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

Episode Date: January 25, 2022

If you're a fur parent, whether or not to have pet insurance is probably a question you've pondered previously. Some people swear by it, and others swear it's a waste of money - but the question is, do you need it, and what should you think about when weighing up your options? Thanks to Superhero for helping us bring this episode to life! Check them out at https://superhe.ro/pr/sotm22 and they'll shout you a FTEC ETF when you fund your account with A$100 or more in your first 30 days. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. You hear a lot of mixed reviews about pet insurance, so today we'll be getting to the bottom of whether it's worth it or whether it's a waste of money. Plus, we'll be spelling out exactly what you need to look out for to make sure you don't end up paying for cover that actually doesn't cover you at all. My name is Georgia King and joining me today is financial

advisor and loving mother to two cats and one dog and probably plenty more bets in the future. Not yet. Not yet. I'm working on it. It's Victoria Devine, of course. Pet insurance, as I mentioned just before, it's a bit of a controversial topic. People are quite divided on something that seems quite like frivolous and not that important. But obviously, we love our pets. They are very important. Why do you think this is such a divisive topic, if that's not too explosive language to be using. George, we live in Australia and I feel like pets are incredibly divisive at the end of the day. Some people will swear that a pet is a child like me. Let them sleep on the bed, get on the bed, get on all of the surfaces in your house. They'll take them

everywhere. And other people are like, no, a dog, a dog never comes inside the house. They go outside. And then we've got other people who are solemnly swearing that they will never have a pet in their entire life because they're like, why would I want another being reliant on me? So I just feel like everybody's got different opinions, which they are absolutely welcome to. I don't think that there is a right or a wrong thing. But at the end of the day, three in five Australians own a pet. So it makes sense that we all have opinions on them. I do think that pet insurance, though, is a pretty divisive topic because we don't know heaps about it. And when you get it, you don't know a lot about the things that animals experience. And a lot of the time you

haven't maybe read the PDS properly and didn't know what it excluded or what it included. And I just think that there's a lot of, I guess, fluffiness around it. A lot of insurances have put on the table that you can claim vet bills, but what does that actually mean? Is it like their standard checkups? Is it, you know, only emergency stuff? Does that include medication? What is included and what isn't included, I think is, you know, a bit of a murky topic, but then your values come into it as well. Like from my perspective, G, I'm really happy to pay for my pet's annual checkups. Like I'm very happy to be out of pocket, but what I don't want is that big emergency bill that might pop up because I've got a dog who's a really large dog who could end

up with hip dysplasia and it could cost me 10 grand. That's my priority when it comes to insurance and talking about it. But in saying that, there are a lot of policies, G, that say hip dysplasia isn't covered. So, it's just a really fickle topic. Yeah, that's it. And that's what we will be covering today because there are a few things to be mindful of to make sure that you're not being ripped off. But before we get there and before we do get into the depths of insurance, I guess, let's take a little look at how much Australians are actually spending on their pets annually. So, this little, I found an article by the New Daily, a hot website. Never heard of them, so they must be solid.

Me either. Reputable sources here at She's On The Money. When it comes to pets. Yeah, exactly. Obviously, otherwise we're using ASIC and ATO. It's all good. It's all good. so they reported last year that we are spending 21.9 billion dollars per year on our pets billion yes oh look that kind of adds up all my pets did get christmas presents but don't you think it like it we we jest and we joke but when you think about like trips to the vet operations that pop up all the food that they eat they eat a lot of food boarding when you're on vacay grooming if you

can't be bothered doing that yourself. Puppy school, cat school. Don't know if that's a thing, but- Is cat school a thing? I don't know if cat school's a thing. But it's expensive, even if maybe the New Daily's numbers have blown out a bit. Yeah, look, pets are expensive and they absolutely are a privilege. So, I think that we should also, I guess, disclaimer that here as well, that I'm speaking from a position of massive privilege in that I can afford to have three pets and keep them all happy, healthy, and, you know, getting Christmas presents, which sounds a bit wild, but that's in line with my values. And I'm not saying I'm spending hundreds of dollars on my pets. Like my cat's got cans of tuna, which they wouldn't

