welcome to. I don't
1:56
Speaker 3: think that there is a right or a wrong thing,
1:58
Speaker 3: but at the end of the day, three five Australians
2:01
Speaker 3: own a pet, so it makes sense that we all
2:04
Speaker 3: have opinions on them. I do think that pet insurance, though,
2:07
Speaker 3: is a pretty divisive topic because we don't know heaps
2:10
Speaker 3: about it, and when you get it, you don't know
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Speaker 3: a lot about the things that animals experience, and a
2:15
Speaker 3: lot of the time you haven't maybe read the pds
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Speaker 3: properly and you didn't know what it excluded or what
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Speaker 3: it included. And I just think that there's a lot
2:22
Speaker 3: of I guess, fluffiness around it. A lot of insurances
2:25
Speaker 3: have put on the table that you can claim vet bills.
2:28
Speaker 3: But what does that actually mean. Is it like their
2:30
Speaker 3: standard checkups? Is it you know, only emergency stuff? Does
2:33
Speaker 3: that include medication? What is included and what isn't included?
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Speaker 3: I think is you know, a bit of a murky topic.
2:40
Speaker 3: But then your values come into it as well. Like
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Speaker 3: from my perspective, G, I'm really happy to pay for
2:45
Speaker 3: my pets annual checkups, like I'm very happy to be
2:48
Speaker 3: out of pocket, But what I don't want is that
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Speaker 3: big emergency bill that might pop up because I've got
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Speaker 3: a dog who's a really large dog who could end
2:56
Speaker 3: up with hip displacer and it could cost me ten grand.
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Speaker 3: That's priority when it comes to insurance and talking about it.
3:03
Speaker 3: But in saying that, there are a lot of policies
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Speaker 3: G that say hip displacier isn't covered. So it's just
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Speaker 3: a really fickle topic.
3:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it, and that's what we will be covering
3:12
Speaker 2: today because there are a few things to be mindful
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Speaker 2: of to make sure that you're not being ripped off.
3:16
Speaker 2: But before we get there, and before we do get
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Speaker 2: into the depths of insurance, I guess let's take a
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Speaker 2: little look at how much Australians are actually spending on
3:26
Speaker 2: their pets annually. So this little I found an article
3:30
Speaker 2: by the New Daily, a hot website.
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Speaker 3: Never heard of them, so they must be.
3:34
Speaker 2: So reputable sources here at she's on the money.
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Speaker 3: So when it comes to Petsy obviously otherwise we're using
3:42
Speaker 3: asic and ati.
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Speaker 2: It's it's a good So they reported last year that
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Speaker 2: we are spending twenty one point nine billion dollars per
3:50
Speaker 2: year billion on our pets. Billion.
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Speaker 3: Yes, look that kind of adds up all my pets
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Speaker 3: to get Christmas presents.
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Speaker 2: But don't you think it? Like and we joke, but
4:01
Speaker 2: when you think about like trips to the vet operations
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Speaker 2: that pop up, all the food that they eat, they
4:07
Speaker 2: eat a lot of food, bording when you're on vacate
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Speaker 2: grooming if you can't be bothered doing that yourself. Puppy school,
4:14
Speaker 2: cat school, don't know if that's a thing, but the.
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Speaker 3: Cat school a thing.
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Speaker 2: I don't know. But it's expensive, even if maybe the
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Speaker 2: New Dailies numbers are blown out a bit.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, look, pets are expensive and they absolutely are a
4:26
Speaker 3: privileged so I think that we should also I guess
4:28
Speaker 3: disclaimer that here as well, that I'm speaking from a
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Speaker 3: position of massive privilege and that I can afford to
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Speaker 3: have three pets and keep them all happy, healthy, and
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Speaker 3: you know, getting Christmas presents, which sounds a bit wild,
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Speaker 3: but that's in line with my values. And I'm not
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Speaker 3: saying I'm spending hundreds of dollars on my pets. Like
4:48
Speaker 3: my cat's got cans of tuna which they wouldn't have
4:51
Speaker 3: otherwise been eating for dinner. And Lucy got a fancy
4:54
Speaker 3: dog tread and a couple of other things that actually
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Speaker 3: needed to purchase for her, like a new lead and
4:59
Speaker 3: stuff like that. Just wrapped them up and put them
5:01
Speaker 3: under the tree. It seemed like a good present. And
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Speaker 3: I'm sorry, but have you ever watched an animal open
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Speaker 3: a present?
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Speaker 1: Oh?
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Speaker 3: There is nothing that brings more joy than a dog
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Speaker 3: ripping Christmas paper off something that they're like, wow, this
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Speaker 3: is for me, this is wild like that. I'm just
5:18
Speaker 3: a pet person. I'm sorry.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think maybe he's giving your dog a little
5:22
Speaker 2: bit too much credit. Doesn't know what it's a present
5:25
Speaker 2: or No, they do, they do, they know. But me,
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Speaker 2: in your experience, has having pets been more expensive than
5:33
Speaker 2: you perhaps expected? Yes?
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Speaker 3: Yes, so, Ge stepping back nine years I got Bailey
5:39
Speaker 3: nine years ago. He was a rescue. He was one
5:42
Speaker 3: when I got him, and I rescued him, and I
5:44
Speaker 3: think the fee for adopting him was like two hundred
5:48
Speaker 3: and fifty dollars, which is, you know, relatively reasonable. He
5:51
Speaker 3: was desext and all of that other fun stuff. But
5:54
Speaker 3: what I didn't envisage as a poor UNI student who
5:57
Speaker 3: at the time, honestly everything felt so expensive. But I
6:00
Speaker 3: was in a situation where I just wanted a pet.
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Speaker 3: It was aligned to my values. I am a massive
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Speaker 3: If you haven't picked this up, massive animal person, they
6:09
Speaker 3: bring me a lot of peace. I felt so much
6:12
Speaker 3: better having his presence around. I was going through, you know,
6:16
Speaker 3: speaking really openly, really stressful breakup. I was going through
6:20
Speaker 3: writing a thesis. I was going through UNI and trying
6:23
Speaker 3: to manage three casual jobs on top of that. This
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Speaker 3: cat was the best thing that had ever happened to me.
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Speaker 3: Could I afford him, Probably not. Should I have gotten
6:32
Speaker 3: him based on my financial situation, probably not. Because I
6:37
Speaker 3: remember purchasing him and the two hundred and fifty dollars
6:41
Speaker 3: was so big that I think I only had maybe
6:43
Speaker 3: like fifty bucks left in my bank account after getting him. Like,
6:46
Speaker 3: it was not a situation where I'm like, oh great,
6:48
Speaker 3: I have an emergency fund. I had none of that,
6:50
Speaker 3: but I just I knew that's what I wanted. Would
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Speaker 3: I make a different decision, Look, absolutely not, because Bailey's
6:57
Speaker 3: obviously a part of my life now and he's like
7:00
Speaker 3: an extension of me in a way, even though he's
7:02
Speaker 3: a cat. But I shouldn't have made that decision at
7:06
Speaker 3: that time if we were just looking at financials. But
7:08
Speaker 3: I think for my own mental health, oh gee, that
7:11
Speaker 3: was so necessary. What I wasn't ready for was the
7:15
Speaker 3: additional debt I would incur when my very friendly Tonkinese
7:18
Speaker 3: cat swallowed a paper clip and cost me I think
7:20
Speaker 3: about three two hundred dollars maybe for an emergency surgery
7:24
Speaker 3: to get rid of it. Yeah, so that was really good.
