Pet Cover began as Pet Plan but they have recently rebranded. This company is regarded as the most comprehensive pet insurance product on the market. As a Rescue we always advocate for pet insurance. We have had quite a number of dogs surrendered due to the fact they need expensive medical care that their owners could not pay for. It's a sad situation for the dog who has to go through the process in foster care and adjust to a new home. Let alone for the owner who gives up a beloved pet. This is a situation New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue and Pet Cover want to help you avoid!
Often - we hear that people have tried to "self-insure" but failed. "Self-insuring" is when you set up your own account to put away money each week with the intention that if anything pops up medical-wise for your pet, it can be taken care of. However, inevitably those funds are used by emergency or unavoidable bills and unavailable for pet care! Also, it is important to remember that if something goes wrong your dog may need urgent testing, or scans, which can often be a couple of thousand at once... Let alone a further few grand for treatment, after hours fees and/or surgery cost. This is the reason we recommend insurance - for one monthly amount you have thousands worth of cover if need be.
What does Pet Cover Provide?
Pet Cover provide ongoing cover for the lifetime of your dog, as long as you don’t take a break in cover. They also offer a range of policies so you can choose the one that best suits your dog and your pocket. Pet Cover offer guaranteed low excesses and fast payouts to ensure that you can comfortably pay for treatments quickly. Pet Cover are also willing to pay vet clinics direct, to save you scrambling around to meet a huge bill and await reimbursement! Unlike many other insurers, their only focus is on cats, dogs and horses. Without the other distractions they can spend more time settling your claims from an injury or illness, help you decide which cover suits your needs, and apply themselves to serving you in a friendly, helpful and understanding manner.
How old is too old? Is there a cut-off age for pet insurance?
If, for some reason, you haven’t insured your pet early, depending on the age it may be too late. The cut off age limit for most pet insurance companies is normally 8 years of age (5 for selected breeds), with a limited amount of insurers offering policies for dogs over that age limit – although these will cover the bare minimum. With these age limits in place, the best option is to get your cat or dog insured from birth with a lifetime cover. If there is no breaks in this cover, your pet will be covered well in to their years. So generally, the dog must be younger than 8 years old (and to sign up via NZCR it must be between 8 weeks - 8 years old). See below for more information on "selected breeds".
What is a selected breed?
Just as some dogs cost more to feed, some also cost more in veterinary care. We call these 'Select Breeds’.
The following dogs are considered 'Select Breeds': Bandog, Bavarian Mountain Hound, Bergamasco Shepherd Dog, Briard, Blood Hound, Boerboel, Beauceron, Bernese Mountain Dog, Boston Terrier, Bracco, All Bulldogs (i.e. English, American, Australian, Miniature, etc.), Bull Arab, Deerhound, Dogue de Bordeaux, Entlebucher Mountain Dog, Estrela Mountain Dog, Grand Blue De Gascoigne, Great Dane, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Hamiltonstovare, Hungarian Kuvasz, Irish Wolfhound, Komondor, Maremma Sheepdog, Leonberger, All Mastiff Breeds, Newfoundland, Old English Sheepdog, Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Pyrenean Mountain Dog, Rottweiler, Russian Black Terrier, Shar Pei, St Bernard or any crosses of these breeds. Please note, customers with various breeds need to provide the full vet history from the vet before we are able to insure them. They must be under 5 years of age.
How does signing up for insurance with Pet Cover help the Rescue?
We are also very grateful to Pet Cover for their assistance to our cause and generous offer - for each dog that is signed up via our Rescue (adopted via NZCR or not) Pet Cover will donate 10% of the premiums' funds to our Rescue for us to use on our rescue dogs! So by simply signing up your dogs through us, you are not only being a responsible pet owner, but also assisting and donating towards our charity too!