have otherwise been eating for dinner. And Lucy got a fancy dog treat and a couple of other things that I actually needed to purchase for her, like a new lead and stuff like that. I just wrapped them up and put them under the tree. It seems like a good present. And I'm sorry, but have you ever watched an animal open a present. No, mate. Oh, there is nothing that brings more joy than a dog ripping Christmas paper off something that they're like, wow, this is for me. This is wild. Like that. I'm just a pet person. I'm sorry. Yeah. I think maybe you're giving your dog a little bit too much credit. Does it know what it's doing when it's opening a present? No, they do. They do. They know. But Bea, in your experience, has having pets been more expensive than you perhaps

expected. Yes. Yes. So gee, stepping back nine years, I got Bailey nine years ago. He was a rescue. He was one when I got him and I rescued him. And I think the fee for adopting him was like $250, which is, you know, relatively reasonable. He was dissexed and all of that other fun stuff. But what I didn't envisage as a poor uni student who at the time, honestly, everything felt so expensive, but I was in a situation where I just wanted a pet. It was aligned to my values. I am a massive, if you haven't picked this up, massive animal person. They bring me a lot of peace. I felt so much better having his presence around. I was going through, you know, speaking really openly, a really stressful breakup. I was going through

writing a thesis. I was going through uni and trying to manage three casual jobs on top of that. this cat was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Could I afford him? Probably not. Should I have gotten him based on my financial situation? Probably not. Because I remember purchasing him and the $250 was so big that I think I only had maybe like 50 bucks left in my bank account after getting him. Like it was not a situation where I'm like, oh great, I have an emergency fund. I had none of that, but I just, I knew that's what I wanted. Would I make a different decision? Look, absolutely not because Bailey's obviously a part of my life now and he's like an extension of me in a way even though he's a cat but I shouldn't have made that decision at that time if we were

just looking at financials but I think for my own mental health oh gee that was so necessary what I wasn't ready for was the additional debt I would incur when my very friendly Tonkinese cat swallowed a paper clip and cost me I think about three thousand two hundred dollars maybe for an emergency surgery to get rid of it yeah so that was really good he's also had to have teeth cleanings which i didn't know was a thing but turns out his breed has not so great teeth so they have to be cleaned every year or so and that costs me anywhere between 300 and maybe 450 dollars a year for bailey really and then you have like yep then you have vaccinations and i think my vaccinations they're not too bad they may be like 110 a year for his standard like check up get his

booster shots he's all good but it really really does add up and then you look at food like food can be really expensive when i first got bailey no i wasn't feeding him you know top of the range royal canon fancy digestive pet food he was literally just eating like whiskers or even sometimes home brand stuff because that was in line with my budget and like it was always something and i've said this on a podcast before and i think it really resonates with pet people but people who aren't pet people are like, what on earth, Victoria? Like one of my goals was to be able to give my cat the best life. Like I really wanted to be able to buy the bougie cat food that you can only get from the pet shop. Like that for me was a really big achievement when

I got to that point. And I know that that seems really minuscule and you're probably looking at it going like, oh my gosh, like Victoria, that's not such a good goal. But like when you know, you know, like, yeah, that to me was an achievement, like being able to have enough in my budget that I could afford that. And now I'm very grateful that all three of my pets, they eat fancy food. But if you're not in that situation, I don't think that there's any shame in that. Like if we couldn't afford it, we wouldn't. But that that gives me a lot of joy. Like, I don't know. But yes, they are really expensive. Would I change any of their expenses? No. But oh, damn, they hurt sometimes, George. Yeah. And especially when they're unexpected, like when they swallow paper

clips. Have you found just the audacity of that cat, the poor doll, have you found in your experience that Lucy, your dog, is more expensive than your cats though? Because that would be just my assumption. Yes and no. Okay. So, Bailey, like if you added it all up, Bailey has cost me the most thus far because Bailey obviously swallowed a paper clip and has had some teeth cleaning and I've had him for nine years. So, that's nine years worth of expenses. Lucy, on the other hand, has not had anything too big wrong with her. She has had an emergency vet trip. So that cost me, I think nearly six or $800. I can't remember which one it was because she ate half a block of chocolate that we left on the couch. And it turns out because I eat dark chocolate, that's the worst

kind for dogs. Yeah. So it's the cacao that's really bad for dogs. And turns out like me and my lint block of like 80% dark or whatever it was, Lucy was like, heck yeah, not great. So in the grand scheme of things, like Lucy has technically cost us less, but on an ongoing basis, she costs more to feed, but also her initial costs were much, much higher. Like Lucy was a couple of thousand dollars to purchase, whereas Bailey, our rescue cat, 250 bucks and already de-sexed. And then we've also got Henry who's one and Henry is also a Tonkinese and Henry cost us about a thousand dollars.