7:27
Speaker 3: He's also had to have teeth cleanings, which I didn't
7:30
Speaker 3: know was a thing, but turns out his breed has
7:33
Speaker 3: not so great teeth, so they have to be cleaned
7:36
Speaker 3: every year or so, and that cost me anywhere between
7:38
Speaker 3: three hundred and maybe four hundred and fifty dollars a
7:40
Speaker 3: year for Bailey. And then you have like yep, then
7:43
Speaker 3: you have vaccinations, and I think my vaccinations they're not
7:45
Speaker 3: too bad. They may be like one hundred and ten
7:47
Speaker 3: dollars a year for his standard like check up, get
7:50
Speaker 3: his booster shots. He's all good. But it really really
7:53
Speaker 3: does add up. And then you look at food, like
7:56
Speaker 3: food can be really expensive. When I first got Bailey, oh,
8:00
Speaker 3: I wasn't feeding him, you know, top of the range,
8:03
Speaker 3: Royal Cannon, fancy digestive pet food. He was literally just
8:07
Speaker 3: eating like Whiskers or even sometimes home brand stuff because
8:11
Speaker 3: that was in line with my budget. And like it
8:13
Speaker 3: was always something. And I've said this on a podcast
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Speaker 3: before and I think it really resonates with pet people,
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Speaker 3: but people who aren't pet people are like, what on earth, Victoria,
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Speaker 3: Like one of my goals was to be able to
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Speaker 3: give my cat the best life, Like I really wanted
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Speaker 3: to be able to buy the bougie cat food that
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Speaker 3: you can only get from pet shop. Like that for
8:29
Speaker 3: me was a really big achievement when I got to
8:31
Speaker 3: that point. And I know that that seems really minuscule
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Speaker 3: and you're probably looking at it going like, oh my gosh,
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Speaker 3: Like Victoria, that's not such a good goal. But like
8:39
Speaker 3: when you know you know, like, yeah, that to me
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Speaker 3: was an achievement, like being able to have enough in
8:44
Speaker 3: my budget that I could afford that. And now I'm
8:47
Speaker 3: very grateful that all three of my pets they eat
8:49
Speaker 3: fancy food. But if you're not in that situation, I
8:52
Speaker 3: don't think that there's any shame in that, Like if
8:54
Speaker 3: we couldn't afford it, we wouldn't. But that gives me
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Speaker 3: a lot of joy, Like I don't know. Yes, they
9:00
Speaker 3: are really expensive. Would I change any of their expenses? No?
9:04
Speaker 3: But oh damn they hurt sometimes, George, Yeah.
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Speaker 2: And especially when they're unexpected, like when they swallow paper clips.
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Speaker 3: Have you found just the audacity of that cat.
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Speaker 2: The poor doll. Have you found in your experience that Lucy,
9:18
Speaker 2: your dog is more expensive than your cats though, because
9:20
Speaker 2: that would be just my assumption.
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Speaker 3: Yes? And no, Okay, so Bailey, like if you added
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Speaker 3: it all up, Bailey has cost me the most thus far,
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Speaker 3: because Bailey obviously swallowed a paper clip and has had
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Speaker 3: some teeth cleaning and I've had him for nine years,
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Speaker 3: so that's nine years worth of expenses. Lucy, on the
9:38
Speaker 3: other hand, has not had anything too big wrong with her.
9:42
Speaker 3: She has had an emergency vet trip. So that cost
9:45
Speaker 3: me I think nearly six or eight hundred dollars. I
9:48
Speaker 3: can't remember which one it was, because she ate half
9:50
Speaker 3: a block of chocolate that we left on the couch,
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Speaker 3: and it turns out, because I ate duck chocolate, that's
9:55
Speaker 3: the worst kind for dogs. Really yeah, so it's the
9:58
Speaker 3: cacal that's really bad for dogs. And turns out like
10:01
Speaker 3: me and my lint block of like eighty percent dark
10:05
Speaker 3: or whatever it was, Lucy was like, heck, yeah, not great.
10:09
Speaker 3: So in the grand scheme of things, like Lucy has
10:12
Speaker 3: technically cost us less, but on an ongoing basis, she
10:16
Speaker 3: costs more to fees. But also her initial costs were
10:20
Speaker 3: much much higher, Like Lucy was a couple of thousand
10:23
Speaker 3: dollars to purchase, whereas Bailey, our rescue cat, two hundred
10:27
Speaker 3: and fifty bucks and already dissexed. And then we've also
10:30
Speaker 3: got Henry, who's one, and Henry is also a Tonkenese,
10:34
Speaker 3: and Henry cost us about one thousand dollars. So, speaking
10:37
Speaker 3: really openly about what pets cost, that's in line with
10:40
Speaker 3: my values. Happy to talk about it, but yes, dogs,
10:44
Speaker 3: I would say, are more expensive than cats, as long
10:46
Speaker 3: as your cat isn't eating paper clip?
10:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, gotcha, maled it. Okay, So let's pivot back to insurance.
10:54
Speaker 2: How much does that cost on average in Australia roughly?
10:57
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, it varies massively. And when I was
11:00
Speaker 3: doing the research, because I didn't have pet insurance until
11:03
Speaker 3: we got Lucy, so both my cats are not insured,
11:07
Speaker 3: but Lucy is. Just for full transparency, I think that's
11:11
Speaker 3: also a bit funny from my perspective because my view
11:14
Speaker 3: on pet insurances is not that great. But I'm also
11:16
Speaker 3: really risk averse George, So I would prefer to have
11:19
Speaker 3: it and have a level of peace of mind than
11:21
Speaker 3: to not have it, even though it doesn't have as
11:23
Speaker 3: many bills and whistles as i'd hope. So when it
11:25
Speaker 3: comes to cost, it varies massively. Some research that the
11:29
Speaker 3: ABC did, they crunched the numbers and they found that
11:32
Speaker 3: depending on the cover, you could pay anywhere between two
11:34
Speaker 3: hundred bucks a year to four thousand dollars a year,
11:38
Speaker 3: which over the course of your pet's lifetime, that's massive.
11:41
Speaker 3: That's a big investment. Like, I'm definitely not paying four
11:45
Speaker 3: thousand dollars a year for Lucy's insurance. We're paying about
11:48
Speaker 3: eight hundred and forty dollars a year, George, So about
11:51
Speaker 3: seventy dollars a month for Lucy's insurance, which I think
11:55
Speaker 3: is steep. But can you imagine paying four thousand dollars
11:58
Speaker 3: a year on pet insurance?
12:00
Speaker 2: Certainly not, but I for like racing horses or something,
12:05
Speaker 2: you know, a little more substantial, where maybe there's more
12:07
Speaker 2: risk involved. Maybe perhaps maybe that then comes in and
12:11
Speaker 2: I'm sure you're gonna ask me alternatives to insurance and
12:13
Speaker 2: stuff like that.