On a personal note, pet insurance has been invaluable to us and our personal pack members in a number of situations. We have recently changed our dogs from a Competitor insurance company over to Pet Cover, after finding that competing companies simply do not offer the cover we require as Chihuahua-owners. We asked Pet Cover if they would support our Adopters also and they readily accepted! We do not recommend any companies to our Adopters and Supporters that we do not utilize ourselves and are proud to say that Pet Cover are our insurers of choice.
READY TO SIGN UP FOR PET INSURANCE?
It's easy and will take you maybe 5 minutes max to email us, or complete one form and email it to us!
THE OPTIONS ARE: (please read below for the conditions to determine whether you fall under options A and B)
OPTION A. 1 MONTH FREE TRIAL!:
ONLY FOR DOGS BETWEEN 8 WEEKS - 5 YEARS OLD
DOGS MUST BE ADOPTED FROM NZCR
If your pet is between 8weeks - 5years of age and you have adopted your dog from us, you can sign up with Pet Coverand receive 4 weeks' FREE Pet Cover insurance. This cover* includes:
* This cover is only able to be given to Adopters (sorry!) it is also is subject to meeting minimum acceptance criteria. Policy limits, terms and conditions and exclusions may apply. Exclusions include: de-sexing, routine care (vaccines, flea and working), elective treatments, dental costs, euthanasia, cremation and/or autopsy costs, food.
How do I sign up for the free trial?
1. Simply either email us: at contact@nzchihuahuarescue.co.nz with the following details:
- Your full legal name
- Phone number,
- Street address
- Which dog you have adopted from NZCR.
Please see the below link to review the policy types and select which will fit your needs best.
2. We will contact Pet Cover on your behalf to ensure they put the cover in place.
What happens next: At the end of the 4 weeks a friendly representative will call you to discuss whether you would like to sign up permanently and discuss the right plan that fits your circumstances. Please also view the link below for information on these plans. If you do decide to take out insurance on your pet, you will be donating to our Rescue 10% of your premium at the same time!
OPTION B.
IF YOU HAVEN'T ADOPTED VIA NZCR
BUT WOULD LIKE TO SIGN UP YOUR DOG OR CAT
PET MUST BE BETWEEN 8 WEEKS - 8 YEARS OLD (UNLESS A SELECT BREED read the above for info - then they must be under 5 years):
OR
OR HAVE ADOPTED VIA NZCR
BUT THE DOG IS OVER 5 YEARS OLD AND UNDER 8 YEARS OLD:
If you haven't adopted from NZ Chihuahua Rescue, but still wish to sign up via our charity, we will receive a portion of the premium! This is for dogs (or cats) that are between 8 weeks - 8 years of age, or 5 years for some select breeds. For this, you do not need to be an "adopter" for us to recieve this donation - simply sign up via our Rescue using the below steps.
1. Simply download the form and email us: at contact@nzchihuahuarescue.co.nz . We need the below completed Pet Cover form (see the downloads section at the bottom of this page) If you would like a paper copy, feel free to email us and we can send this to you. You will need to complete the form and select your plan (these can be reviewed by clicking the below link).
Please see the below link to review the policy types and select which will fit your needs best.
2. We will forward this to our Pet Cover contact and they will be in touch directly with policy information. You're all signed up!
*** NOTE: If your pet is 7 years or older - please contact your vet to organize for their history to be sent to Pet Cover: They will need full veterinary history sent to Pet Cover direct after they receive your form. This is a condition of all policies with dogs over the age of 7 years when first being insured. All you need to do is call your vet and ask them to email the history to info@petplan.co.nz ***
To read more about the types of plans on offer please see below link, or contact Pet Cover (formerly Pet Plan) on:
Email: info.nz@petcovergroup.com
Phone: (0800) 255 426
Website: See below link.
We have an awesome new online store full of small doggy products - plush beds, enrichment and interactive toys, collar charms, small soft toys, treats, puppy toys, dog brushes and lots of other items!
Best of all - your purchase helps our rescue dogs! All proceeds of the store, go back to helping the rescue.
Click below to visit!