so speaking really openly about what pets cost yeah that's in line with my values happy to talk about it but yes dogs i would say are more expensive than cats as long as your cat isn't eating paperclip yeah gotcha nailed it okay so let's let's pivot back to insurance how much does that cost on average in australia roughly oh my gosh it varies massively and when i was doing the research because I didn't have pet insurance until we got Lucy. So, both my cats are not insured, but Lucy is just for full transparency. I think that's also a bit funny from my perspective because my view on pet insurances is not that great, but I'm also really risk averse, George. So, I would prefer to have it and have a level of peace of mind than to not have it,

even though it doesn't have as many bells and whistles as you'd hope. So, when it comes to cost, it varies massively. Some research that the ABC did, they crunched the numbers and they found that depending on the cover, you could pay anywhere between $200 a year to $4,000 a year, which over the course of your pet's lifetime, that's massive. That's a big investment. Like, I'm definitely not paying $4,000 a year for Lucy's insurance. We're paying about $840 a year, George? So about $70 a month for Lucy's insurance, which I think is steep. But can you imagine paying $4,000 a year on pet insurance? Certainly not. But I wonder if that's for like racing horses or something, you know, a little more substantial where maybe there's more risk

involved. I'm not sure. Perhaps. Maybe that then comes in and I'm sure you're going to ask me alternatives to insurance and stuff like that. But if you're spending four grand a year on your pet's insurance, I'd argue that you probably should be saving that money because who spends $4,000 a year on a pet? Like, don't get me wrong. People are going to jump at me and be like, Victoria, my French bulldog had to have $15,000 worth of surgeries. I get it. I have friends in that position. I more mean on average, like what's four grand of insurance get you? No idea. Does it get you a whole brand new dog? Like, I don't know.

Well, that's it. You could just buy a new one. I'm kidding. You literally couldn't, by the way, for a French bulldog, the going rate of those is more than 10 grand, George. Oh, they're so trendy though, aren't they? So fashion. They are so fashion. I do love a French bulldog. Oh, same. They're delightful. They are little angels. Okay. So, between $200 and $4,000 a year is what we're looking at for insurance. What then does it cost Vages to hit up the vet? Obviously, again, it will change depending on if it's an emergency or if it's just a checkup, but what are we looking at on average? So, according to the research, it's estimated

that we as a country spend $2.6 billion on vet visits every single year. So that's around $550 per year on average per person who is a pet owner in Australia, if you and I, George, have done our maths correctly. So the annual amount, George, is obviously going to fluctuate for like serious surgeries, which is why so many people look at getting pet insurance to help them out with those super significant fees, should they ever, ever come up. But it definitely fluctuates. And I feel like if you were budgeting for it, $550 in pet fees is really reasonable to have in your budget for vet bills for each individual animal. Because from my experience, it could be that. Sometimes it could be less. Sometimes it could be more. Like George, I told you before, sometimes Bailey's

vaccinations are only going to be $110 a year. Wham, bam. Thank you, ma'am. Other years, it's $400 in addition of tooth cleaning, but it would vary. So, now I have three. I've got to save three times that. That's not so fun. Yeah. It's expensive. I don't like this. I feel like this is just an expose on how much Victoria Devine spends on animals each and every single year. Well, no, I think it's good to talk about and shine a little light on because it's often quite romantic to say, oh, well, I'm going to get a puppy. And you don't really think about how expensive it can be. Like you just don't think about all of the costs associated. so I think it is good to be having this conversation. So, V, talk to me about the

different kinds of pet insurance currently available in Australia. Oh girl, there are so many, but there's obviously different types, just like there are different types for humans and also different types for your car. So, first cab off the rank, George, you've got comprehensive insurance and that covers you for things like accidents and illness, as well as other routine care procedures. that's essentially the top of the range type of insurance then we have accident and illness cover only which as the name suggests only covers your pet for accidents and illness so if they have hereditary conditions or if they get sick they're going to be covered and then at the lower end of the scale you're going to have accident only insurance so that just covers your pup or your