12:14
Speaker 3: But if you're spending four grand a year on your
12:16
Speaker 3: pets insurance, I'd argue that you probably should be saving
12:19
Speaker 3: that money because who spends four thousand dollars a year
12:22
Speaker 3: on a pet? Like, don't get me wrong, people are
12:24
Speaker 3: going to jump at me and be like Victoria, my
12:26
Speaker 3: French bulldog had to have fifteen thousand dollars worth of surgeries.
12:29
Speaker 3: I get it. I have friends in that position. I'm
12:31
Speaker 3: more mean on average, Like, what's four grand of insurance
12:35
Speaker 3: get you?
12:36
Speaker 2: No idea?
12:36
Speaker 3: So get you a whole brand new dog?
12:38
Speaker 2: Like, I don't know, Well, that's it. You could just
12:40
Speaker 2: buy a new one.
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Speaker 3: I'm kidding you literally couldn't, by the way, for a
12:45
Speaker 3: French bulldog. The going rate of those is more than
12:47
Speaker 3: ten grand. Jorge.
12:48
Speaker 2: Oh, they're so trendy though, aren't they so fashion?
12:51
Speaker 3: They are so fashion.
12:52
Speaker 2: I do love a French bulldog.
12:54
Speaker 3: Same, they're delightful.
12:55
Speaker 2: They are little angels. Okay, So between two hundred dollars
12:59
Speaker 2: and four thousand a year is what we're looking at
13:01
Speaker 2: for insurance. What then, does it cost phae just to
13:05
Speaker 2: hit up the vet? Obviously, again it will change depending
13:08
Speaker 2: on if it's an emergency or if it's just a
13:10
Speaker 2: check up. But what are we looking at on average?
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Speaker 3: So according to the research, it's estimated that we as
13:16
Speaker 3: a country spend two point six billion dollars on vet
13:20
Speaker 3: visits every single year. So that's around five hundred and
13:24
Speaker 3: fifty dollars per year on average per person who is
13:27
Speaker 3: a pet owner in Australia. If you and I, George,
13:29
Speaker 3: have done our mass correctly. So the annual amount George
13:32
Speaker 3: is obviously going to fluctuate for like serious surgeries, which
13:35
Speaker 3: is why so many people look at getting pet insurance
13:38
Speaker 3: to help them out with those super significant fees should
13:41
Speaker 3: they ever ever come up. But it definitely fluctuates, and
13:44
Speaker 3: I feel like if you were budgeting for it. Five
13:46
Speaker 3: hundred and fifty dollars in pet fees is really reasonable
13:49
Speaker 3: to have in your budget for vet bills for each
13:52
Speaker 3: individual animal, because from my experience, it could be that
13:56
Speaker 3: sometimes it could be less, sometimes it could be more.
13:58
Speaker 3: Like George I told you before, Sometimes Bailey's vaccinations are
14:02
Speaker 3: only going to be one hundred and ten bucks a year,
14:04
Speaker 3: Wham bam, thank you, ma'am. Other years it's four hundred
14:06
Speaker 3: dollars in addition of tooth cleaning. But it would vary.
14:10
Speaker 3: So now I have three I've got to save three
14:12
Speaker 3: times that. That's not so fun.
14:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's expensive. I don't like this.
14:16
Speaker 3: I feel like this is just an expose on how
14:18
Speaker 3: much Victoria Devine spends on animals each and every single year.
14:22
Speaker 2: Well, no, I think it's good to talk about and
14:25
Speaker 2: shine a little light on because it's often quite romantic
14:28
Speaker 2: to say, well, I'm going to get a puppy, and
14:31
Speaker 2: you don't really think about how expensive it can be,
14:35
Speaker 2: Like you just don't think about all of the costs associated.
14:37
Speaker 2: So I think it is good to be having this conversation.
14:41
Speaker 2: So we talk to me about the different kinds of
14:43
Speaker 2: pet insurance currently available in Australia.
14:46
Speaker 3: Well, girl, there are so many, but there's obviously different types,
14:51
Speaker 3: just like there are different types of humans and also
14:53
Speaker 3: different types for your car. So first, cab off the rank, George.
14:56
Speaker 3: You've got comprehensive insurance and that covers you for things
14:59
Speaker 3: like accidents and illness as well as other routine care procedures.
15:03
Speaker 3: That's essentially the top of the range type of insurance.
15:07
Speaker 3: Then we have Accident and Illness cover only, which, as
15:11
Speaker 3: the name suggests, only covers your pet for accidents and illness.
15:15
Speaker 3: So if they have hereditary conditions or if they get sick,
15:18
Speaker 3: they're going to be covered. And then at the lower
15:22
Speaker 3: end of the scale, you're going to have accident only insurance,
15:25
Speaker 3: so that just covers your pup or your pet for accidents.
15:28
Speaker 3: So for an example, when Lucy ate chocolate, or they
15:31
Speaker 3: swallow a sock, or they break their leg, or god forbid,
15:34
Speaker 3: they might run into the side of a car. So
15:36
Speaker 3: those are the different types of insurances and they are
15:40
Speaker 3: priced accordingly, so obviously comprehensive is going to be the
15:44
Speaker 3: most expensive. Then we have accident and illness insurance, and
15:48
Speaker 3: I feel like I gave you guys a little bit
15:50
Speaker 3: of a tipbit before and said that I only care
15:53
Speaker 3: when it comes to insurance personally about the accident and
15:56
Speaker 3: illness insurance, which is what we have for Lucy. And
15:59
Speaker 3: then there's obvious the accident only insurance, which comes in
16:02
Speaker 3: as the cheapest ge heaven.
16:04
Speaker 2: Now, VI, I would say that it's pretty unlike you
16:07
Speaker 2: not to get the most extensive range of insurance that
16:11
Speaker 2: there is. You said there that that's just true. Yeah,
16:15
Speaker 2: you like to be very well covered. But you said
16:17
Speaker 2: there that you have accident only or was it accident
16:20
Speaker 2: and illness.
16:21
Speaker 3: Accident and illness only insurance for Lucy, So gee, that's
16:25
Speaker 3: probably a very good pickup. And you are right. I
16:28
Speaker 3: do tend to like to overinsure. I am first and
16:31
Speaker 3: foremost a financial advisor, so I do see a lot
16:34
Speaker 3: of claims go through and I never want to be
16:36
Speaker 3: in the position where I'm not insured. But again it's
16:40
Speaker 3: probably playing a lot to the privilege that Steve and
16:42
Speaker 3: I have when it comes to cash flow. Like our
16:45
Speaker 3: pets were adopted by double income, no kids household George,
16:49
Speaker 3: so a dink household, so they are quite lucky. And
16:52
Speaker 3: that means that Steve and I, in our budget have
16:55
Speaker 3: actually worked out like how much vet bills are going
16:57
Speaker 3: to be and how much we're allocating towards food and
17:00
Speaker 3: stuff like that, and we actually do have an emergency
17:03
Speaker 3: fund built up if something does happen. But when it
17:06
Speaker 3: comes to Lucy, Lucy's a pretty big dog, Like she's
17:09
Speaker 3: half old English sheep dog half Standard Poodle, so she's
17:13
Speaker 3: a big lady, which means she's actually predispositioned to potentially
17:18
Speaker 3: have hip displacia, which I've heard of in a lot
17:20
Speaker 3: of breeds similar to hers. And there are a lot
17:23
Speaker 3: of other things that can potentially happen to big dog
17:26
Speaker 3: breeds that I just wanted to be covered for, not
17:29
Speaker 3: because we couldn't afford it, but because I just didn't
17:32
Speaker 3: want to be out ten or fifteen thousand dollars should
17:35
Speaker 3: something happen. When it comes to the cats, and I'm
17:37
Speaker 3: sure there are absolutely outliers where people are gonna say, oh,
17:40
Speaker 3: but Victoria, like I spent thirty thousand dollars on my cat,
17:43
Speaker 3: Like I totally get that, but that is far more
17:46
Speaker 3: unlikely than the need to do that for a dog,
17:49
Speaker 3: Like if Lucy breaks her leg because she's outside and
17:52
Speaker 3: running around the park, like that's going to be pretty significant.
