Sainsbury’s whose pet insurance provides up to £1,000 towards the advertising costs for a lost dog or cat(1) reveals that 8% of UK residents, equating to 3.93 million people, have had a pet cat or dog go missing over the past five years. Alarmingly, 26% of these owners believe their pets were stolen.

The Bank’s research indicates that many lost pets are never reunited with their owners. Some 61% of people who have suffered from a pet cat or dog going missing since November 2002, never saw them again.

Despite these distressing findings, many victims may find that their pet insurance policy will offer little or no support towards the recovery of their pets. Around 24% of all pet insurance policies offer no reward for the return of lost or stolen dogs and will not provide financial assistance to owners who want to try and find their missing dog by placing advertisements. The corresponding figure for pet insurance policies covering cats is 21%(2).

Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance provides up to £1,000 towards the advertising costs for a lost dog or cat and up to £750 compensation if the pet is lost or stolen and not returned. Through a partnership with Missing Pets Bureau the bank also offers pet owners FREE pet ID tags that link to microchips and DNA identification.

The Bank’s research indicates that for every one person who has had a dog go missing over the past five years, seven people have had cats go astray.

In an attempt to secure the safe return of their pet, 71% of people who had their cat or dog go missing over the past five years, turned to their neighbours for help, 44% put up posters in their neighbourhood and 13% placed an advertisement in the local paper(1). Two in five (40%) informed the RSPCA or equivalent local dog or cat home of their lost pet, whilst only 12% contacted the police.

Claire Moyles, Pet Insurance Manager, Sainsbury’s Finance said: “Missing pets is a big problem, the scale of which is often underestimated. It is a very distressing time for owners, compounded of course if they are never reunited with their cat or dog. Should your animal go missing our advice is to act as quickly as possible and notify the police, rescue centres and your vet immediately”.

Sainsbury’s Bank offers the following tips on how to reduce the chances of your pet going missing or worse, being stolen:

• Ensure that your pet wears a collar and pet identification tag
• Have your pet micro-chipped. This takes seconds and is virtually painless. Consult your local vet for details
• Keep garden boundaries as secure as possible to prevent your dog from escaping and also to deter thieves from entering
• Always supervise your dog, whether it is in your own garden or in a public area
• Try to avoid tying your dog up outside a shop or leaving it unattended
• If you use a dog walker, make sure that they are reputable
• Vary your routes when walking your dog

Pet ID tags provided by Missing Pets Bureau and Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance link to microchips and DNA identification(3). They give 24-hour ‘Petback Protect’ support, 365-days-a-year, to get lost and stolen pets back to their owners fast. The tags are secure because they display a freephone number for people to call if they find a pet missing, and a serial number that links to the owner’s personal details on Missing Pets Bureau’s database. This is important as without the owner’s personal details, their identity is protected and a criminal cannot hold their pet to ransom.

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  log on to www.sainsburys.co.uk or pick up a leaflet in a Sainsbury’s supermarket.

(1) Based on an independent online survey conducted by Canvasse Opinion on behalf Sainsbury’s Bank. A total of 1557 interviews were conducted across the UK amongst adults aged 18 and over. Interviews were carried out between 1st – 6th November 2007. The consumer omnibus research uses a large sample size that reflects the demographic profile of the UK. Given this it is possible to extrapolate figures and make projections from the research results within appropriate confidence intervals.
(2) Defaqto’s Aequos Database, November 2007
(3) 12 months’ free membership of “Petback Protect”, fee required thereafter.

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Anyone tempted to buy a pet or who received one for Christmas should not forget that a key part of having a cat or dog is making sure it can be properly looked after when it is ill, says Defaqto in its most recent report, Pet Insurance in the UK 2007.

New owners need to look beyond the immediate pleasure of having a pet to what can happen to it over its life. Not only are the costs of treating pets rising, but just as with humans, new treatments are being introduced all the time to improve a pet’s quality of life when it is unwell.

Although there are over 120 policies examined in the report, they fall into two main types: those paying claims only for the first twelve months of an illness only and those that will pay for the whole time the pet needs treatment for that condition, but with a limit on the expenditure each year.

Brian Brown, Head of Insight at Defaqto and author of the report, said, “Pet insurance should be a priority for pet owners but it is vital to shop around and check that you know which policy type you are buying before committing to a purchase. As many conditions can run for longer than twelve months the policies paying out for twelve months only are aimed at customers who only want cover for emergency treatments, while those paying ‘per year’ are aimed at those who want full treatment for their pets. Naturally customers should expect twelve month policies to be cheaper than the ‘per year’ type policies.”

An article earlier this year on the Moneyextra website highlighted the importance of having your pet adequately protected with insurance, especially now in with vets bills creeping up.

In London, average prices for veterinary fees have gone up by about 15% over the past year. In the rest of the South-East, they have risen by 10%. And the remainder of Britain has seen typical increases of around 6-8%.

However, according to research organisation Defaqto, less than a third of Britain’s seven million dogs and only 17% of cats have adequate financial protection in the form of pet insurance.

Halifax Pet Insurance recently revealed that during the last five years, us Britons have spent £2.6 billion purchasing cats and dogs. It also showed that owners underestimated the cost of vet bills by a shocking 103%.

Your dog could be heading for a pet insurance claim if he eats too much chocolate this Christmas. Tesco Pet Insurance is warning dog owners to make sure that their dog does not eat large quantities of chocolate as it can cause many nasty side effects and can even be fatal.

Chocolate baubles on your Christmas Tree and selection boxes wrapped underneath are an easy target for a wily dog. Sadly, large amounts of chocolate can be toxic to your four legged friend causing agitation, breathlessness, diarrhoea, hyperactivity, vomiting, increased urination, epileptic fits and even death.