pet for accidents so for an example when Lucy ate chocolate or they swallow a sock or they break their leg or God forbid, they might run into the side of a car. So those are the different types of insurances and they are priced accordingly. So obviously comprehensive is going to be the most expensive. Then we have accident and illness insurance. And I feel like I gave you guys a little bit of a tip bit before and said that I only care when it comes to insurance personally about the accident and illness insurance, which is what we have for Lucy. And then there's obviously the accident-only insurance, which comes in as the cheapest, G. Heaven. Now, V, I would say that it's pretty unlike you not to get the most extensive range

of insurance that there is. You said there that you just- That is true. Yeah. You like to be very well covered, but you said there that you have accident-only, or was it accident and illness? Accident and illness-only insurance for Lucy. So, G, that's probably a very good pickup. And you are right, I do tend to like to over-insure. I am first and foremost a financial advisor, so I do see a lot of claims go through and I never want to be in the position where I'm not insured. But again, it's probably playing a lot to the privilege that Steve and I have when it

comes to cash flow. Like our pets were adopted by a double income, no kids household, George, so a dink household. So they are quite lucky. And that means that Steve and I in our budget have actually worked out like how much vet bills are going to be and how much we're allocating towards food and stuff like that. And we actually do have an emergency fund built up if something does happen. But when it comes to Lucy, Lucy's a pretty big dog. Like she's half old English sheepdog, half standard poodle. So she's a big lady, which means she's actually predispositioned to potentially have hip dysplasia, which I've heard of in a lot of breeds similar to hers. and there are a lot of other things that can potentially happen to big dog breeds

that I just wanted to be covered for. Not because we couldn't afford it, but because I just didn't want to be out $10,000 or $15,000 should something happen. When it comes to the cats, and I'm sure there are absolutely outliers where people are going to say, oh, but Victoria, like I spent $30,000 on my cat. Like I totally get that, but that is far more unlikely than the need to do that for a dog. Like if Lucy breaks her leg because she's outside and running around the park, like that's going to be pretty significant. If she does an ACL because she's crazy and can't run straight, like that's going to be a massive issue. Lucy's out and about, whereas both of my cats are indoor only cats. So, I feel like they have a lot more protection than Lucy might.

So, from our perspective and the fact that we are, again, in a very lucky position to have the cash flow and have an emergency fund already, I was like, okay, I just need Lucy to be covered for the potentially really big things that could happen. Because I didn't want to be paying four grand worth of insurance when, as I said before, G, I'm happy to just pay her vet bills as they come up and as they're necessary for things that are routine. All right, Bea, I think that was really well said. Interesting to get your perspective, but let's press pause for a little moment. Pardon the pun you just made there, G King on tour. Love that one. But we will be back on the other side of this break to chat through exactly what we need to be mindful of when it

comes to pet insurance. And I'm also going to be picking your brain as to how we can budget for our pets, VD. So don't go anywhere, guys. Okay, V, so we said a little earlier that pet insurance policies aren't necessarily all inclusive. No, they are not. I had a little stalk in our Facebook group. And a lot of people were really peeved because they thought that they had insurance, they were covered, but then say a massive accident happened and they weren't actually covered for it at all. And they had to fork out. That would be so frustrating. A lot of money. Yeah. So, what do we need to be mindful of here? This is not just being mindful. I mean, I'm branching out again, but this isn't just pet

insurance. We really need to read the product disclosure statements whenever you're getting them so that you know what is included and what's not included. And I was actually having this conversation, George, with a client recently about trauma. And there's a particular type of breast cancer that is not covered by one particular insurer. And I was like, you need to know this because you're telling me that you want this particular insurer. I think because a friend had it or something. She was like, oh, these insurers are really good. Could you get me like a quote from them? I was like, no, your mum had that. I'm never going to write that for you because it's included and she's like how did you know that because on the website it says it includes it

like because it's in the fine print it's in the terms and conditions and we really need to be reading this and this is particularly prevalent when it comes to pet insurance because there are so many things that are predispositioned when it comes to dogs and like not all premiums are going to be covered when it comes to the age of your pet and stuff like that so there are definitely a few things g that we need to consider and as reflected in a post by the lovely melinda in our Facebook group recently, if your pup or your pet has a pre-existing condition like hip dysplasia or potentially already has damaged ligaments, making them more likely to need help down the line, then it is very likely that your insurer is not going to cover your pet for those pre-existing