17:55
Speaker 3: She doesn't acl because she's crazy and can't run straight,
17:58
Speaker 3: like that's going to be a massive issue. Lucy's out
18:02
Speaker 3: and about, Whereas both of my cats are indoor only cats,
18:05
Speaker 3: so I feel like they have a lot more protection
18:07
Speaker 3: than Lucy might. So from our perspective and the fact
18:11
Speaker 3: that we are again in a very lucky position to
18:13
Speaker 3: have the cash flow and have an emergency fund already,
18:16
Speaker 3: I was like, Okay, I just need Lucy to be
18:19
Speaker 3: covered for the potentially really big things that could happen,
18:23
Speaker 3: because I didn't want to be paying four grand worth
18:25
Speaker 3: of insurance when, as I said before, G, I'm happy
18:28
Speaker 3: to just pay her VET bills as they come up
18:30
Speaker 3: and as they're necessary for things that are routine.
18:32
Speaker 2: All right, V, I think that was really well said.
18:34
Speaker 2: Interesting to get your perspective, But let's press pause for
18:38
Speaker 2: a little moment.
18:38
Speaker 3: Pardon the pun you just made.
18:40
Speaker 2: The people love that one. But we will be back
18:44
Speaker 2: on the other side of this break to chat through
18:46
Speaker 2: exactly what we need to be mindful of when it
18:48
Speaker 2: comes to pet insurance. And I'm also going to be
18:51
Speaker 2: picking your brain as to how we can budget for
18:54
Speaker 2: our pets. Ved, So don't go anywhere, guys, okay V.
18:57
Speaker 2: So we said a little earlier that pet insurance policies
19:02
Speaker 2: aren't necessarily all inclusive.
19:05
Speaker 3: No, they are not.
19:05
Speaker 2: I had a little stalk in our Facebook group and
19:08
Speaker 2: a lot of people were really peeved because they thought
19:11
Speaker 2: that they had insurance they were covered, but then say
19:15
Speaker 2: a massive accident happened and they weren't actually covered for
19:17
Speaker 2: it at all, and they had to be so frustrated
19:20
Speaker 2: a lot of money. Yeah, so what do we need
19:23
Speaker 2: to be mindful of here?
19:24
Speaker 3: This is not just being mindful. I mean, I'm branching
19:27
Speaker 3: out again, but this isn't just pet insurance. We really
19:30
Speaker 3: need to read the product disclosure statements whenever you're getting them,
19:34
Speaker 3: so that you know what is included and what's not included.
19:38
Speaker 3: And I was actually having this conversation George with a
19:40
Speaker 3: client recently about trauma and there's a particular type of
19:44
Speaker 3: breast cancer that is not covered by one particular insurer.
19:47
Speaker 3: And I was like, you need to know this because
19:50
Speaker 3: you're telling me that you want this particular insurer. I
19:53
Speaker 3: think because her friend had it or something. She was like, Oh,
19:55
Speaker 3: these insurers are really good. Could you get me like
19:58
Speaker 3: a quote from them? Like, no, your mum had that.
20:01
Speaker 3: I'm never going to write that for you because it's included,
20:03
Speaker 3: And she's like, how did you know that? Because on
20:05
Speaker 3: the website it says it includes it, Like, because it's
20:08
Speaker 3: in the fine print, it's in the terms and conditions,
20:10
Speaker 3: and we really need to be reading this. And this
20:13
Speaker 3: is particularly prevalent when it comes to pet insurance because
20:16
Speaker 3: there are so many things that are predispositioned when it
20:19
Speaker 3: comes to dogs, and like not all premiums are going
20:22
Speaker 3: to be covered when it comes to the age of
20:23
Speaker 3: your pet and stuff like that. So there are definitely
20:26
Speaker 3: a few things ge that we need to consider. And
20:29
Speaker 3: as reflected in a post by the Lovely Melinda in
20:31
Speaker 3: our Facebook group recently, if your pup or your pet
20:34
Speaker 3: has a pre existing condition like hip displasia or potentially
20:38
Speaker 3: already has damaged ligaments making them more likely need help
20:41
Speaker 3: down the line, then it is very likely that your
20:44
Speaker 3: insurer is not going to cover your pet for those
20:46
Speaker 3: pre existing conditions. So you really, really really need to
20:50
Speaker 3: make sure that you read the pds to know what
20:52
Speaker 3: you're being covered for. And that was something that came
20:55
Speaker 3: up when I was looking for insurance for Lucy George,
20:58
Speaker 3: it's not just a pre existing condition or damage that
21:01
Speaker 3: Lucy had, because Lucy was a baby when we got
21:03
Speaker 3: this and she'd had nothing. But there are a few
21:05
Speaker 3: insurers that just blanket said, we don't cover hip displacier
21:09
Speaker 3: in larger docks or in these particular breeds, and because
21:13
Speaker 3: her breed is very likely to have this in comparison
21:16
Speaker 3: to other breeds, they were just like not happening. It's like, wow, Like,
21:20
Speaker 3: my pet doesn't have that. But hypothetically if it did,
21:24
Speaker 3: why do I want that cover Because it's never going
21:26
Speaker 3: to cover me, so that would suck.
21:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, George.
21:28
Speaker 3: The other thing that you need to know is that
21:30
Speaker 3: insurance is very unlikely to cover the entirety of your
21:35
Speaker 3: vet bill. So depending on what your pet is having done,
21:38
Speaker 3: your insurer should cover between eighty or one hundred percent,
21:41
Speaker 3: but you're still going to have to fork out a
21:43
Speaker 3: fair bit of cash. Sometimes they have caps, so they
21:48
Speaker 3: might say, all right, George, we'll cover your pet up
21:50
Speaker 3: to ten thousand dollars, but the surgery might be fifteen
21:52
Speaker 3: thousand dollars. So you need to be really aware of
21:55
Speaker 3: what those limits are. But in addition to that, I
21:58
Speaker 3: had no idea how much they the surgeries were going
22:01
Speaker 3: to be. I was like ten grand. That sounds like
22:03
Speaker 3: a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, it's
22:05
Speaker 3: actually not. If your pet has a very significant health condition,
22:09
Speaker 3: so I would absolutely be going, all right, well what
22:11
Speaker 3: does that cost? And if you've got a vet, ask them.
