If your pet has an accident or develops a serious illness, the expenses can mount up quickly. Pet insurance can help make sure that money doesn't factor in to the decision about whether or not to treat your pet. Read on to learn how to buy pet insurance.

The content in this page is not a substitute for professional financial advice. Please contact your financial adviser before using the information presented here.

Veterinary science has advanced, making life saving treatments that one normally thinks of as being reserved for humans, such as kidney transplants, available to pets. The diagnostic tests used by veterinarians have also become more sophisticated and expensive. Pet insurance offers an alternative to paying for expensive treatments and tests out of pocket.

Only 3% of pet owners in the United States have pet insurance policies. The coverage is not cheap; pet insurance can cost from $2,000-$6,000 over a pet's lifetime.http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/AssessYourNeeds/ShouldYouBuyPetInsurance.aspx If you have unlimited financial resources, or would probably not consider extraordinary therapies for your pet, you are not a good candidate for pet insurance. Most people will never use the coverage, so you may want to take the money you would spend on premiums, and place it in a savings account to self-insure for large medical expenses. If you have the type of relationship with your pet where you would do anything to prolong their life, and paying the thousands of dollars that might entail would be a hardship for you, you might want to consider purchasing pet insurance.

Just as with human health insurance, there are a number of different plans available to cover pets.

1. Some plans provide benefits for ongoing health and wellness procedures, such as annual check-ups and immunizations. If you're considering a plan of this type, check with your veterinarian to see if the coverages make sense for you.
2. There are other plans that provide catastrophic coverage for accidents. The cost of these plans can be as low as $8-$10 a month.http://www.aspcapetinsurance.com/plans/safety-pet-insurance-plan.aspx
3. Other plans are designed to kick in to help cover any extraordinary expenses- be they caused by accident or illness. These are more expensive than accident only plans, but less expensive than comprehensive coverage.

1. If you are insuring an older pet, make sure that the policy will cover pre-existing conditions.
2. Some plans exclude hereditary conditions, so if you are insuring a puppy from a breed that is prone to congenital problems such as hip dysplasia, check to make sure that the plan you're considering will cover you if your pet develops the condition.
3. Don't just compare the first year premiums; some premiums rise as your pet ages. Compare the lifetime cost of policies.

In addition to pet health insurance, you may want to consider pet liability insurance.

1. If you own a home, you may be covered for actions taken by your pet under your homeowner's insurance policy, or you may not be. Sme insurance policies exclude certain breeds from coverage. Check with your agent to determine whether or not you would be covered if your pet injures a person or another animal..
2. If you live in an apartment, and don't presently have an umbrella liability policy that covers actions taken by your pet, you may want to consider purchasing a separate pet liability insurance policy.