conditions. So you really, really, really need to make sure that you read the PDS to know what you're being covered for. And that was something that came up when I was looking for insurance for Lucy George it's not just a pre-existing condition or damage that Lucy had because Lucy was a baby when we got this and she'd had nothing but there were a few insurers that just blanket said we don't cover hip dysplasia in larger dogs or in these particular breeds and because her breed is very likely to have this in comparison to other breeds they were just like not not happening I was like wow like my pet doesn't have that but hypothetically if it did why do I want that cover because it's never going to cover me. So, that would suck. George, the other thing that you

need to know is that insurance is very unlikely to cover the entirety of your vet bill. So, depending on what your pet is having done, your insurer should cover between 80 to 100%, but you're still going to have to fork out a fair bit of cash. Sometimes they have caps. So, they might say, all right, George, we'll cover your pet up to $10,000, but the surgery might be $15,000. So, you need to be really aware of what those limits are. But in addition to that, I had no idea how much these surgeries were going to be. I was like, 10 grand, that sounds like a lot. But in the grand scheme of things, it's actually not if your pet has a very significant health condition. So, I would absolutely be going, all right, well, what does that cost?

And if you've got a vet, ask them. It's very likely that if you've just got a new puppy, you're going to take them for their vaccinations. Ask them, what happens if my dog has hip dysplasia, how much is that going to cost? What does cancer cost? What does this cost? Just so you get a general awareness of it. Because George, the other thing I'm seeing recently, especially when we're having these conversations in the Facebook group, is that the cost of vet procedures changes dramatically based on location. So, they are far more expensive in metropolitan areas than they are in regional areas. And that's absolutely fine because at the end of the day, a metro vet is obviously going to have higher rent and

increased expenses and all of this other stuff. So, it's not to say that they're doing the wrong thing, but you really need to understand what that might cost for your particular area. And I can't tell you that because I don't know where you live, J. King. Well, actually I do, but I don't know where anybody else lives. The other thing that you need to note is that premiums are typically much higher for older dogs because obviously they're far more at risk of developing illness or having frail bones that means that they're going to need a surgery and so on and so forth. So, as we know, the way insurance works is that it is mitigating risk and the more risk, the more you're going to pay. So, it's often suggested that if you're going to get insurance

for your pet, you do so when they're young so that they have it for a long period of time. Because I know if you went to try and insure an eight-year-old dog, they're very likely to go either, no, you can no longer get insurance because I know that some insurers say absolutely not. But then also they might go, yeah, no problems. But it's like 30 times what it would have cost you if you'd got it when they were young. So it's a little bit dramatic. The other thing you need to be mindful of, and we touched on this before, is that pet insurance at the end of the day is expensive. Like it is a privilege to be able to get pet insurance. And you're going to at the end of the year be paying hundreds of dollars per year at a minimum. And hopefully

for many years, if your pet lives into the ripe old ages of like 30, like my dog is going to live. And while it can be super useful, and I've certainly heard anecdotally that people have been super grateful that they've had insurance because it means that they're able to afford a really expensive surgery or have that covered for them. I do think that there are ways that we can be pretty strategic to save ourselves some money. And I've certainly, George, heard anecdotally that there are a lot of people that have said, I am so grateful to have had insurance because it meant that I didn't have to be out of pocket 15 grand for my dog's surgery when they did this thing at the park or, you know, my dog swallowed a sock and I didn't have to cough up the

$1,500 for the surgery or whatever it was. And I totally get that. But I also think when it comes to pet insurance, we need to be a little bit strategic to save ourselves money. But then also remember my number one golden like goal of insurance is for it to be a waste of money. like George I want you to think that your insurance you know after we've worked out what insurance we're getting and we're doing in the most cost-effective way and it's aligned to our values and all of that I want it to be a waste of money because if it is a waste of money it means you didn't have to claim on it and your pet didn't have to go through anything adverse like in a perfect world you never had to claim on pet insurance and that means your pet was never sick

and that's really good but at the end of the day unfortunately with pets it's very likely that they're going to have something happen just like humans. So it's nice to know that in the back of your mind, you have that peace of mind. Yeah. I feel a little bit conflicted now because I kind of went into this conversation thinking that pet insurance wasn't necessary, but now I'm thinking maybe it is, but we just don't want it to come up and we just want to pay for it. And then it's a good thing if we don't need to use it. But for anyone who is still thinking pet insurance? No, not for me. I want other strategies. What have you got for us? I totally get that too, because I know that when I did some research for this episode as well, G, I think it was Choice