22:14
Speaker 3: It's very likely that if you've just got a new puppy,
22:17
Speaker 3: you're going to take them for their vaccinations. Ask them
22:20
Speaker 3: what happens if my dog has hip displasure? How much
22:22
Speaker 3: is that going to cost? What does cancer cost? What
22:24
Speaker 3: does this cost? Just so you get a general awareness
22:27
Speaker 3: of it, because George, the other thing I'm seeing recently,
22:30
Speaker 3: especially when we're having these conversations in the Facebook group,
22:33
Speaker 3: is that the cost of vet procedures changes dramatically based
22:38
Speaker 3: on location. So they are far more expensive in metropolitan
22:41
Speaker 3: areas than there are in regional areas. And that's absolutely fine,
22:45
Speaker 3: because at the end of the day, a metrovet is
22:46
Speaker 3: obviously going to have higher rent and increased expenses and
22:49
Speaker 3: all of this other stuff. So it's not to say
22:51
Speaker 3: that they're doing the wrong thing, but you really need
22:54
Speaker 3: to understand what that might cost for your particular area.
22:56
Speaker 3: And I can't tell you that because I don't away
22:58
Speaker 3: you live. Gking well, actually do, but I don't know
23:00
Speaker 3: anybody else lives. The other thing that you need to
23:03
Speaker 3: note is that premiums are typically much higher for older
23:07
Speaker 3: dogs because obviously they're far more at risk of developing
23:10
Speaker 3: illness or having frail bones. That means that they're going
23:13
Speaker 3: to need a surgery and so on and so forth. So,
23:15
Speaker 3: as we know, the way insurance works is that it
23:18
Speaker 3: is mitigating risk, and the more risk, the more you're
23:21
Speaker 3: going to pay. So it's often suggested that if you're
23:24
Speaker 3: going to get insurance for your pet, you do so
23:26
Speaker 3: when they're young, so that they have it for a
23:28
Speaker 3: long period of time, because I know if you went
23:31
Speaker 3: to try an insurre an eight year old dog, they're
23:33
Speaker 3: very likely to go either no, you can no longer
23:35
Speaker 3: get insurance, because I know that some insurers say absolutely not.
23:39
Speaker 3: But then also they might go, yeah, no problems, but
23:42
Speaker 3: it's like thirty times what it would have cost you
23:45
Speaker 3: if you'd got it when they were young, right, So
23:47
Speaker 3: it's a little bit dramatic. The other thing you need
23:50
Speaker 3: to be mindful of, and we touched on this before,
23:52
Speaker 3: is that pet insurance at the end of the day,
23:54
Speaker 3: is expensive, Like it is a privilege to be able
23:58
Speaker 3: to get pet insurance going to at the end of
24:01
Speaker 3: the year be paying hundreds of dollars per year at
24:04
Speaker 3: a minimum and hopefully for many years if your pet
24:07
Speaker 3: lives into the ripe old ages of like thirty, like
24:10
Speaker 3: my dog is going to live. Absolutely and while it
24:13
Speaker 3: can be super useful, and I've certainly heard anecdotally that
24:15
Speaker 3: people have been super grateful that they've had insurance because
24:18
Speaker 3: it means that they're able to afford a really expensive
24:21
Speaker 3: surgery or have that covered for them, I do think
24:23
Speaker 3: that there are ways that we can be pretty strategic
24:25
Speaker 3: to save ourselves some money. And I've certainly George Hurt
24:28
Speaker 3: anecdotally that there are a lot of people that have said,
24:31
Speaker 3: I am so grateful to have had insurance because it
24:33
Speaker 3: meant that I didn't have to be out of pocket
24:35
Speaker 3: fifteen grand for my dogs surgery when they did this
24:37
Speaker 3: thing at the park, or you know, my dog swallowed
24:40
Speaker 3: a sock and I didn't have to cough up the
24:42
Speaker 3: fifteen hundred dollars for the surgery or whatever it was.
24:44
Speaker 3: And I totally get that, but I also think when
24:47
Speaker 3: it comes to pet insurance. We need to be a
24:48
Speaker 3: little bit strategic to save ourselves money. But then also
24:52
Speaker 3: remember my number one golden like goal of insurance is
24:56
Speaker 3: for it to be a waste of money. Like George,
24:59
Speaker 3: I want to think that your insurance, you know, after
25:03
Speaker 3: we've worked out what insurance we're getting and we're doing
25:05
Speaker 3: in the most cost effective way and it's lined to
25:06
Speaker 3: our values and all of that, I want it to
25:08
Speaker 3: be a waste of money because if it is a
25:10
Speaker 3: waste of money, it means you didn't have to claim
25:12
Speaker 3: on it and your pet didn't have to go through
25:13
Speaker 3: anything adverse. Like in a perfect world, you never had
25:17
Speaker 3: to claim on pet insurance, and that means your pet
25:19
Speaker 3: was never sick, and that's really good. But at the
25:22
Speaker 3: end of the day, unfortunately with pets, it's very likely
25:26
Speaker 3: that they're going to have something happen, just like humans.
25:29
Speaker 3: So it's nice to know that in the back of
25:31
Speaker 3: your mind you have that peace of mind.
25:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel a little bit conflicted now because I
25:36
Speaker 2: kind of went into this conversation thinking that pet insurance
25:41
Speaker 2: wasn't necessary, but now I'm thinking maybe it is, but
25:44
Speaker 2: we just don't want it to come up and we
25:46
Speaker 2: just want to pay for it, and then it's a
25:47
Speaker 2: good thing if we don't need to use it. But
25:50
Speaker 2: for anyone who is still thinking pet insurance, not for me,
25:55
Speaker 2: I want other strategies. What have you got for us?
25:58
Speaker 3: I totally get that too, because I know that when
26:01
Speaker 3: I did some research for this episode as well. Gee,
26:04
Speaker 3: I think it was Choice, Magazine, can Start, and Finder
26:07
Speaker 3: all came to the same conclusion that yes and no.
26:11
Speaker 3: Like they never said yes, absolutely get pet insurance, and
26:14
Speaker 3: they also didn't say no. They just said ah, like
26:17
Speaker 3: it's aligned to your values. Like no one was able
26:21
Speaker 3: to actually come out and say, yep, it's worth the money.
26:23
Speaker 3: I think it's actually more of a mental thing for me,
26:26
Speaker 3: like knowing that my pet is covered and knowing that
26:28
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna have that massive cost, Like what if
26:31
Speaker 3: Lucy's running around like the crazy woman she is and
26:33
Speaker 3: she runs into a tree at the park and breaks
26:35
Speaker 3: a leg, Like, I just don't want to be up
26:38
Speaker 3: for that cost, And for me, that's where my values sat.
26:40
Speaker 3: But I really liked an idea from Larissa in our group,
26:43
Speaker 3: and she said, instead of having pet insurance, my partner
26:46
Speaker 3: and I have an account for our doggo we started
26:49
Speaker 3: with five hundred dollars each, so a grand and every
26:52
Speaker 3: week they contribute ten dollars to the account. I think
26:55
Speaker 3: something like this is a pretty good idea if you're
26:58
Speaker 3: still organizing your finances so that if something does go wrong,
27:01
Speaker 3: you're covered and you won't have to dip into savings,
27:03
Speaker 3: and then it will mean that your pet will be
27:05
Speaker 3: able to receive the cover and the care that it
27:07
Speaker 3: needs without compromising your future financial goals. You could also
27:10
Speaker 3: use your emergency fund for unexpected pet costs, but just
27:13
Speaker 3: remember to work hard to replenish these as soon as possible.
