Press Release

24 February 10

Pets put to sleep due to soaring veterinary treatment costs

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  · Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance provides up to £7,500 of vet fee cover per condition.  Only 3% of policies offer this level of cover¹

Owning a pet can be expensive and sadly, new research⁽²⁾ from Sainsbury’s Finance reveals that 56 per cent of vets claim that over the past five years, they have had to put down cats and/or dogs because their owners could not afford the cost of treating their conditions.  Furthermore, a staggering 88 per cent of vets claim that they have experienced situations where owners have rejected a recommended course of treatment or operation because they could not afford to pay for it.

Sainsbury’s Finance, who offers good quality, competitively priced Pet Insurance is urging pet owners not to do without cover.  Joanne Mallon, Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance Manager said: "It should be an essential item on a prospective owner's list when weighing up whether to purchase an animal or not. Doing without insurance is simply false economy and worse still could result in some heart breaking family decisions being made later down the line.

“Advances in veterinary science mean that our pets can get the best treatment possible these days, but these improvements including everything from more sophisticated scans to cancer treatments come at higher costs and the financial burden is being felt by pet owners. Despite this, the vast majority of our pets are not insured so their owners have no protection against large veterinary bills. 

“Vet fees are increasing by around 12% a year⁽³⁾ , and as a result of this we may see more animals needlessly being put down because their owners cannot afford it.”

The research from Sainsbury’s Finance revealed that 63 per cent of vets believe that the cost of treating a skin tumour on a cat or dog has increased over the past year alone.  Vets were found to report increases in the cost of treatment for a number of other conditions also. These include dental trauma, for which 53 per cent of vets report an increase in the cost of treatment, gastroenteritis (65%), lameness (61%) and diabetes (57%).

As well as taking out pet insurance to ensure there is help to pay for any surprise veterinary bills, the findings reveal that some owners could also be doing more to improve the overall health of their pets.  The vets surveyed said that nearly one in ten (9 per cent) of the cats they see are obese and an additional 29 per cent are slightly overweight.  The corresponding figures for dogs are 12 per cent and 33 per cent.

Sainsbury's shoppers are rewarded with double Nectar points on their shopping in store, online and in petrol filling stations for two years when taking out Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance⁽⁴⁾ , which is one of only 3% of products on the market which offer cover for veterinary fees of £7,500 per condition or more⁽¹⁾ . Customers who spend £50 a week with Sainsbury’s and have Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance as well as a Nectar card would receive £52 worth of Nectar points a year.

Good quality pet insurance does not need to be expensive, good cover at a competitive price can be found by shopping around.  Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance is designed to offer some of the widest range of benefits available at a competitive price.  For further information call 0800 056 5758, log on to www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk or pick up a leaflet in a Sainsbury’s supermarket.

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:
Ian Morris / Phil Anderson
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
020 7638 9571

Notes to Editors:
Sainsbury's Pet Insurance is underwritten by AXA Insurance UK plc which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Terms, conditions, exclusions and limitations apply.

⁽¹⁾ Research carried out by Defaqto, September 2009
⁽²⁾ 51 vets were interviewed during December 2009
⁽³⁾ Datamonitor
⁽⁴⁾ Policy must be renewed with the same cover level and be claim free at the first renewal

Sainsbury’s pet insurance cover: (note, a lower level cover option is also available)
 

Benefits	Level of Cover
Veterinary Fees	Up to £7,500 (includes up to £1,000 per condition for complementary treatments and £250 a year for behavioural problems).
Personal Liability	Up to £2,000,000
Emergency Boarding Kennels / Cattery Fees	£100 (max £1,000)
Daily Minding	£100 (max £1,000)
Advertising Costs - reward limit	Up to £1,000   £250
Theft or Straying	Up to £750
Death Caused by Injury	Up to £1,500
Death by Illness	Up to £1,000
Trip Cancellation or Return Home	Up to £3,000
Expenses for referral to another vet	Up to £150
Accidental Damage	Up to £500
Damage to kennel or basket	Up to £100
Personal accident to the owner	£5,000
Quarantine costs	Up to £2,000
Loss of Health Certificate	Up to £250
Repeat Tick and worming treatment	Reasonable costs
Emergency expenses abroad	Up to £500

Sainsbury’s Finance:
To view our latest press releases and product information, please visit the Sainsbury's Finance online media centre at www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk/media.
Sainsbury’s was the first major British supermarket to open a bank, commencing trading in February 1997. Benefiting from a fantastic, trusted brand that enables us to combine the shopping experience with personal finance, Sainsbury’s Finance provides a range of quality products including insurances, credit cards, savings and loans. Our proposition is to make shopping more rewarding by offering customers great products at fair prices, while consistently rewarding shoppers for their loyalty and being easy to do business with at all times.  Our products consistently top Best Buy tables and regularly win awards for quality, price and service.
Sainsbury’s Finance recent awards include Best Online Credit Card Provider / Best Direct Home Insurance Provider, Your Money 2009
Sainsbury's Finance is a joint venture between J.Sainsbury plc and Lloyds Banking Group.
For further information and general Sainsbury’s Finance enquiries customers can call the freephone number on 0500 40 50 60 or visit www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk

Notes to editors/webmasters

If using this article on a website, please link to www.sainsburysbank.co.uk using the following hyperlink text at the bottom of the article:
<a href=" shttp://www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk/insuring/ins_petinsurance_pet_skip.shtml”>Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance</a>

 

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