Magazine, CanStar and Finder all came to the same conclusion that yes and no. Like they never said, yes, absolutely get pet insurance. And they also didn't say no. They just said, like, it's aligned to your values. Like no one was able to actually come out and say, yep, it's worth the money. I think it's actually more of a mental thing for me, like knowing that my pet is covered and knowing that I'm not going to have that massive cost. Like what if Lucy's running around like the crazy woman she is and she runs into a tree at the park and breaks a leg? Like I just don't want to be up for that cost. And for me, that's where my value sat. But I really liked an idea from Larissa in our group. And she said, instead of having pet insurance, my partner and I

have an account for our doggo. We started with $500 each, so a grand, and every week they contribute $10 to the account. I think something like this is a pretty good idea if you're still organizing your finances so that if something does go wrong, you're covered and you won't have to dip into savings and then it'll mean that your pet will be able to receive the cover and the care that it needs without compromising your future financial goals. You could also use your emergency fund for unexpected pet costs, but just remember to work hard to replenish these as soon as possible and also if you've got a pet and you're planning on using your emergency fund if anything happens maybe you need to up the amount of emergency funds you actually have access to because that's pretty

significant and we don't want you to be out love that idea from larissa there because ten dollars a week that's 520 a year and if you're both doing that you and your partner that's 1040 dollars math oh my gosh you little maths wizard so over the journey that's a good amount of money and if you don't spend it on the pet insurance then at least you've got it there whereas i'm spending it on the pet insurance at the moment g yeah and i i'm not going to get any of that money back which you know i'm very aware of but if you're a bit like well i don't want to put the money down the drain and i have the ability to save for it then start doing that and i know it doesn't sound great but at the end of the day if nothing ever happens to your pet you then have a

savings account full of money. And that is a big money win. We love to see it. Vy, while we're on the topic of pets, I want to pick your brains as to how you budget and how we can all budget for our pets a little better. What tricks of the trade have you got for us today? All right. So, like these aren't real tricks of the trade. These are just like how Victoria manages her pet's lives and also makes it easier for her. So, you guys probably heard an ad ages ago for scratch pet food. This is not a sponsored mention, by the way. George is just like, they're doing good things and I like them. But Lucy eats scratch pet food, which I find to be really reasonably priced, really premium quality pet food. And it's on subscription, which means I

don't have to go to the shops and buy it. It just turns up at the front door and money win. It is right there. I also buy the cat's food in bulk. And I don't know if bulk is the right word here, but I buy the biggest bag and probably do that every three months. And I actually have that on a subscription with Pet Circle. Again, not sponsored, just the website I use because I get an additional 5% off if it's like on a subscription, which, you know, all adds up. Absolutely. I also think when it comes to pets, obviously trying to adopt instead of buying from a breeder, but I'm never going to judge someone on their decision to buy from a breeder because I think there's so much more that comes into play when picking a pet to integrate into your family.

and I am so here for adopting. I know that that is so, so important, but I didn't do that. I have done with the cats, obviously, but when it comes to the dog, I knew we wanted a certain personality type. We were really specific about the fact that we didn't want her to drop fur in our house. I really wanted her to be amazing with kids because one day Steve and I are hoping to start a family and, you know, getting a puppy at this point in time, she's going to be around for that. So, I just had a lot of non-negotiables when it came to a pet. And while everybody is going to say, Victoria, I can't believe you didn't adopt. Like, I did what was right for me and my family and you absolutely should do that. But at the end of the day, adopting is going to be significantly

cheaper than buying from a breeder. And if you're on Facebook and Instagram, there are lots of places that you can find the perfect pet, I promise. I also think it's really important to resist the urge to buy new toys for your pet or says the girl who bought hundreds of dollars worth of gear for christmas okay i did not buy hundreds of dollars worth of gear for my dog i think the most expensive thing she got was a 40 retractable lead which was more for me than it was for her because i'm sick of her pulling but gee i actually go to the op shops and buy her toys so all of Lucy's toys are either secondhand or gifts because I'm telling you right now, she much prefers bears like soft toy bears from the op shop than a proper dog toy. You give her a dog bone dog toy that