27:17
Speaker 3: And also, if you've got a pet and you're planning
27:19
Speaker 3: on using your emergency fund, if anything happens, maybe you
27:22
Speaker 3: need to up the amount of emergency funds you actually
27:25
Speaker 3: have access to, because that's pretty significant. And we don't
27:29
Speaker 3: want you to be out.
27:31
Speaker 2: Love that idea from Larissa there, because ten dollars a week,
27:36
Speaker 2: that's five hundred and twenty dollars a year, and if
27:38
Speaker 2: you're both doing that, you and your partner, that's one
27:41
Speaker 2: thousand and forty dollars. Math Oh my gosh, you little
27:45
Speaker 2: maths with it, so I mean, journey, that's exactly funny.
27:48
Speaker 2: And if you don't spend it on the pet insurance
27:50
Speaker 2: by something, and at least.
27:51
Speaker 3: You've got it there, whereas I'm spending it on the
27:53
Speaker 3: pet insurance at the moment. Gee yeah, and I'm not
27:57
Speaker 3: going to get any of that money back, which you
27:59
Speaker 3: know I'm very aware of. But if you're a bit
28:02
Speaker 3: like well, I don't want to put the money down
28:03
Speaker 3: the drain and I have the ability to save for it,
28:06
Speaker 3: then start doing that. And I know it doesn't sound great,
28:09
Speaker 3: but at the end of the day, if nothing ever
28:10
Speaker 3: happens to your pet, you then have a savings account
28:12
Speaker 3: full of money. And that is a big money win.
28:15
Speaker 2: We love to see it. While we're on the topic
28:17
Speaker 2: of pets, I want to pick your brains as to
28:20
Speaker 2: how you budget and how we can all budget for
28:23
Speaker 2: our pets a little better. What tricks of the trade
28:26
Speaker 2: have you got for us today?
28:27
Speaker 3: All right? So, like these aren't real tricks of the trade.
28:30
Speaker 3: These are just like how Victoria manages her pets lives
28:34
Speaker 3: and also makes it easier for her. So you guys
28:38
Speaker 3: probably heard an ad ages ago for scratch pet food.
28:40
Speaker 3: This is not a sponsored mentioned by the way, George
28:43
Speaker 3: is just like they're doing good things, and I like them.
28:46
Speaker 3: But Lucy eats Scratch pet food, which I find to
28:48
Speaker 3: be really reasonably priced, really premium quality pet food, and
28:53
Speaker 3: it's on subscription, which means I don't have to go
28:55
Speaker 3: to the shops and buy it. It just turns up at
28:56
Speaker 3: the front door and money win it is right there.
29:00
Speaker 3: I also buy the cat's food in bulk, and I
29:02
Speaker 3: don't know if bulk is the right word here, but
29:04
Speaker 3: I buy the biggest bag and probably do that every
29:08
Speaker 3: three months. And I actually have that on a subscription
29:10
Speaker 3: with Pets Circle, again not sponsored, just the website I
29:14
Speaker 3: use because I get an additional five percent off if
29:17
Speaker 3: it's like on a subscription, which you know, all adds
29:20
Speaker 3: up absolutely. I also think when it comes to pets,
29:23
Speaker 3: obviously trying to adopt instead of buying from a breeder.
29:26
Speaker 3: But I'm never going to judge someone on their decision
29:29
Speaker 3: to buy from a breeder, because I think there's so
29:32
Speaker 3: much more that comes into play when picking a pet
29:35
Speaker 3: to integrate into your family. And I am so here
29:38
Speaker 3: for adopting. I know that that is so so important,
29:42
Speaker 3: but I didn't do that. I have done with the
29:45
Speaker 3: cats obviously, But when it comes to the dog. I
29:48
Speaker 3: knew we wanted a certain personality type. We were really
29:51
Speaker 3: specific about the fact that we didn't want her to
29:53
Speaker 3: drop for in our house. I really wanted her to
29:56
Speaker 3: be amazing with kids, because one day Steve and I
29:59
Speaker 3: are hoping start a family and you know, getting a
30:02
Speaker 3: puppy at this point in time, she's going to be
30:04
Speaker 3: around for that. So I just had a lot of
30:07
Speaker 3: non negotiables when it came to a pet. And while
30:10
Speaker 3: everybody is going to say, Victoria, I can't believe you
30:13
Speaker 3: didn't adopt like I did what was right for me
30:15
Speaker 3: and my family, and you absolutely should do that. But
30:18
Speaker 3: at the end of the day, adopting is going to
30:20
Speaker 3: be significantly cheaper than buying from a breeder, and if
30:24
Speaker 3: you're on Facebook and Instagram, there are lots of places
30:27
Speaker 3: that you can find the perfect pet, I promise. I
30:30
Speaker 3: also think it's really important to resist the urge to
30:33
Speaker 3: buy new toys for your pet.
30:35
Speaker 2: Says the girl who bought hundreds of dollars worth of
30:38
Speaker 2: gear for Christmas.
30:39
Speaker 1: Okay, I did not.
30:40
Speaker 3: Buy hundreds of dollars worth of gear for my dog.
30:43
Speaker 3: I think the most expensive thing she got was a
30:45
Speaker 3: forty dollar retractable lead, which was more for me than
30:49
Speaker 3: it was for her because I'm sick of her pulling.
30:52
Speaker 3: But gee, I actually go to the op shops and
30:54
Speaker 3: buy her toys. So all of Lucy's toys are either
30:58
Speaker 3: secondhand or gifts, because I'm telling you right now, she
31:02
Speaker 3: much prefers bears, like soft toy bears from the op
31:06
Speaker 3: shop than a proper dog toy. You give her a
31:09
Speaker 3: dog bone dog toy that someone's bought for her, She's
31:11
Speaker 3: like a sorry, have you seen my bear?
31:13
Speaker 2: Right?
31:14
Speaker 3: That's all she cares about, And it costs me a
31:16
Speaker 3: ripe two dollars. They're gonna be covered in sloba in
31:20
Speaker 3: no time anyway, So from my perspective, you just don't
31:23
Speaker 3: need to spend a lot of money on that. Although
31:25
Speaker 3: totally that is a massive market, right, Like there are
31:28
Speaker 3: designer dog shops, did you know that?
31:30
Speaker 1: Like you can buy.
31:31
Speaker 3: Louis Vuitton dog collars and leads like, not my thing.
31:34
Speaker 3: Lucy's just got a pink one that is relatively cheap,
31:37
Speaker 3: and I just picked it because it was pink. She's
31:39
Speaker 3: not going to be wearing a fancy designer collar anytime soon.
