Government serves up a dog’s breakfast with compulsory insurance
John Miles, head of home and pet insurance at leading comparison website Gocompare.com, comments on Government proposals for compulsory insurance for dogs:
“The proposal to introduce compulsory third party insurance for dogs is likely to be unpopular with the majority of owners who already spend £677 a year on average for each animal to cover food, vet’s bills and other essentials.* At present only around 40 per cent of owners have pet insurance, so this proposal will affect millions of dog owners.
“Third party liability cover features as standard on the majority of existing pet insurance policies and you can get cover today for as little as £7.37 a month.** Typically these plans provide up to £1million worth of cover should the policyholder’s dog injure a third party or damage their property.
“Compulsory pet insurance is unlikely to be a panacea to the problem of so-called dangerous dogs. Insurance has many benefits but it is rarely the most effective tool for changing behaviour. It is there to reimburse us when the worst happens, it doesn’t usually prevent the incident occurring. For example, car insurance is compulsory yet we have very significant problems with uninsured drivers. It is unlikely that the Government or the insurance industry will have any more success encouraging the owners of dangerous dogs to take up insurance.”
Gocompare.com’s pet insurance comparison service was the first true pet insurance comparison to be provided by any UK comparison site. Currently, visitors to Gocompare.com can compare 16 different pet insurance policies and see at a glance which policy gives them the right cover for the right price.
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For further information please contact:
Lynsey Walden or Anders Nilsson at Gocompare.com on 01633 654 055 / 01633 657 599
Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on 01603 505 845
Notes to Editors:
* Research commissioned by Gocompare.com - carried out with 1,500 cat and dog owners in December 2009 by Loudhouse Research.
** Source: Gocompare.com pet insurance comparison service. Cheapest available insurance including third party cover, for a five year old pedigree golden retriever. Policy provides £1million public liability cover in addition to normal benefits including vet bills.
Gocompare.com launched in November 2006. It was founded by Hayley Parsons, who has worked her entire career in the insurance broking and aggregator markets, and was the first comparison sites to focus on displaying product features rather than just listing prices. It was this philosophy that led to Gocompare.com becoming the first price comparison site to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers Association (Biba) in May 2008 and helped force older comparison sites to change their ‘quick quote’ ways and stop using assumptions to calculate estimated figures.
Today, Gocompare.com provides one of the most comprehensive online car insurance comparison services in the UK as well as comparing home, motorbike, van, pet insurance and breakdown cover.
Gocompare.com is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.