someone's bought for her. She's like, sorry, have you seen my bear? That's all she cares about. And it cost me a ripe two dollars. They're going to be covered in slobber in no time anyway. So from my perspective, you just don't need to spend a lot of money on that. Although that is a massive market, right? Like there are designer dog shops. Did you know that? Like you can buy Louis Vuitton dog collars and leads, like not my thing. Lucy's just got a pink one that is relatively cheap and I just picked it because it was pink. She's not going to be wearing a fancy designer collar anytime soon. I'm telling you that right now. Gee, another tip if you're going to go on a holiday and this mention, again, not sponsored, just good, is to look into pet sitting services instead of

kennels recently I used paw shake and I had a really good experience we met Penelope and Penelope adored our pets and she was so so so much cheaper than had we you know put them into board again I have three pets so that adds up really quickly but not only did she look after my pets she had all these really great reviews and she actually came and stayed here looked after the pets took the dog for a walk it was really good and from my perspective I liked it much better because the pets had attention and I find that really important. Yeah. And like being at home rather than at a kennel and also no other dogs or cats as well to kind of bunk in with. That's kind of good. Yeah, exactly. And I know that sounds really lame to some people, especially if you're not a pet

person. I'd one argue, why are you still listening to the pet insurance episode if you're not a pet person? But that's another topic. But both of my cats are incredibly needy. Like George, you've met them. If you're in the room, they're on top of you. They are never far from me. Every time I record, I've got Bailey to the left, Henry to the right. They are literally not less than a meter from me because they are so needy. So, if I'm going on a holiday, I don't want them to go into a kennel where they're not going to be able to sit with people and get the attention that I believe they deserve. So, from my perspective, I really liked that. I tested it out for you guys. Stunning.

So far, so good. Just on the kennel chat, when we went away recently, mum hooked the dogs up with a kennel. Hooked the dogs up. I love that. I'm so tired and hot. I can't speak today. Anyway, she hooked them up with this kennel where they all had their own TVs. Oh, my God.

What? I've seen that. Have you? And they got sent a postcard. Mum's like, I don't care. A postcard? Yes. Written by Ralph and Arch.

Oh, my God. it was yeah I feel like it's right that is really sweet I feel like that's some stuff that I would really like like I mean I sign off the Christmas presents to Steve from Victoria Lucy Bailey and Henry like oh I feel like if you're a pet person you're a pet person but that would give you the peace of mind right that they are being cared for and I know it sounds super lame to some people but like it's not lame to me yeah I feel that okay last question for today then V with your financial advisor hat on rather than your pet loving squishy darling hat? What? That's a good type of hat to wear. I love it. Would you recommend pet insurance to your clients? Yes and no. Again, I think it's

really based on your values. Like I think you as an individual need to work out whether it is something you want to do. There's a whole heap of comparison websites out there. The thing you do need to remember about comparison websites if you're going to do your research and work out if it works for you or not, is that a lot of those comparison websites do actually get kickbacks for ranking certain insurers higher. So, please, please, please be aware of that and don't just go, oh, this one has the highest amount of reviews. That's the best. Like, go and look at the PDSs. I know that feels really overwhelming, but have a look for the word exclusions or excludes and have a look for the word includes and work out what that actually means for you and your dog.

the second best thing to do is actually call them. I've said this about normal insurers. I've said this about your superannuation fund. The company exists to get your business. So, make them work hard for it. Call them up and be like, all right, George, I'm thinking about getting your insurance. What's not included? I have a French bulldog. What's the most common claim for a French bulldog? What is not included for French bulldogs? What does this mean? Because it's going to be different for every single pet. So, for example, Lucy's a large breed. So, there were large breed exclusions and you best believe I was on the phone to that poor person in the call center being like, all right, well, why is hip dysplasia not included? What could make it included? Oh, no, it's blanket.

Okay, why is that the case? Is there any other levels of insurance that would and wouldn't? And so, we ended up not going with that insurer because then I called a different insurer and they're like, okay, cool. It's only included if your dog doesn't have pre-existing conditions and you don't know about it. And I'm like, okay, no problems. She's never had an issue. She's a puppy. We're getting it early. That's why I wanted to get it so early because often with dogs, hip dysplasia tends to show itself in the first 12 months. So, I was really, really on top of getting that sorted. And then from there, it's about doing your research, not overpaying for something that you're not seeing value in. Maybe if setting up a savings account is going to work

better for you, go and do that. I don't think that there is a right or wrong, and I would really hate it if you guys were like, oh, well, Victoria has pet insurance, so therefore she must advocate for it. Like I have it because I'm super conservative. I was like, oh, if I don't have it, will something happen? And then I spoke to Steve about it and he was like, look, let's just get it and we'll review it in another year. So the answer to do you have pet insurance for me might actually change next year, George, because we might end up reviewing it and getting rid of it because Steve and I do sit down on a pretty regular basis and review all our spending and work out if it's still in line with our values and whether we actually want to continue paying that.