31:42
Speaker 3: I'm telling you that right now. Gee. Another tip if
31:45
Speaker 3: you're going to go on a holiday. And this mention,
31:47
Speaker 3: again not sponsored, just good, is to look into pet
31:51
Speaker 3: sitting services instead of kennels. Recently, I used Paorshake and
31:54
Speaker 3: I had a really good experience. We met Penelope, and
31:57
Speaker 3: Penelope adored our pets and she was so so so
32:01
Speaker 3: much cheaper than had we you know, put them into board. Again,
32:05
Speaker 3: I have three pets, so that adds up really quickly.
32:08
Speaker 3: But not only did she look after my pets, she
32:10
Speaker 3: had all these really great reviews and she actually came
32:13
Speaker 3: and stayed here, looked after the pets, took the dog
32:15
Speaker 3: for a walk. It was really good, and from my perspective,
32:18
Speaker 3: I liked it much better because the pets had attention
32:20
Speaker 3: and I find that really important.
32:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, and like being at home rather than at a kennel.
32:26
Speaker 2: And also no other dogs or cats as well, to
32:29
Speaker 2: kind of yeah both that's kind of good.
32:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. And I know that sounds really lame to
32:34
Speaker 3: some people, especially if you're not a pet person. I'd
32:36
Speaker 3: one to argue, why are you still listening to the
32:38
Speaker 3: pet Insurance episode if you're not a pet person, But
32:40
Speaker 3: that's another topic. But both of my cats are incredibly needy,
32:45
Speaker 3: like George, you've met them, Like if you're in the room,
32:48
Speaker 3: they're on top of you. Like they are never far
32:50
Speaker 3: from me. Every time I record, like I've got Bailey
32:53
Speaker 3: to the left, Henry to the right, they are literally
32:55
Speaker 3: not less than a meter from me because they are
32:58
Speaker 3: so needy. So if I'm going on holiday, I don't
33:00
Speaker 3: want them to go into a kennel where they're not
33:02
Speaker 3: going to be able to sit with people and get
33:03
Speaker 3: the attention that I believe they deserve. So from my perspective,
33:07
Speaker 3: I really liked that I tested it out for you guys.
33:09
Speaker 2: Stunning.
33:10
Speaker 3: So far, so good.
33:11
Speaker 2: Just on the kennel chat when we went away recently,
33:15
Speaker 2: Mum hooked the dogs up with a kennel.
33:18
Speaker 3: Hooked the dogs up. I love that.
33:20
Speaker 2: I'm so tired and hot, I can't speak today. Anyway,
33:24
Speaker 2: she hooked them up with this kennel where they all
33:26
Speaker 2: had their own TVs.
33:29
Speaker 3: Oh my god, what I've seen that?
33:32
Speaker 2: Have you? And they got sent a post like I
33:35
Speaker 2: don't care A postcard, yes, written by Ralph and Arch.
33:42
Speaker 1: Yeah.
33:42
Speaker 3: I feel like it's right, is really sweet. I feel
33:44
Speaker 3: like that's some stuff that I would really like, Like,
33:47
Speaker 3: I mean, I sign off the Christmas presents to Steve
33:51
Speaker 3: from Victoria, Lucy Bailey and Henry. Like, I feel like
33:56
Speaker 3: if you're a pet person, you're a pet person, but
33:58
Speaker 3: that would give you the peace of mind that they
34:00
Speaker 3: are being cared for. And I know it sounds super
34:02
Speaker 3: lame to some people, but like, it's not blame to me.
34:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel that. Okay, last question for today, then,
34:08
Speaker 2: v with your financial advisor hat on rather than your
34:12
Speaker 2: pet loving, squishy darling hat. What.
34:15
Speaker 3: Ah, that's a good type of hat to wear. I
34:19
Speaker 3: love it.
34:19
Speaker 2: Would you recommend pet insurance to your clients? Ah?
34:22
Speaker 3: Yes, and no. Again, I think it's really based on
34:25
Speaker 3: your values. Like I think you as an individual need
34:28
Speaker 3: to work out whether it is something you want to do.
34:30
Speaker 3: There's a whole heap of comparison websites out there. The
34:33
Speaker 3: thing you do need to remember about comparison websites if
34:36
Speaker 3: you're going to do your research and work out if
34:38
Speaker 3: it works for you or not, is that a lot
34:39
Speaker 3: of those comparison websites do actually get kickbacks for ranking
34:43
Speaker 3: certain insurers higher. So please please please be aware of
34:46
Speaker 3: that and don't just go, oh, this one has the
34:49
Speaker 3: highest amount of reviews, that's the best like, go and
34:53
Speaker 3: look at the PDS's. I know that feels really overwhelming,
34:57
Speaker 3: But have a look for the word exclusions or excludes,
35:00
Speaker 3: and have a look for the word includes and work
35:02
Speaker 3: out what that actually means for you and your dog.
35:05
Speaker 3: The second best thing to do is actually call them.
35:08
Speaker 3: I've said this about normal insurers. I've said this about
35:10
Speaker 3: your subanuation fund. The company exists to get your business,
35:14
Speaker 3: so make them work hard for it. Call them up
35:16
Speaker 3: and be like, all right, George, I'm thinking about getting
35:19
Speaker 3: your insurance. What's not included? I have a French bulldog.
35:23
Speaker 3: What's the most common claim for a French bulldog? What
35:26
Speaker 3: is not included for French bulldogs? What does this mean?
35:30
Speaker 3: Because it's going to be different for every single pet. So,
35:33
Speaker 3: for example, Lucy's are large breed, so there were large
35:36
Speaker 3: breed exclusions. And you best believe I was on the
35:38
Speaker 3: phone to that poor person in the call center being like,
35:41
Speaker 3: all right, well, why is hips display not included? What
35:44
Speaker 3: could make it included? Notes blanket? Okay, why is that
35:48
Speaker 3: the case? Is there any other levels of insurance that
35:50
Speaker 3: would and wouldn't And so we ended up not going
35:52
Speaker 3: with that insurer because then I called a different insurer
35:55
Speaker 3: and they're like, okay, cool, it's only included if your
35:58
Speaker 3: dog doesn't have pre existing conditions and you don't know
36:01
Speaker 3: about it. And I'm like, okay, no problems. She's never
36:03
Speaker 3: had an issue, she's a puppy. We're getting it early.
36:05
Speaker 3: That's why I wanted to get it so early, because
36:08
Speaker 3: often with dogs hip, displacier tends to show itself in
36:12
Speaker 3: the first twelve months. So I was really really on
36:14
Speaker 3: top of getting that sorted. And then from there it's
36:17
Speaker 3: about doing your research, not overpaying for something that you're
36:21
Speaker 3: not seeing value in. Maybe if setting up a savings
36:24
Speaker 3: account is going to work better for you, go and
36:26
Speaker 3: do that. I don't think that there is a right
36:29
Speaker 3: or wrong, and I would really hate it if you
36:31
Speaker 3: guys were like, oh, well, Victoria has pet insurance, so
36:33
Speaker 3: therefore she must advocate for it like I have it
36:36
Speaker 3: because I'm super conservative. And I was like, oh, if
36:38
Speaker 3: I don't have it, will something happen? And then I
36:41
Speaker 3: spoke to Steve about it and he was like, look,
36:43
Speaker 3: let's just get it and we'll review it in another year.