The company are warning dog lovers to be on the alert particularly over Christmas time, and keep chocolate well out of the way of their pets.

Pet insurance broker who siphoned off at least £162,000 of his customers’ money has been banned from practising his profession.

David Martin Holland, 61, took the premiums paid by his customers for pet insurance between September 2005 and May 2007 and put them directly into his own bank account.

His companies, Petsure and Flett Sinclair Insurance Brokers, are based in Woodford Avenue in Gants Hill, Essex.

In a decision released this week the insurance industry regulator Financial Services Authority said Mr Holland had used customers’ money for “personal expenditure”, instead of passing it on to the firm responsible for paying out claims.

FSA enforcement director Margaret Cole said: “Using premiums received from clients for personal use in this way is inexcusable. The FSA will take action against firms and individuals in this way - where an intermediary receives money from clients on behalf of an insurer, it must pass this money on promptly.”

Every year up to half the pets in the UK require medical treatment due to accident or illness. The average cost for these treatments is around £220 but costs can rise into the thousands for more complicated operations. RSPCA pet insurance helps protect from these and other unexpected pet ownership costs.

The RSPCA offer extensive pet insurance, for cats and dogs, at great value prices extensively designed to help in times of greatest need. Low cost monthly premiums start at only £2.92 for cats and £5.41 for dogs. By choosing to insure a pet with the RSPCA you get great value insurance cover that aids the RSPCA in providing care for less fortunate animals, making it the right choice for a caring and compassionate pet insurance.

The RSPCA currently rescue, rehome and care for many unwanted animals nationwide. This care increases with every pet covered by RSPCA pet insurance. 20% of premiums go to help the RSPCA protect vulnerable and neglected animals. This contribution allow the RSPCA to fund pet homes and shelters for unwanted and badly treated pets. With RSPCA pet insurance you get great value insurance cover for your pet and help less fortunate animals throughout the country.

RSPCA Pet Insurance offers:

• Help with Vet Bills – up to £6000 is available to treat new medical conditions that a pet may develop
• Cover for Lost and Stolen Pets – up to £750 available to help pay for advertising, repatriation and reward costs incurred when pets are lost or stolen
• Owner Illness Cover – if you should fall ill and require medical treatment up to £750 is available to provide your pet with safe and secure accommodation for your pet while you are in hospital

The RSPCA cares for animals every day in the same way that you care for your pet. If you compare RSPCA pet insurance with other pet insurance policies available online you will see how much you can save and help other defenseless animals at the same time.

Pinnacle Pet Healthcare offers ‘LIFE-TIME’ insurance for cats, dogs and rabbits, which pays out year after year, regardless of how long a pet is ill for or how old it lives to be. There is up to £6,000 towards veterinary treatment available per year for the life of the pet.

There are three levels of cover offered by Pinnacle Pet Healthcare and all of them offer pets protection for life:

• Pinnacle Pet Healthcare ‘Premier’ gives up to £6,000 per year vets fees, for life.
• Pinnacle Pet Healthcare ‘Classic’ gives up to £4,000 per year vets fees, for life (with £1,000 maximum per claim reason, per year).
• Pinnacle Pet Healthcare ‘Vital’ gives up to £2,000 per year vets fees, for life (with £500 maximum per claim reason, per year).

Lower cost pet insurance providers often offer what is known as ‘Per-condition’ or ’12 month Per-condition’ insurance.

Per-condition insurance limits the customer to a fixed maximum amount of money for their pet’s treatment, per condition. Once this fixed amount is used up, regardless of whether the pet still requires treatment, that condition is barred from the policy and ultimately the customer is left paying for their pet’s treatment themselves.

12-month Per-condition insurance limits the customer to a fixed amount of money for their pet’s treatment, per condition and they can only claim on that condition up to 12 months from the first occurrence. Again, if the full sum available has not been used up, that condition is barred from the policy and the customer is left paying for their pet’s treatment themselves.

Below is an example, which illustrates just how beneficial ‘Lifetime’ cover really is and that saving a few pounds now with a ‘non-lifetime’ policy could cost you £24,000 later.

‘Imagine you decided to buy one of the many ‘non-lifetime’ pet insurance policies on the market. And say you chose one which gave you up to £6,000 of cover per condition.

You might think you were well protected.

But say your pet developed a condition requiring long-term treatment, with a vet bill of £200 per month.

After 2 1/2 years, you’d have used up your £6,000, the illness would be barred from your policy, and you’d be left to pay for treatment on your own, at £2,400 a year, perhaps for 10 years or more.

That would be £24,000!

Get a free quote now with Pinnacle Pet Healthcare

Here are just some of the benefits you’ll enjoy as a Churchill Pet Insurance customer:

• Online prices from 16p a day for cats and 27p a day for dogs
• Cover for vet fees
• Cover for lost or stolen pets
• Cover for emergency kennel or cattery fees
• Use of help lines including bereavement counselling
• Pay monthly with no additional charge

Premiums payable monthly or annually

Get a quote with Churchill Pet Insurance

Earlier in 2007, the makers of anti-depressant drug Prozac revealed that dogs and cats get depressed just like humans.

This is backed up by research carried out by Sainsbury’s Bank at the end of 2003 that showed that around 632,000 dogs and cats in the UK had suffered from depression over the previous 12 months.

The depression is often picked up from their owners who are carrying out stressful lives. Busy lives that involve juggling work and family life coupled with money worries can cause us to get stressed. And our pets pick up on this which can then make them agitated or stressed or depressed themselves. This sets their owner worrying and it makes the situation worse.

The makers of Prozac have developed a chewable, beef flavoured version of their drug for pooches.

However, visiting an animal behaviorist can often help a depressed cat or dog, without the need for drugs and in many cases, with your vet’s referral, some pet insurance policies will cover the cost.