So, for me, I've got it for now. Will I have it forever? I don't know. But for me, it's a value and I think it's just in your best interest to do the research and work out what that means. So, do a bit of research on your breed. How likely are they to have something happen? What type of activities are your pets going to be doing? Like Lucy's off lead a lot. She goes to the dog park and she careers around with lots of other dogs. Like for me, that's a massive risk. For my cats, they're literally not allowed to leave the house unless they're laying on our back deck with me when they're supervised. Yeah. So, the risk of being injured by another animal or like running into something, it's much less likely to happen. So, I was like, they don't need to be insured.

But again, personal preference. So, that's probably all from me, George. What do you reckon? I like that. I mean, I feel like I promised at the start that we would be getting to the bottom of whether or not it's a waste of money. And we've kind of, we've not been wish-washy, but we've said there's pros and cons. It's completely personal preference, right? Look, a lot of pet insurances are going to be a massive waste of money because we aren't reading into what the inclusions are. One of them that I was really disappointed with, if we're going to start naming names and talking about brands, is I thought that the RSPCA pet insurance would be the best. It is not. Okay. So, George, I know one question that we haven't addressed that I know

a lot of people are going to want to know the answer to because obviously I do a lot of research and they're going to be like, what did she pick though? She's saying she's got pet insurance, but which one? And this is by no means sponsored. I've never talked to these people. I'm only sharing it because I think you guys are going to be really interested in this. I also think it's really important to realize that just because I'm saying I have this insurance, it does not mean that I am advocating for it in any way, shape or form. I'm only sharing it because you're saying, hey, Victoria, which company did you pick? That doesn't mean that it'll always work for you or your personal situation, but for what we wanted, George, we went with a company, get this,

it's called Bow Wow Meow. Bit of fun. I like that. I know, it's wild. They're a pet insurance company and we ended up going with them because they didn't have a lot of the exclusions that a lot of other companies had. Their fees, aren't the cheapest, but they also weren't absolutely extortionate. The eligibility for the pet meant that I could insure Lucy now all the way up until I believe nine years of age. And then also I got benefit percentages. And then I got to pick whether a percentage of the vet bills would be covered or not covered. And there was like an annual benefit limit that made sense for us. And we went for the option that covered Lucy for accidental injuries and illness. As I

said before, it doesn't cover her standard vet bills and getting vaccinated and stuff. But what I did want to make sure was that she was covered for an accident or an illness that was not foreseeable. So, we didn't take up the routine care cover. And then she was also covered for dental, which I thought was really important. So, again, have a look on their website, work out what that might mean for you and your breed of dog or your cat or your rabbit or whatever you are insuring. I'm not saying that this is what I recommend, but I did do the research maybe a year ago when we got Lucy and I picked that. And then when we were making this episode, I had a look and the insurances don't seem to have changed since then significantly. Like there's tiny little

changes, but again, like I would still pick Bow Wow Meow again. So I don't know, Bow Wow Meow, if you want to have a chat and say thanks to the shout out, you're more than welcome to slide into my DMs. But George, I'm literally only sharing that because I want you guys to work out what works for you and that's just what works for me and my personal situation and I hope that information can kind of be helpful for you but yeah I think that's super generous of you to be so transparent about who you're using thank you and I mean not paid not at all I just went through and did the standard stuff so again I'm having a very standard client experience and so far so good like I've called them a couple of times and had a really good experience so you're welcome for that

raving review from me bow wow meow also like your name it's kind of funny it's a lot of fun well v i think that's all we have time for today my girl apologies but i've gotta go and have dinner that seems fair we're gonna hit permanent pause on this episode so uh just before we head off we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to australia's aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples they're the traditional custodians of the lands the waterways and the skies all across australia we thank you for sharing and for caring for the land on which we are able to learn we pay our respects to elders past and present and we share our friendship and our kindness until next week guys see you later bye