36:46
Speaker 3: So the answer to do you have pet insurance for
36:49
Speaker 3: me might actually change next year George, because we might
36:52
Speaker 3: end up reviewing it and getting rid of it, because
36:54
Speaker 3: Steve and I do sit down on a pretty regular
36:56
Speaker 3: basis and review all our spending and workout if it's
36:58
Speaker 3: still in land with our values and whether we are
37:00
Speaker 3: actually want to continue paying that. So for me, I've
37:03
Speaker 3: got it for now. Will I have it forever? I
37:05
Speaker 3: don't know. But for me it's a value, and I
37:08
Speaker 3: think it's just in your best interest to do the
37:11
Speaker 3: research and work out what that means. So do a
37:14
Speaker 3: bit of research on your breed. How likely are they
37:17
Speaker 3: to have something happen? What type of activities are your
37:20
Speaker 3: pets going to be doing, Like Lucy's off lead a lot,
37:24
Speaker 3: she goes to the dog park and she careers around
37:26
Speaker 3: with lots of other dogs. Like for me, that's a
37:29
Speaker 3: massive risk. For my cats, they're literally not allowed to
37:33
Speaker 3: leave the house unless they're laying on our back deck
37:35
Speaker 3: with me when they're supervised. Yeah, so the risk of
37:38
Speaker 3: being injured by another animal or like running into something,
37:41
Speaker 3: it's much less likely to happen. So I was like,
37:44
Speaker 3: they don't need to be insured, but again, personal preference.
37:47
Speaker 3: So that's probably all from me, George, What do you
37:50
Speaker 3: reckon I like that.
37:51
Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like I promised at the start
37:53
Speaker 2: that we would be getting to the bottom of whether
37:56
Speaker 2: or not it's a waste of money, and we've kind
37:57
Speaker 2: of we've not been wish washy, but we've said this
38:00
Speaker 2: and cons it's completely personal preference, right.
38:02
Speaker 3: Look, a lot of pet insurances are going to be
38:06
Speaker 3: a massive waste of money because we aren't reading into
38:09
Speaker 3: what the inclusions are. One of them that I was
38:12
Speaker 3: really disappointed with. If we're going to start naming names
38:14
Speaker 3: and talking about brands, is I thought that the RSPCA
38:19
Speaker 3: pet insurance would be the best. It is not. Okay, So, George,
38:22
Speaker 3: I know one question that we haven't addressed that I
38:25
Speaker 3: know a lot of people are going to want to
38:27
Speaker 3: know the answer to because obviously I do a lot
38:29
Speaker 3: of research, and they're going to be like, what did
38:31
Speaker 3: she pick though she's saying she's got pet insurance, but
38:34
Speaker 3: which one? And this is by no means sponsored. I've
38:37
Speaker 3: never talked to these people. I'm only sharing it because
38:39
Speaker 3: I think you guys are going to be really interested
38:41
Speaker 3: in this. I also think it's really important to realize
38:45
Speaker 3: that just because I'm saying I have this insurance, it
38:48
Speaker 3: does not mean that I am advocating for it in
38:50
Speaker 3: any way, shape or form. I'm only sharing it because
38:52
Speaker 3: you're saying heavy Trea, which company did you pick? That
38:55
Speaker 3: doesn't mean that it will always work for you or
38:57
Speaker 3: your personal situation. But for what we wanted, George, we
39:02
Speaker 3: went with a company. Get this, it's called bow Wow Meow.
39:06
Speaker 2: A bit of fun. I like that.
39:07
Speaker 3: I know it's wild. They're a pet insurance company, and
39:11
Speaker 3: we ended up going with them because they didn't have
39:14
Speaker 3: a lot of the exclusions that a lot of other
39:16
Speaker 3: companies had. Their fees aren't the cheapest, but they also
39:20
Speaker 3: weren't absolutely extortionate. The eligibility for the pet meant that
39:25
Speaker 3: I could ensure Lucy now all the way up until
39:28
Speaker 3: I believed nine years of age. And then also I
39:31
Speaker 3: got benefit percentages, and then I got to pick whether
39:34
Speaker 3: a percentage of the VET bills would be covered or
39:37
Speaker 3: not covered, And there was like an annual benefit limit
39:40
Speaker 3: that made sense for us, and we went for the
39:42
Speaker 3: option that covered Lucy for accidental injuries and illness. As
39:45
Speaker 3: I said before, it doesn't cover her standard you know,
39:48
Speaker 3: vet bills and getting vaccinated and stuff. But what I
39:51
Speaker 3: did want to make sure was that she was covered
39:52
Speaker 3: for an accident or an illness that was not foreseeable,
39:55
Speaker 3: so we didn't take up the routine care cover. And
39:58
Speaker 3: then she was also covered for dental, which I thought
40:01
Speaker 3: was really important. So again, have a look on their
40:04
Speaker 3: website work out what that might mean for you and
40:06
Speaker 3: your breed of dog or your cat or your rabbit
40:09
Speaker 3: or whatever you are ensuring. I'm not saying that this
40:12
Speaker 3: is what I recommend, but I did do the research
40:14
Speaker 3: maybe a year ago when we got Lucy and I
40:16
Speaker 3: picked that, And then when we're making this episode, I
40:18
Speaker 3: had a look and the insurances don't seem to have
40:21
Speaker 3: changed since then significantly, Like there's tiny little changes, but again,
40:26
Speaker 3: like I would still pick bow wow me out again,
40:29
Speaker 3: So I don't know, bowow me out. If you want
40:32
Speaker 3: to have a chat and say thanks to the shout out,
40:34
Speaker 3: I love them, just slide into my DMS. But George,
40:37
Speaker 3: I'm literally only sharing that because I want you guys
40:39
Speaker 3: to work out what works for you, and that's just
40:42
Speaker 3: what works for me and my personal situation, and I
40:44
Speaker 3: hope that information can kind of be helpful for you.
40:46
Speaker 2: But yeah, I think that's super generous of you to
40:49
Speaker 2: be so transparent about who you're using.
40:51
Speaker 3: Thank you, and I mean not paid, not at all.
40:54
Speaker 3: I just went through and did the standard stuff. So
40:57
Speaker 3: again I'm having a very standard Glenn experiences.
41:00
Speaker 2: So far, so good.
41:01
Speaker 3: Like I've called them a couple of times and had
41:03
Speaker 3: a really good experience. So you're welcome for that raving
41:05
Speaker 3: review from me. Bow wow me out. Also like your name,
41:08
Speaker 3: it's kind of funny.
41:10
Speaker 2: It's a lot of fun. Well the I think that's
41:12
Speaker 2: all we have time for today. My girl, apologies, but
41:15
Speaker 2: I've got to go and have dinner.
41:17
Speaker 3: It seems fair we're gonna hit permanent pause on this episode,
41:21
Speaker 3: so just before we head off, we'd like to acknowledge
41:25
Speaker 3: and pay respect to Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples.
41:29
Speaker 3: They're the traditional custodians of the lands, the waterways and
41:32
Speaker 3: the skies all across Australia. We thank you for sharing
41:35
Speaker 3: at the caring for the land on which we are
41:37
Speaker 3: able to learn. We pay our respects to elders past
41:40
Speaker 3: and present, and we share our friendship and our kindness.
41:43
Speaker 2: Until next week, guys, see you later. Bye.