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Pet insurance policies are highly useful tools that let those who have a companion animal cope, with sufficient guarantees, with the unexpected expenses their activities may generate.
We want the greatest possible wellbeing for our four-legged companions, and one of our priorities is never to be short of money to give them the medical care that provides them with quality of life. Likewise, it is important to protect yourself against the payments you may have to make if your animal has caused damage to third parties.
Below we present a comparison of the main pet insurance policies, setting Petplan’s apart from those other companies offer for the care of your companion animals. Read on.
Petplan gives you more coverage than the rest of the veterinary insurers
Veterinary assistance coverage
Annual coverage limits:
- Petplan pays you €3,100/year for vet expenses following accidents and illnesses.
- Santalucía pays a maximum of €1,000 for illnesses. In the case of accidents, they pay 50% of the insured sum for veterinary assistance and 100% of the sum in the event of the animal’s death.
- Mapfre pays for illnesses and accidents from €500/year up to €2,000/year.
- Barkibu lets you choose your limit, which can be €3,000/year or unlimited.
- Santévet has three plans, with a limit ranging from €2,000/year up to €5,000/year.
Invoice reimbursement:
- Petplan and Santalucía pay 100% of the invoice.
- Mapfre pays only 80% if you go to a vet that is not a partner of the company.
- Barkibu pays 80% of the expenses.
- Santévet pays from 50% to 90%, depending on the plan chosen.
Free choice of vet:
- They all let you choose your vet, but Petplan, Barkibu, Santalucía and Santévet do not penalise you for it. With Mapfre, if you do not have the extended coverage, you are penalised by not being paid 20% of the invoices.
- In addition, Petplan is the only one that pays for medication, physiotherapy treatments and behavioural disorders.
- Petplan is also the only insurer that covers all non-pre-existing illnesses.
Additional coverage
As for secondary coverage, Petplan’s insurance is the only one that offers cover for death due to illness. Petplan offers more than the other companies across the remaining additional coverages, such as theft with violence, payments for loss or straying, and boarding stays when the owner has fallen ill (offering up to €600), or euthanasia costs, for which it pays €200.
Waiting periods
These refer, respectively, to veterinary care for illness and for accident, and are expressed in days. With Petplan and Santalucía these are 30 and 15 respectively. At other companies such as SantéVet, the waiting period for an illness is 45 days, but if what your pet needs is surgery due to illness or a torn cruciate ligament, the waiting period is 6 months. In Barkibu’s case, it is 5 days for accidents and 28 days for illness, while other conditions have longer waiting periods, such as 6 months. Mapfre offers a 15-day waiting period, although there are specific coverages that can be up to 1 year.
Other services
After comparing it with the main veterinary insurers, we can highlight that Petplan provides online sign-up and immediate delivery of the policy, the availability of an online chat and online claims processing. Although insurers such as Mapfre also include digital services like a veterinary chat, and Santalucía and Santévet offer phone support, their level of digitalisation and online autonomy is more limited compared with Petplan. Barkibu, on the other hand, does commit to a digital model with online management. Claims processing at Petplan is very fast, with customers receiving reimbursements within a few days. And the fact is that Petplan is a company backed by more than five decades in pet insurance, whereas Santalucía has one and Mapfre not quite two. And it shows: Petplan’s pet insurance is, compared with the rest of the companies, the one that rewards you most. That is why it is the ideal option for giving your furry companion the security they deserve.
