Up to what age can you insure a dog?
You can take out dog insurance with any pet insurer in the Netherlands for dogs up to and including five years of age. If your dog is older, the list of options becomes much shorter. Dogs – just like people – are more prone to health problems as they get older. This makes it too expensive for insurers to insure older dogs.
Age limits when taking out new insurance:
- The insurers a.s.r., Inshared and Dierenverzekering.nl have a maximum age limit of 5 years for acceptance.
- If you have a 6-year-old dog, you can also take out a new policy with OHRA and PetSecur.
- With Univé, you can take out a health insurance policy for dogs up to and including 7 years of age. Univé does, however, offer the option of insuring older dogs against accidents. Surgery following an accident will then be reimbursed, but illness and age-related ailments are not covered.
- Dogs aged 8 years or older are only accepted by Figo for health cover.
What if your dog is older than the age limit?
The age limits mentioned above naturally only apply when taking out a new insurance policy.
Is your dog already insured? Then your dog remains insured once it passes the age limit. The cover does not stop after the dog’s eighth year. In short, if you take out a policy in good time, you can continue to insure an older dog without any problems.
Switching to another insurance company is treated as taking out a new insurance policy. This makes switching insurers difficult if your dog is already a bit older. From the age of 8, you can only switch to Figo.
At what age should you insure a puppy?
Most insurers allow you to insure a puppy from the age of 7 or 8 weeks. Until then, a puppy belongs in its litter and you do not yet need insurance.
Would you like to arrange the insurance in advance? With some insurers, you can take out a policy for a puppy in advance. The cover then comes into effect as soon as the puppy is allowed to leave the litter. This is handy, as it means your playful four-legged friend is properly insured straight away.
That’s a sensible thing to do in any case, as the premium for dog insurance rises as the dog gets older. Anyone wishing to insure an older dog should therefore expect higher insurance costs. If you insure a dog from puppyhood onwards, you’ll pay a lower premium later in life.
