Every policy has gaps. If you know where they are before you claim, you can choose a policy whose gaps you can live with, or put money aside for the parts it won't pay.

The bills a policy covers

A policy that includes illness pays towards vet fees for injuries and illnesses that start after your cover begins: consultations, X-rays and blood tests, surgery, hospital stays and prescribed medicine. You pay the excess, a fixed amount towards each claim, and the insurer pays the rest up to your limit, which is the most the policy will pay out. Some policies also ask you to pay a percentage of each bill, known as a co-payment.

Many policies add extras. Third-party liability can help if your dog injures someone or damages property. Some contribute to advertising and reward costs if your dog goes missing, or to kennel fees if you go into hospital. Which extras you get depends on the policy, so check the list rather than assuming.

Where claims get turned down

The Financial Ombudsman settles disputes between customers and insurers, and its guidance on pet insurance complaints lists the reasons insurers give for declining claims. Three of them deserve a closer look before you buy.

The first is a pre-existing condition: anything your dog had, or showed signs of, before the policy began. Most policies exclude these, along with illnesses that first appear in the first 14 days. Definitions differ, so read how your policy words it.

Bilateral conditions catch a lot of owners by surprise. Some policies treat a problem on one side of the body, such as a bad knee or elbow, as the same condition when it appears on the other side. If the first knee was pre-existing, the second may not be covered either.

The third is time. On a time-limited policy, cover for each condition stops after a set period, often 12 months. On a maximum-benefit policy, it stops once a fixed sum for that condition has been paid. A lifetime policy resets its limit each year you renew. With the first two, a dog that still needs treatment can outlast its cover.

Routine care sits outside almost every policy. Vaccinations, flea and worm treatment, neutering and nail clipping are yours to pay for. Behavioural treatment and therapies such as hydrotherapy may be covered in full, capped at a lower amount, or left out.

Teeth and skin: check these two first

If you only read two sections of the policy wording, make them dental and skin.

When the Royal Veterinary College went through the records of more than 22,000 dogs seen by UK vets in 2016, teeth came out top. Dental problems were recorded in 14.1% of dogs that year, and skin problems in 12.6% (VetCompass research, published 2021). Gum disease was the most common single diagnosis of all.

Dental cover differs more than almost any other part of a policy. Some policies only pay when a tooth is damaged in an accident. Others cover dental illness too, and some of those set conditions, such as regular dental checks. Some leave teeth out completely, and a policy not covering dental treatment is one of the refusals the Ombudsman lists. Even then, it may look at whether the exclusion was fair if a tooth had to come out as part of treating something else, such as a tumour.

Dental is a good test of what a dog policy includes. See whether it covers illness as well as accidents, and whether teeth have their own, lower limit.

Skin is a different kind of risk. Allergies and repeat skin infections can need treatment for years, so the question to ask is how long the policy will keep paying for the same condition once it's diagnosed.

Finding the small print that matters

Start with the insurance product information document, or IPID. Insurers have to give you one, and it sums up the main cover and exclusions on a page or two.

Then open the full wording and search for a few terms: "pre-existing", "bilateral", "dental" and "excess". Look for sub-limits too. These are smaller caps for things like therapies or complementary treatment, and on most policies they sit inside the main limit. So with a £5,000 limit and a £500 cap on therapies, therapy claims stop at £500, and that £500 counts towards your £5,000.

If a term still isn't clear, ask the insurer and keep the answer in writing. The same goes at renewal: if your dog is already insured, ask whether cover for any existing condition changes this year.

Quick answers on cover

Will the insurer pay my vet directly?

Some insurers can pay the practice if your vet agrees. Otherwise you pay the bill and claim the money back, so ask your vet which way they work before treatment starts.

Are conditions my dog's breed is known for covered?

It depends on the policy. Many cover hereditary and breed-related conditions as long as they first appear after cover starts, while others exclude or limit them. If your breed is known for a problem, such as hip trouble in some medium and large breeds or breathing difficulties in flat-faced dogs, search the wording for it by name.